Clotilde POLICAR

Professor, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL university
Dean of the sciences education of Ecole Normale Supérieure
Deputy director of the Laboratoire des BioMolécules (LBM), UMR7203, CNRS-ENS-PSL-SU

ENS-PSL
Département de chimie: 24, rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
Direction des études sciences: 45, rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France

Email: clotilde.policar@ens.psl.eu
Phone: +33 144322424
Office: E037

Website of the research group “metals in biology”: https://www.chimie.ens.fr/bic/ and https://www.chimie.ens.fr/recherche/laboratoire-lbm/peptides-glycoconjugues-metaux-biologie/bioinorganic-chemistry/  — Note (April 2022) this link is momentarily unavailable. Pages under repair.

Short bio

Clotilde Policar was trained in organic, inorganic and physical chemistry, after which she specialized in bio-inorganic chemistry. After completing Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Mansuy and Dr. Isabelle Artaud at Paris-Sud 11 and Paris 5 universities on mimics of a metalloprotein (manganese peroxidase), she worked as a post-doctoral fellow on high-field electron paramagnetic resonance to characterize complexes a spectroscopic mimics of the Mn cluster from the oxygen evolving center in the photosystem II with Dr. Sun Un and Dr. William Rutherford. She was then appointed an assistant professor at Paris-Sud 11 (now Paris Saclay university), where she dedicated her work to the development of Mn-complexes reproducing the activity of superoxide-dismutase (SOD). The initial focus was the spectroscopic characterization of Mn-OO adducts involved in the catalytic cycle for superoxide dismutation. She became an associate professor in 2005. Because the metalloproteins SODs are involved in the cellular protection against oxidative stress, the next step she took was to study these compounds in cellular models of oxidative stress. Since 2008, she has a professorship at the Ecole Normale Supérieure—Paris Sciences et Lettres, where she has set up a thematic group in bioinorganic chemistry or more precisely in inorganic biological and cellular chemistry. This emerging thematic is dedicated to the direct study of inorganic compounds in biological environments. Her main current interests focus, on the one hand, on the design of manganese-based anti-oxidants and their evaluation in cells. On the other hand, her group has initiated a new topic with the development of metal-based probes, including metal–carbonyl as multimodal bioprobes and that they validated as efficient multimodal IR, fluorescence and X-fluorescence for bio-imaging.

Education and professional experience

  • Short CV and detailed publication list: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0255-1650
  • 2021: elected as president of the  SBIC (https://www.sbichem.org/)
    Since 2020: dean of the science education at the Ecole normale supérieure
    2019-2020:
    responsible of the two-year master programme in Chemistry and Life Science (parcours Chimie et sciences du vivant du master de chimie de Paris Centre)
    2019: elected member of the SBIC council (https://www.sbichem.org/) aaa
    2017-2021: member of the editorial board of Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry
    2016-2020: deputy director of the Institut de Chimie du CNRS in charge of interdisciplinarity, work in the MITI-CNRS (mission pour les initiatives transverses et l’interdisciplinarité)
    2015-2017: member of the advisory board of Inorganic Chemistry (ACS)
    2015-2020: deputy chair of the FrenchBIC   (French network in BioInorganic Chemistry, network of 25 laboratories)
    2014-2020:  dean of the studies at the department of chemistry of ENS, co-responsible for the international relationships
    Since 2014:  deputy director of the Research Unit LBM
    2008: nomination as a professor at the ENS
    2005-2008: associate professor, Paris-Sud 11 university (now Paris Saclay)
    2005 (nov.): habilitation thesis, Paris-Sud 11 university
    1996-2005: assistant professor, Paris-Sud 11 university, Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d’Orsay (ICMMO)

Research interests

    • Bioinorganic chemistry
    • Superoxide dismutase mimics, superoxide, cellular models of oxidative stress, metal-based anti-oxidants
    • Metal-carbonyles as multimodal probes for imaging: IR-spectromicroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence and classical fluorescence
    • Metals in biology: intracellular detection,  metal imaging
    • Oxidative stress

