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Professor
Gerardo Turcatti
Gerardo Turcatti in 2020
Born1959 (age 64–65)
Montevideo, Uruguay
Known forHigh-throughput screening
TitleAdjunct Professor
Academic background
EducationChemistry, biochemistry
Alma materUniversity of the Republic (Uruguay)
University of Geneva
EPFL
ThesisNovel fluorescence-based approaches to probe ligand recognition and structure of the tachykinin NK2 receptor (1995)
Doctoral advisorHorst Vogel
Academic work
DisciplineChemical biology
Sub-disciplineBiochemistry, Pharmacology
InstitutionsEPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
Main interestsDrug discovery
Chemical biology
High-throughput screening
High-content screening
Fluorescent cellular probes
Image analysis
Websitehttps://www.epfl.ch/research/facilities/biomolecular-screening/

Gerardo Turcatti (born 1959 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a Swiss-Uruguayan chemist who specialises in chemical biology and drug discovery. He is a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and director of the Biomolecular Screening Facility at the School of Life Sciences there.[1][2][3]

Career

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Turcatti studied chemistry at the University of the Republic in Uruguay. In 1981, he moved to Switzerland to earn a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Geneva. Discovering the world of life sciences while working at the biotech company Biogen during his studies, he pursued a career as a chemical biologist. While working at the Glaxo Biomedical Research Institute in Geneva, he studied under Professor Horst Vogel at EPFL for an industry PhD thesis in chemistry and biochemistry titled "Novel fluorescence-based approaches to probe ligand recognition and structure of the tachykinin NK2 receptor".[4][5][6][7] His thesis earned him the EPFL Doctorate Award in 1996.[8]

Until 1997 he was a research scientist at the Biochemistry Department of the Glaxo Wellcome Biomedical Research Institute, where he further adapted the methodologies he developed during his PhD to other G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR).[9][10][11] In 1998 he went to work as a senior scientist at the Genomic Technologies Department of the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute.[12]

As a spin-off of Serono, in January 2001, he co-founded Manteia Predictive Medicine and became executive technology director. The Swiss-based company invented and developed novel high throughput DNA sequencing technologies currently owned by Illumina.[13]

In 2006, after a 20-year career in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, he founded the Biomolecular Screening Facility (BSF) at EPFL and has been its director since its inception.[2][14] In 2020, Turcatti became adjunct professor at EPFL.[1] In the framework of the NCCR research project on chemical biology, he is the project leader of the Swiss academic platform for chemical screens (ACCESS project).[15]

Research

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Turcatti's industrial research has led to DNA sequencing technologies performing at higher throughput rates. He developed, amongst others, novel surface chemistries for DNA attachment;[16] prior to in situ massively parallel amplification of DNA templates;[12][17][18][19] a DNA sequencing method using chemically engineered fluorescent nucleotide transient terminators;[20] and a fluorescent microscopy setup enabling high throughput low cost whole genome analysis.[13] Some of these DNA-related technologies he co-developed have been implemented in commercial instruments produced by Illumina.[13]

More recently, Turcatti's research interests have shifted towards bioactive probes and drug discovery. The current academic research of his laboratory focuses on innovative high throughput screening methods and technologies for efficient early drug discovery processes enabling more specific and safer molecules as therapeutic agents, this includes drug repurposing strategies for application in various therapeutic areas.[21][22][23][24]

His research also targets the development of efficient methods for drug screening such as highly informative assays. By developing image-based high content screening methods to estimate efficacy, potency and early detection of off-target effects of potential drugs, they aim to contribute to the acceleration of the drug discovery process.[25][26][27][28]

Distinctions

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Turcatti is a member of the scientific advisory board of ChemBioFrance,[29] the scientific advisory board of Innopharma,[30] and the European Cellular Assays Interest Group (EuCAI),[31] and the editorial board of the journal Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening.[32]

