MetBioCat
ERC Advanced Grant Project

Chemical Biology Metal Catalysis

Our Aims

Generation, training and transfer of knowledge

Development of creative and groundbreaking
research at the interface of Chemistry, Biology and Medicine.

Education of researchers in order they become
future leaders of academic or industrial projects.

Transferring of knowledge to Society in order
to propel economical and social progress

European Research Council Santiago de Compostela University Campus Vida CIQUS - Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biológica y Materiales Moleculares
Latest News
Media Library

Latest publication in Nature Communication

05/15/2018
Our recent article at Nat. Commun. is already available on-line

We are very glad to announce the publication of our latest paper at Nature Communication, entitled "Concurrent and orthogonal gold(I) and ruthenium(II) catalysis inside living cells", by C. Vidal, M. Tomás-Gamasa, P. Destito, F. López and J. L. Mascareñas.
In which, we report a gold-mediated C–C bond formation that occurs in complex aqueous habitats, and demonstrate that the reaction can be translated to living mammalian cells.

See more at: https://www.usc.es/ciqus/es/noticias/alquimistasmediocelular


External link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04314-5

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Just accepted our last paper in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.

05/08/2018
Our latest communication in ACIE is ready for publishing

"Rhodium(III)‐Catalyzed Annulation of 2‐Alkenylanilides with Alkynes via C‐H Activation: a Direct Access to 2‐substituted Indolines" by Font, M., Cendón, B., Seoane, A., Mascareñas, J.L., and Gulías, M., is our recent communication to Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Abstract:
A Rh(III) complex featuring an electron‐deficient η5‐cyclopentadienyl ligand catalyzes an unusual annulation between alkynes and 2‐alkenylanilides, to form synthetically appealing 2‐substituted indolines. Formally, the process can be viewed as an allylic amination with concomitant hydrocarbonation of the alkyne. Mechanistic experiments indicate that this transformation involves a peculiar Rhodium migration with a concomitant 1,5‐H shift.

External link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.201802830

Brainstorming annual meeting

05/07/2018
Past Thursday, our research group had the annual meeting at the Pazo de Vista Alegre (Ponte Ulla)

Held on the 3rd of May at Pazo de Vista Alegre (Ponte Ulla, A Coruña), the annual meeting of our research group was a success. This was a one-day meeting in which we shared ideas and proposals for future research. Due to the fruitful discussion and debate, during six relaxed and informal sessions, some new proposals will start to be developed in the next weeks. Thanks to Pazo de Vista Alegre for being such nice hosts!

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Synthetic models in Chemical Biology

05/28/2018
Workshop on Nanomedicine 2012. Prof. Mascareñas, ERC - Advanced Grant METBIOCAT, explains his research lines in the chemical biology field.
DNA is the key macromolecule used by nature to store the genetic information, therefore containing all the instructions that control the day-to-day function of cells. As such, it has been a traditional target for the development of different type of drugs, particularly anticancer agents. These drugs include alkylating agents, like cis-platinum and derivatives, and non-covalent binders like the anthracyclines, which interact to DNA by intercalation between base pairs. There are other types of cytotoxic non-covalent DNA binders, like distamycin or propamidine, which interact to DNA by insertion in the minor groove.

We have been interested in this latter type of molecules, because they are sequence selective and therefore provide for molecular engineering of site-specific DNA-promoted processes. In particular, we have designed and synthesized a number of variants of propamidine that work as sequence specific DNA optical sensors, or as light-activated prodrugs.

Some of the knowledge acquired in the studies of light-promoted processes has been extended to area of DNA-protein interactions. In particular, we have developed a chemical approach to control the DNA interaction of synthetic mimics of transcription factors, and expect that the tactic can be used in the future to regulate processes of gene expression.
Part of our work in this area is also focused to the construction of optical sensors that can detect minute amounts of transcription factors considered as oncogenic biomarkers, like the bZIP protein Jun.
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JOSÉ LUIS MASCAREÑAS, PhD
Principal investigator

Meet our team

José Luis Mascareñas, PhD leads this team of researchers. Find out more about him and the rest of the team in our Group members section.

Group Members

Join Us

We are always looking forward to welcoming exceptional candidates into our research Group. Please visit our Opportunities section or send us your cv.

Opportunities

Living and working in
Santiago de Compostela

Are you new to the city and its University?
We have gathered some facts and figures you may find interesting.

15ºC

Annual mean temperature. The humid oceanic climate guarantees mild weather throughout the year.

33,000

Students attend the University. With the city population around 100,000.

500

Year old University. Currently imparting more than 60 degrees.

Connected

Santiago is well connected, having its own international airport, train station, etc.

Heritage

Amongst many awards, Santiago was declared World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1985.

Galicia

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia de most Nortwestern region of Spain.

Transport

Public transport is available in order to get around the city, which is also conveniently located to visit other sites in Galicia.

Language

Spanish and Galician are the two official languages of Galicia. Your work will be carried out in English.

Resources

Official websites:
University of Santiago
Santiago Tourism
CIQUS