About a recent project funded by ANR (nation research agency): https://www.ens.psl.eu/actualites/des-catalyseurs-bio-inspires-pour-lutter-contre-le-stress-oxydant

Awards, distinctions, scientific societies membership, and contracts

  • President elect of the SBIC in October 2021
  • Elected member of the international council of the SBIC in October 2019
  • Member of the Société chimique de France and of the FrenchBIC
  • Research contracts since 2008:
    -ANR contracts (National Funding Agency) : two as a PI (CATMAN, 2021-2025 ; MAGIC, 2015-2021) ; four ANR contracts as a partner (MOBIDIC, PI P. Seksik (2022-2026) ; MnHFPELDOR, PI L. Tabares, 2012-2015, Take Care, PI M. Robert, 2011-13 ; Metabact, PI I. Artaud, 2011-13)
    -Qlife initiative: project MAIN (2021-2022) as PI (Mn-Based Antioxidant evaluation in INflammatory Epithelial Cells)
    -Research contract from FRM as PI (Fondation pour la recherche médicale, Appels Pionniers de la recherche Etudes Physico-chimiques innovantes pour la biologie et la médecine- 2016-2020)
    -Research fellowship from the Association François Aupetit (inflammatory bowel disease patients) obtained in 2015
    -Paris-Sciences-Lettres research contract (PI, 2014-15)
    -CNRS-contract Interdisciplinary work (interface chemistry-physic-biology), support for risky research (2009)
    -Young researcher grant (ACI jeune chercheur) (2005-08)
    -Since 2008: more than 15 projects selected on synchrotron beamlines (SOLEIL, APS, Aladdin).
  • 1997: first prize “Creation” for the French Ministry of Research for the project Le ticket d’Archimède (posters of popularisation of science in the Parisian Metro), project directed by C. Policar from 1995 to 1998.

Supervised students and post-doctorants

  • Former:
    CONGRATULATIONS to
    Paul Demay-Drouhard, who was selected as a CNRS researcher (section 12) in 2022
    Koudedja Coulibaly, who was recruited by Air Liquide in 2021
    Emilie Mathieu, who was appointed as a CNRS researcher (section 16, LCC Toulouse) in 2021
    Sarah Hostachy, who was appointed as a CEAEA researcher (LCBM, Grenoble) in 2020
  • Current:
    -Jean Bouvet, PhD since October 2020, co-supervized with Prof. S. Demignot, IPV fellowship
    -Rose Hoste, PhD since October 2017, ENS fellowship

Teaching

  • Bioinorganic chemistry: M1-ENS and master de chimie de Paris Centre, parcours chemistry and life science
  • Metals in biology: M2-master de chimie de Paris Centre, parcours chimie moléculaire
  • History of Sciences: organisation of the annual conference day “Journée Bram”

Selected publications

Recent review: Superoxide dismutase mimics: from the tool box of the chemists to cellular studies, Clotilde Policar*, Jean Bouvet, Hélène C. Bertrand, Nicolas Delsuc, Curr. Op. Chem. Biol., 2022, 67:102109, IF(2021) 8.82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2021.102109 Emily Que ‘sinvitation

Inertness of superoxide dismutase mimics Mn(II) complexes based on an open-chain ligand, bioactivity and detection in intestinal epithelial cells, Gabrielle Schanne, Martha Zoumpoulaki, Géraldine Gazzah, Amandine Vincent, Hugues Preudhomme, Ryszard Lobinski, Sylvie Demigno, Philippe Seksik, Nicolas Delsuc, Clotilde Policar*, Oxidative Medecine and Cellular Longevity, 2022, 2022, Article ID 3858122, 16 pages, IF(2021) 6.543 ; https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/3858122

Intracellular location matters: rationalization of the anti-inflammatory activity of a manganese(II) superoxide dismutase mimic complex, Emilie Mathieu, Anne-Sophie Bernard, Elodie Quévrain, Martha Zoumpoulaki, Sébastien Iriart, Caroline Lung-Soong, Barry Lai, Kadda Medjoubi, Lucas Henry, Sounderya Nagarajan, Florent Poyer, Andrea Scheitler, Ivana Ivanović-Burmazović, Sergio Marco, Andrea Somogyi, Philippe Seksik, Nicolas Delsuc, Clotilde Policar, Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 7885 – 7888, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0CC03398G