Selected works

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  • Brandenberg, Nathalie; Hoehnel, Sylke; Kuttler, Fabien; Homicsko, Krisztian; Ceroni, Camilla; Ringel, Till; Gjorevski, Nikolce; Schwank, Gerald; Coukos, George; Turcatti, Gerardo; Lutolf, Matthias P. (2020). "High-throughput automated organoid culture via stem-cell aggregation in microcavity arrays". Nature Biomedical Engineering. 4 (9): 863–874. doi:10.1038/s41551-020-0565-2. PMID 32514094. S2CID 219543643.
  • Jaferzadeh, Keyvan; Rappaz, Benjamin; Kuttler, Fabien; Kim, Bo Kyoung; Moon, Inkyu; Marquet, Pierre; Turcatti, Gerardo (2020). "Marker-Free Automatic Quantification of Drug-Treated Cardiomyocytes with Digital Holographic Imaging". ACS Photonics. 7: 105–113. doi:10.1021/acsphotonics.9b01152. S2CID 212811883.
  • Rappaz, Benjamin; Jourdain, Pascal; Banfi, Damiano; Kuttler, Fabien; Marquet, Pierre; Turcatti, Gerardo (2020). "Image-Based Marker-Free Screening of GABAA Agonists, Antagonists, and Modulators". SLAS Discovery. 25 (5): 458–470. doi:10.1177/2472555219887142. PMC 7243081. PMID 31779505.
  • Haag, Simone M.; Gulen, Muhammet F.; Reymond, Luc; Gibelin, Antoine; Abrami, Laurence; Decout, Alexiane; Heymann, Michael; Van Der Goot, F. Gisou; Turcatti, Gerardo; Behrendt, Rayk; Ablasser, Andrea (2018). "Targeting STING with covalent small-molecule inhibitors". Nature. 559 (7713): 269–273. Bibcode:2018Natur.559..269H. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0287-8. PMID 29973723. S2CID 49571499.
  • Horvath, Peter; Aulner, Nathalie; Bickle, Marc; Davies, Anthony M.; Nery, Elaine Del; Ebner, Daniel; Montoya, Maria C.; Östling, Päivi; Pietiäinen, Vilja; Price, Leo S.; Shorte, Spencer L.; Turcatti, Gerardo; von Schantz, Carina; Carragher, Neil O. (2016). "Screening out irrelevant cell-based models of disease" (PDF). Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 15 (11): 751–769. doi:10.1038/nrd.2016.175. PMID 27616293. S2CID 5799034.
  • Bentley, David R.; Balasubramanian, Shankar; Swerdlow, Harold P.; Smith, Geoffrey P.; Milton, John; Brown, Clive G.; Hall, Kevin P.; Evers, Dirk J.; Barnes, Colin L.; Bignell, Helen R.; Boutell, Jonathan M. (November 2008). "Accurate whole human genome sequencing using reversible terminator chemistry". Nature. 456 (7218): 53–59. Bibcode:2008Natur.456...53B. doi:10.1038/nature07517. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 2581791. PMID 18987734.
  • Turcatti, Gerardo; Romieu, Anthony; Fedurco, Milan; Tairi, Ana-Paula (March 2008). "A new class of cleavable fluorescent nucleotides: synthesis and optimization as reversible terminators for DNA sequencing by synthesis †". Nucleic Acids Research. 36 (4): e25. doi:10.1093/nar/gkn021. ISSN 1362-4962. PMC 2275100. PMID 18263613.

