I'm a biologist and neuroscientist working as a Ramón y Cajal Senior Researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). My research primarily focuses on development of novel photopharmacological approaches for the control of neuronal receptors and light-dependent modulation of brain function.
I pursued my PhD at the Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS, Aix-Marseille University) in France and the Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology in Ukraine. In 2017, I joined the Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes as a postdoctoral researcher, where I contributed to the European project MODULIGHTOR (ERA SynBio) developing novel photoswitchable modulators of GABA and glycine receptors. In 2019, I was awarded the BEST Marie Curie Severo Ochoa postdoctoral scholarship, which enabled me to join IBEC to continue my work on photopharmacology of neuronal receptors in vitro and in vivo.
In 2022, I received a Ramón y Cajal position to continue my research independently. I am investigating how dopaminergic neurotransmission influences the functional architecture of neuronal circuits in C. elegans. In 2023, I began a collaboration with Dr. Michael Krieg and Dr. Montserrat Porta at the Institute of Photonic Sciences to study dopaminergic connectomes using light-switchable molecules.
I am the Principal Investigator of the MINECO project DOPAMAP: mapping dopaminergic transmission of C. elegans.
As part of my commitment to mentoring, I have supervised seven young researchers and am currently co-supervising Master's and PhD students.
The study of intact cells and their signaling circuits with light requires a stimulation strategy that is focused, deeply penetrating, and does not damage them. Implanted optic fibers, light-emitting diodes, and luminescent materials operated externally with tissue-penetrating infrared (IR) light are invasive or limited by light attenuation around the illumination point. To overcome these barriers, two-photon pharmacology takes advantage of femtosecond-pulsed IR laser light to produce deep and spatiotemporally precise cellular stimulation using specially designed photoswitchable drugs. Compounds that can be covalently tethered to the target neuroreceptor perform particularly well. However, the tethered photoswitches reported to date require mutagenesis of the target protein, which prevents the use of photopharmacology to stimulate the nervous system in wild-type animals. Here, we report the first two-photon optimized targeted covalent photoswitch (TCP2P) that combines the efficient two-photon isomerization of ortho-fluoro-substituted azobenzene with the ability to conjugate to nucleophilic residues of endogenous proteins (AMPA and kainate ionotropic glutamate receptors in neurons). TCP2P is readily obtained by click coupling of two precursor compounds prior to use, and after simple incubation, it enables controlling neuronal activity at one- and two-photon excitation up to 800 nm without genetic modifications.
Gamma aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABA(A)Rs) play a key role in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) as drivers of neuroinhibitory circuits, which are commonly targeted for therapeutic purposes with potentiator drugs. However, due to their widespread expression and strong inhibitory action, systemic pharmaceutical potentiation of GABA(A)Rs inevitably causes adverse effects regardless of the drug selectivity. Therefore, therapeutic guidelines must often limit or exclude clinically available GABA(A)R potentiators, despite their high efficacy, good biodistribution, and favorable molecular properties. One solution to this problem is to use drugs with light-dependent activity (photopharmacology) in combination with on-demand, localized illumination. However, a suitable light-activated potentiator of GABA(A)Rs has been elusive so far for use in wildtype mammals. We have met this need by developing azocarnil, a diffusible GABAergic agonist-potentiator based on the anxiolytic drug abecarnil that is inactive in the dark and activated by visible violet light. Azocarnil can be rapidly deactivated with green light and by thermal relaxation in the dark. We demonstrate that it selectively inhibits neuronal currents in hippocampal neurons in vitro and in the dorsal horns of the spinal cord of mice, decreasing the mechanical sensitivity as a function of illumination without displaying systemic adverse effects. Azocarnil expands the in vivo photopharmacological toolkit with a novel chemical scaffold and achieves a milestone toward future phototherapeutic applications to safely treat muscle spasms, pain, anxiety, sleep disorders, and epilepsy.
A problem of systemic pharmacotherapy is off-target activity, which causes adverse effects. Outstanding examples include neuroinhibitory medications like antiseizure drugs, which are used against epilepsy and neuropathic pain but cause systemic side effects. There is a need of drugs that inhibit nerve signals locally and on-demand without affecting other regions of the body. Photopharmacology aims to address this problem with light-activated drugs and localized illumination in the target organ. Here, we have developed photoswitchable derivatives of the widely prescribed antiseizure drug carbamazepine. For that purpose, we expanded our method of ortho azologization of tricyclic drugs to meta/para and to N-bridged diazocine. Our results validate the concept of ortho cryptoazologs (uniquely exemplified by Carbazopine-1) and bring to light Carbadiazocine (8), which can be photoswitched between 400-590 nm light (using violet LEDs and halogen lamps) and shows good drug-likeness and predicted safety. Both compounds display photoswitchable activity in vitro and in translucent zebrafish larvae. Carbadiazocine (8) also offers in vivo analgesic efficacy (mechanical and thermal stimuli) in a rat model of neuropathic pain and a simple and compelling treatment demonstration with non-invasive illumination.
The interest in the photochromism and functional applications of donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs) soared in recent years owing to their outstanding advantages and flexible design. However, their low solubility and irreversible conversion in aqueous solutions hampered exploring DASAs for biology and medicine. It is notably unknown whether the barbiturate electron acceptor group retains the pharmacological activity of drugs such as phenobarbital, which targets γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-type A receptors (GABAARs) in the brain. Here, we have developed the model compound DASA-barbital based on a scaffold of red-switching second-generation DASAs, and we demonstrate that it is active in GABAARs and alters the neuronal firing rate in a physiological medium at neutral pH. DASA-barbital can also be reversibly photoswitched in acidic aqueous solutions using cyclodextrin, an approved ingredient of drug formulations. These findings clarify the path toward the biological applications of DASAs and to exploit the versatility displayed in polymers and materials science.
Over the last decades, photopharmacology has gone far beyond its proof-of-concept stage to become a bona fide approach to study neural systems in vivo. Indeed, photopharmacological control has expanded over a wide range of endogenous targets, such as receptors, ion channels, transporters, kinases, lipids, and DNA transcription processes. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent progresses in the in vivo photopharmacological control of neuronal circuits and behavior. In particular, the use of small aquatic animals for the in vivo screening of photopharmacological compounds, the recent advances in optical modulation of complex behaviors in mice, and the development of adjacent techniques for light and drug delivery in vivo are described.
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Santini, R, Maleeva, G, Sortino, R, Pons-Alles, S, Ramos-Guerra, C, Matera, C, Gorostiza, P, (2026). Targeted Covalent Photoswitch for Two-Photon Control of Endogenous Receptors JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 148, 12708-12716 