Graftable SCoMPIs enable the labeling and X-Ray fluorescence imaging of proteins, Sarah Hostachy, Marie Masuda, Takayuki Miki, Itaru Hamachi, Sandrine Sagan, Olivier Lequin, Kadda Medjoubi, Andrea Somogyi, Nicolas Delsuc and Clotilde Policar*, Chem. Sci. 2018 9, 4483-4487, doi 10.1039/C8SC00886H

A cell penetrant manganese SOD-mimic is able to complement MnSOD and exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on cellular and animal models of inflammatory bowel diseases, Emilie Mathieu, Anne-Sophie Bernard, Nicolas Delsuc, Elodie Quévrain, Géraldine Gazzah, Barry Lai, Florian Chain, Philippe Langella, Maria Bachelet, Joelle Masliah, Philippe Seksik, and Clotilde Policar*, Inorg Chem. 2017, 56, 2545-2555, IF 4.82 (2016), doi: dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b02695

Entasis Through Hook-and-Loop Fastening in a Glycoligand with Cumulative Weak Forces Stabilizing CuI, Ludivine Garcia, Federico Cisnetti, Natacha Gillet, Régis Guillot, Magali Aumont-Niciase, Jean-Philip Piquemal, Michel Desmadril, François Lambert, Clotilde Policar*, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137, 1141−1146, DOI: 10.1021/ja510259p,

Subcellular Imaging in the Mid-IR of a Metal-Carbonyl Moiety using Photothermal Induced Resonance, Clotilde Policar*, Jenny-Birgitta Waern, Marie-Aude Plamont, Sylvain Clède, Céline Mayet, Rui Prazeres, Jean-Michel Ortega, Anne Vessières, Alexandre Dazzi, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2011, 50, 860-864; doi : 10.1002/anie.201003161, Highlighted with an inside cover.

Publications

63 entries « 2 of 3 »

2016

Monitoring bicosomes containing antioxidants in normal and irradiated skin Journal Article

E Fernández; S Hostachy; C Sandt; G Rodríguez; H C Bertrand; S Clède; M Cócera; A D L Maza; F Lambert; C Policar; O López

RSC Advances, 6 (76), pp. 72559–72567, 2016.

Human TTR conformation altered by rhenium tris-carbonyl derivatives Journal Article

L Ciccone; C Policar; E A Stura; W Shepard

Journal of Structural Biology, 195 (3), pp. 353–364, 2016.

The Use of Mn(II) Bound to His-tags as Genetically Encodable Spin-Label for Nanometric Distance Determination in Proteins Journal Article

H Y V Ching; F C Mascali; H C Bertrand; E M Bruch; P Demay-Drouhard; R M Rasia; C Policar; L C Tabares; S Un

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 7 (6), pp. 1072–1076, 2016.

2015

Entasis through Hook-and-Loop fastening in a glycoligand with cumulative weak forces stabilizing CuI Journal Article

L Garcia; F Cisnetti; N Gillet; R Guillot; M Aumont-Nicaise; J -P Piquemal; M Desmadril; F Lambert; C Policar

Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137 (3), pp. 1141–1146, 2015.

Nanometric distance measurements between Mn(II)DOTA centers Journal Article

H Y Vincent Ching; P Demay-Drouhard; H C Bertrand; C Policar; L C Tabares; S Un

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 17 (36), pp. 23368–23377, 2015.

Fast magnetically driven electrodeposition of amorphous metal oxide water oxidation catalysts from carbon-coated metallic nanoparticles Journal Article

J Zhu; F Lambert; C Policar; F Mavré; B Limoges

Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3 (31), pp. 16190–16197, 2015.