References

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  1. ^ a b "13 new professors appointed at ETH Zurich and EPFL | ETH-Board". www.ethrat.ch. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  2. ^ a b "Biomolecular Screening Facility". www.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  3. ^ "Gerardo Turcatti". people.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  4. ^ Turcatti, Gerardo (1995). "Novel fluorescence - based approaches to probe ligand recognition and structure of the tachykinin NK2 receptor". Infoscience. doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-1426.
  5. ^ Turcatti, Gerardo; Vogel, Horst; Chollet, Andre (1995-03-28). "Probing the Binding Domain of the NK2 Receptor with Fluorescent Ligands: Evidence That Heptapeptide Agonists and Antagonists Bind Differently". Biochemistry. 34 (12): 3972–3980. doi:10.1021/bi00012a015. ISSN 0006-2960. PMID 7696262.
  6. ^ Turcatti, Gerardo; Nemeth, Karin; Edgerton, Michael D.; Meseth, Ulrich; Talabot, François; Peitsch, Manuel; Knowles, Jonathan; Vogel, Horst; Chollet, André (1996-08-16). "Probing the Structure and Function of the Tachykinin Neurokinin-2 Receptor through Biosynthetic Incorporation of Fluorescent Amino Acids at Specific Sites". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 271 (33): 19991–19998. doi:10.1074/jbc.271.33.19991. ISSN 0021-9258. PMID 8702716. S2CID 1141597.
  7. ^ "Gerardo Turcatti". people.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  8. ^ "EPFL Research Prizes past laureates - Auto EPFL Doctorate award.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  9. ^ Turcatti, G. (2001). "Probing G protein-coupled receptors by fluorescence spectroscopy.". In Clare Stanford, R. W. Horton (ed.). Receptors : structure and function. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-963881-0. OCLC 47270133.
  10. ^ Zoffmann, Sannah; Turcatti, Gerardo; Galzi, Jean-Luc; Dahl, Mads; Chollet, André (January 2001). "Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorescent and Photoactivatable MIP-1α Ligands and Interactions with Chemokine Receptors CCR1 and CCR5§". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 44 (2): 215–222. doi:10.1021/jm000982i. ISSN 0022-2623. PMID 11170631. S2CID 41372771.
  11. ^ Durroux, Thierry; Peter, Marion; Turcatti, Gerardo; Chollet, André; Balestre, Marie-Noëlle; Barberis, Claude; Seyer, René (April 1999). "Fluorescent Pseudo-Peptide Linear Vasopressin Antagonists: Design, Synthesis, and Applications†,‖". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 42 (7): 1312–1319. doi:10.1021/jm9804782. ISSN 0022-2623. PMID 10197974.
  12. ^ a b Adessi, C. (2000-10-15). "Solid phase DNA amplification: characterisation of primer attachment and amplification mechanisms". Nucleic Acids Research. 28 (20): 87e–87. doi:10.1093/nar/28.20.e87. PMC 110803. PMID 11024189.
  13. ^ a b c Bentley, David R.; Balasubramanian, Shankar; Swerdlow, Harold P.; Smith, Geoffrey P.; Milton, John; Brown, Clive G.; Hall, Kevin P.; Evers, Dirk J.; Barnes, Colin L.; Bignell, Helen R.; Boutell, Jonathan M. (November 2008). "Accurate whole human genome sequencing using reversible terminator chemistry". Nature. 456 (7218): 53–59. Bibcode:2008Natur.456...53B. doi:10.1038/nature07517. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 2581791. PMID 18987734.
  14. ^ Turcatti, Gerardo (April 2014). "Developing the Biomolecular Screening Facility at the EPFL into the Chemical Biology Screening Platform for Switzerland". Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening. 17 (4): 369–376. doi:10.2174/1386207317666140323194716. ISSN 1386-2073. PMID 24661209.
  15. ^ "Gerardo Turcatti, Head of BSF-ACCESS - NCCR Chemical Biology". NCCR in Chemical Biology. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  16. ^ Fedurco, M. (2006-02-06). "BTA, a novel reagent for DNA attachment on glass and efficient generation of solid-phase amplified DNA colonies". Nucleic Acids Research. 34 (3): e22. doi:10.1093/nar/gnj023. ISSN 0305-1048. PMC 1363783. PMID 16473845.
  17. ^ US 9297006, Adessi, Celine; Kawashima, Eric & Mayer, Pascal et al., "Methods of nucleic acid amplification and sequencing", published 2016-03-29, issued 2014-01-08, assigned to Illumina Inc. 