Synthesis, characterization and biological activity of Cu(II), Zn(II) and Re(I) complexes derived from S-benzyldithiocarbazate and 3-acetylcoumarin Journal Article

M L Low; G Paulus; P Dorlet; R Guillot; R Rosli; N Delsuc; K A Crouse; C Policar

BioMetals, 28 (3), pp. 553–566, 2015.

Metal-carbonyl units for vibrational and luminescence imaging: Towards multimodality Journal Article

S Clède; C Policar

Chemistry - A European Journal, 21 (3), pp. 942–958, 2015.

An easy-to-detect nona-arginine peptide for epidermal targeting Journal Article

S Clède; N Delsuc; C Laugel; F Lambert; C Sandt; A Baillet-Guffroy; C Policar

Chemical Communications, 51 (13), pp. 2687–2689, 2015.

2014

Apo-neocarzinostatin: A protein carrier for Cu(II) glycocomplexes and Cu(II) into U937 and HT29 cell lines Journal Article

L Garcia; S Franzoni; F Mussi; M Aumont-Niçaise; H Bertrand; M Desmadril; G Pelosi; A Buschini; C Policar

Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 135 , pp. 40–44, 2014.

Conjugation of a new series of dithiocarbazate schiff base copper(II) complexes with vectors selected to enhance antibacterial activity Journal Article

M L Low; L Maigre; P Dorlet; R Guillot; J -M Pagès; K A Crouse; C Policar; N Delsuc

Bioconjugate Chemistry, 25 (12), pp. 2269–2284, 2014.

Influence of the side-chain length on the cellular uptake and the cytotoxicity of rhenium triscarbonyl derivatives: A bimodal infrared and luminescence quantitative study Journal Article

S Clède; F Lambert; R Saint-Fort; M -A Plamont; H Bertrand; A Vessières; C Policar

Chemistry - A European Journal, 20 (28), pp. 8714–8722, 2014.

Anti-oxidant Mn-complexes: evaluation in cellular models of oxidative stress Journal Article

Clotilde Policar; Anne-Sophie Bernard; Nicolas Delsuc; Geraldine Gazzah; Manon Guille; Frederic Lemaitre; Christian Amatore; Maria Bachelet; Joelle Masliah

Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 19 , pp. S739-S740, 2014, (Times Cited: 0 2 12th European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference (EuroBIC) Aug 24-28, 2014 Zurich, SWITZERLAND Univ Zurich).

Luminescence modulations of rhenium tricarbonyl complexes induced by structural variations Journal Article

H C Bertrand; S Clède; R Guillot; F Lambert; C Policar

Inorganic Chemistry, 53 (12), pp. 6204–6223, 2014.

From IR-Spectromicroscopy using AFM-IR and SR-FTIR to Bimodal Spectromicroscopy using SCoMPIs - Single Core Multimodal Probe for Imaging Journal Article

C Policar; C Sylvain; F Lambert; N Delsuc; C Sandt; P Dumas; M Refregiers; M Plamont; A Vessieres; Z Gueroui; A Dazzi

Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 19 , pp. S182-S182, 2014, ISSN: 0949-8257.

Electrochemical formation and reactivity of a manganese peroxo complex: Acid driven Ħ2O2 generation vs. O-O bond cleavage Journal Article

H Y V Ching; E Anxolabéhère-Mallart; H E Colmer; C Costentin; P Dorlet; T A Jackson; C Policar; M Robert

Chemical Science, 5 (6), pp. 2304–2310, 2014.

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectromicroscopy to identify cell organelles: Correlation with fluorescence staining in MCF-7 breast cancer cells Journal Article

S Clède; C Policar; C Sandt

Applied Spectroscopy, 68 (1), pp. 113–117, 2014.

2013

Detection of an estrogen derivative in two breast cancer cell lines using a single core multimodal probe for imaging (SCoMPI) imaged by a panel of luminescent and vibrational techniques Journal Article

S Clède; F Lambert; C Sandt; S Kascakova; M Unger; E Harté; M -A Plamont; R Saint-Fort; A Deniset-Besseau; Z Gueroui; C Hirschmugl; S Lecomte; A Dazzi; A Vessières; C Policar

Analyst, 138 (19), pp. 5627–5638, 2013.