  18. ^ US 9303290, Fedurco, Milan; Romieu, Anthony & Turcatti, Gerardo, "Method of nucleotide detection", published 2016-04-05, issued 2014-06-03, assigned to Illumina Cambridge Ltd. 
  19. ^ EP 1910559, Liu, Xiaohai; Milton, John & Smith, Geoffrey Paul et al., "Preparation of templates for nucleic acid sequencing", published 2008-04-16, issued 2006-07-20, assigned to Solexa Ltd. 
  20. ^ Turcatti, Gerardo; Romieu, Anthony; Fedurco, Milan; Tairi, Ana-Paula (2008-02-07). "A new class of cleavable fluorescent nucleotides: synthesis and optimization as reversible terminators for DNA sequencing by synthesis †". Nucleic Acids Research. 36 (4): e25. doi:10.1093/nar/gkn021. ISSN 1362-4962. PMC 2275100. PMID 18263613.
  21. ^ Georgi, Fanny; Kuttler, Fabien; Murer, Luca; Andriasyan, Vardan; Witte, Robert; Yakimovich, Artur; Turcatti, Gerardo; Greber, Urs F. (December 2020). "A high-content image-based drug screen of clinical compounds against cell transmission of adenovirus". Scientific Data. 7 (1): 265. Bibcode:2020NatSD...7..265G. doi:10.1038/s41597-020-00604-0. ISSN 2052-4463. PMC 7423605. PMID 32788590.
  22. ^ Georgi, Fanny; Andriasyan, Vardan; Witte, Robert; Murer, Luca; Hemmi, Silvio; Yu, Lisa; Grove, Melanie; Meili, Nicole; Kuttler, Fabien; Yakimovich, Artur; Turcatti, Gerardo (2020-08-20). "The FDA-Approved Drug Nelfinavir Inhibits Lytic Cell-Free but Not Cell-Associated Nonlytic Transmission of Human Adenovirus". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 64 (9). doi:10.1128/AAC.01002-20. ISSN 0066-4804. PMC 7449217. PMID 32601166.
  23. ^ Varbanov, Hristo P.; Kuttler, Fabien; Banfi, Damiano; Turcatti, Gerardo; Dyson, Paul J. (2019-01-29). "Screening-based approach to discover effective platinum-based chemotherapies for cancers with poor prognosis". PLOS ONE. 14 (1): e0211268. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1411268V. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0211268. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6350982. PMID 30695050.
  24. ^ Varbanov, Hristo P.; Kuttler, Fabien; Banfi, Damiano; Turcatti, Gerardo; Dyson, Paul J. (2017-02-06). "Repositioning approved drugs for the treatment of problematic cancers using a screening approach". PLOS ONE. 12 (2): e0171052. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1271052V. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0171052. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5293254. PMID 28166232.
  25. ^ Jaferzadeh, Keyvan; Rappaz, Benjamin; Kuttler, Fabien; Kim, Bo kyoung; Moon, Inkyu; Marquet, Pierre; Turcatti, Gerardo (2020-01-15). "Marker-Free Automatic Quantification of Drug-Treated Cardiomyocytes with Digital Holographic Imaging". ACS Photonics. 7 (1): 105–113. doi:10.1021/acsphotonics.9b01152. S2CID 212811883.
  26. ^ Rappaz, Benjamin; Jourdain, Pascal; Banfi, Damiano; Kuttler, Fabien; Marquet, Pierre; Turcatti, Gerardo (2019-11-28). "Image-Based Marker-Free Screening of GABAA Agonists, Antagonists, and Modulators". SLAS Discovery. 25 (5): 458–470. doi:10.1177/2472555219887142. PMC 7243081. PMID 31779505.
  27. ^ Campos, Vasco; Rappaz, Benjamin; Kuttler, Fabien; Turcatti, Gerardo; Naveiras, Olaia (2018-04-05). "High-throughput, nonperturbing quantification of lipid droplets with digital holographic microscopy". Journal of Lipid Research. 59 (7): 1301–1310. doi:10.1194/jlr.d085217. ISSN 0022-2275. PMC 6027917. PMID 29622579.
  28. ^ Brandenberg, Nathalie; Hoehnel, Sylke; Kuttler, Fabien; Homicsko, Krisztian; Ceroni, Camilla; Ringel, Till; Gjorevski, Nikolce; Schwank, Gerald; Coukos, George; Turcatti, Gerardo; Lutolf, Matthias P. (September 2020). "High-throughput automated organoid culture via stem-cell aggregation in microcavity arrays". Nature Biomedical Engineering. 4 (9): 863–874. doi:10.1038/s41551-020-0565-2. ISSN 2157-846X. PMID 32514094. S2CID 219543643.
  29. ^ "ChemBioFrance - Infrastructure de recherche". chembiofrance.cn.cnrs.fr. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  30. ^ "Innopharma" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  31. ^ "Members". European Cell-based Assays Interest Group. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  32. ^ "Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening". Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
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