An intrinsically fluorescent glycoligand for direct imaging of ligand trafficking in artificial and living cell systems Journal Article

L Garcia; M Lazzaretti; A Diguet; F Mussi; F Bisceglie; J Xie; G Pelosi; A Buschini; D Baigl; C Policar

New Journal of Chemistry, 37 (10), pp. 3030–3034, 2013.

Synchrotron radiation FTIR detection of a metal-carbonyl tamoxifen analog. Correlation with luminescence microscopy to study its subcellular distribution Journal Article

S Clède; F Lambert; C Sandt; Z Gueroui; N Delsuc; P Dumas; A Vessières; C Policar

Biotechnology Advances, 31 (3), pp. 393–395, 2013.

Polypyrrole functionalized with new copper complex as platform for His-tag antibody immobilization and direct antigen detection Journal Article

S Chebil; A Miodek; V Ambike; H Sauriat-Dorizon; C Policar; H Korri-Youssoufi

Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 185 , pp. 762–770, 2013.

Toward optimal spatial and spectral quality in widefield infrared spectromicroscopy of IR labelled single cells Journal Article

E C Mattson; M Unger; S Clède; F Lambert; C Policar; A Imtiaz; R D'Souza; C J Hirschmugl

Analyst, 138 (19), pp. 5610–5618, 2013.

2012

Metal complexation of a Đ -ribose-based ligand decoded by experimental and theoretical studies Journal Article

F Cisnetti; J -D Maréchal; M Nicaise; R Guillot; M Desmadril; F Lambert; C Policar

European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, (20), pp. 3308–3319, 2012.

Evaluation of the anti-oxidant properties of a SOD-mimic Mn-complex in activated macrophages Journal Article

Anne-Sophie Bernard; Claire Giroud; Vincent H Y Ching; Anne Meunier; Vinita Ambike; Christian Amatore; Manon Guille-Collignon; Frederic Lemaitre; Clotilde Policar

Dalton Transactions, 41 (21), pp. 6399-6403, 2012, (Times Cited: 23).

A rhenium tris-carbonyl derivative as a single core multimodal probe for imaging (SCoMPI) combining infrared and luminescent properties Journal Article

S Clède; F Lambert; C Sandt; Z Gueroui; M Réfrégiers; M -A Plamont; P Dumas; A Vessières; C Policar

Chemical Communications, 48 (62), pp. 7729–7731, 2012.

Glycosiderophores: Synthesis of tris-hydroxamate siderophores based on a galactose or glycero central scaffold, Fe(III) complexation studies Journal Article

C Neff; F Bellot; J -B Waern; F Lambert; J Brandel; G Serratrice; F Gaboriau; C Policar

Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 112 , pp. 59–67, 2012.

Recent applications of molecular spectroscopy in bioorganometallic chemistry-Part 2: Ferrocenes and other organometallic complexes Journal Article

I S Butler; R P Kengne-Momo; A Vessières; G Jaouen; C Policar

Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 47 (8), pp. 620–632, 2012.

Recent analytical applications of molecular spectroscopy in bioorganometallic chemistrypart I: Metal carbonyls Journal Article

I S Butler; R P Kengne-Momo; G Jaouen; C Policar; A Vessières

Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 47 (7), pp. 531–549, 2012.

2011

Intrinsically fluorescent glycoligands to study metal selectivity Journal Article

L Garcia; S Maisonneuve; J Oudinet-Sin Marcu; R Guillot; F Lambert; J Xie; C Policar

Inorganic Chemistry, 50 (22), pp. 11353–11362, 2011.

Subcellular IR imaging of a metal-carbonyl moiety using photothermally induced resonance Journal Article

C Policar; J B Waern; M -A Plamont; S Clède; C Mayet; R Prazeres; J -M Ortega; A Vessières; A Dazzi

Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 50 (4), pp. 860–864, 2011.

63 entries « 2 of 3 »