Dino Moras, born on 23 November 1944, is a French

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

, research director at the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

and co-director of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC) in

Illkirch-Graffenstaden Illkirch-Graffenstaden () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Strasbourg, and is adjacent to it on the south-southwest. Illkirch-Graffenstaden's population ...

until 2010.Académie des sciences : Dino Moras
, CV sur le site de l'

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

: www.academie-sciences.fr. Accessed 14 Feb 2013

Biography

Dino Moras is a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

by training with a

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

defended in 1971 at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, formerly Louis-Pasteur University. After a

post-doctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, he joined the CNRS in 1969 and founded the department of crystallography at IBMC in 1980. In 1995 he moved with his CNRS unit in the new IGBMC. He became a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1998 and a full member of the Academy of Sciences in 1999. In 2002, following Pierre Chambon and Jean-Louis Mandel, he was Deputy Director and then Director of the IGBMC in Strasbourg from 2002 to 2010.

Main Scientific contributions

Chemistry

1968 - Synthesis and structure determination of a

heterocycle A heterocyclic compound or ring structure is a cyclic compound that has atoms of at least two different elements as members of its ring(s). Heterocyclic organic chemistry is the branch of organic chemistry dealing with the synthesis, proper ...

without

carbon atom Carbon () is a chemical element; it has symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 electrons. It belongs to group ...

. 1971 - Structure determination of heterocyclic cryptates. 1982 - First structural characterization and imaging of H₃O⁺, the

catalytic Catalysis () is the increase in reaction rate, rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst ...

intermediate at the heart of acid-base catalysis postulated by Brönsted in 1918).

Structural Biology

Structure-function relationships in transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and their relation to the origin of the genetic code

(i) Crystal structure of tRNAasp, the second to be solved at atomic resolution. (ii) Partition of aaRSs into two classes based on structural and functional correlation (each class of enzymes targets different chiral centers). (iii) The first structure determination of a class II tRNA-aaRS complex led to the elucidation of the reaction mechanism for the

aspartic acid Aspartic acid (symbol Asp or D; the ionic form is known as aspartate), is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. The L-isomer of aspartic acid is one of the 22 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e., the building blocks of protei ...

system, prototypic of all class II enzymes. It provided the structural explanation for the different

chirality Chirality () is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word ''chirality'' is derived from the Greek (''kheir''), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is ''chiral'' if it is distinguishable fro ...

of the targets in the two classes. Further the crystal structure led to the discovery and functional characterization of a novel conformation of

adenosine triphosphate Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleoside triphosphate that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cell (biology), cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known ...

(ATP). The latter was so far only found in class II

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

s. (iv) The crystal structure of threonyl-tRNA synthetase enlightened the molecular mechanism of the editing reaction to correct for tRNA mischarging by serine thus solving the related Pauling paradox for the fidelity of translation.

Transcription regulation by Nuclear Hormones Receptors (NRs)

The superfamily of NRs, ligand-dependent

transcription factor In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription (genetics), transcription of genetics, genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding t ...

s, regulates the expression of important target genes. NRs control most physiological functions and are implicated in several pathological processes. In 1995 he solved the first crystal structures of the ligand binding domains (LBDs) of two NRs of

retinoid The retinoids are a class of chemical compounds that are natural derivatives of vitamin A or are chemically related to it. Synthetic retinoids are utilized in cosmetic formulations, clinical dermatology, and the treatment of some forms of cancer ...

s (RXR and RAR) in their apo and liganded form respectively. These structures allowed to define a canonical unique fold for the whole family and revealed the molecular mechanism of

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...

dependent activation, setting up the bases for the design of

agonist An agonist is a chemical that activates a Receptor (biochemistry), receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are Cell (biology), cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an R ...

and

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

structure using

Xenon Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

as heavy atom derivative. His team contributed several other molecular structures of NRs LBDs, notably those of human VDR (

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most important compo ...

) and insect's receptor Ecdysone (EcR). In 2004 a comparative analysis of the primary sequences lead to the partition of the superfamily into two classes according to mutually exclusive invariant aminoacids. A functional correlation with clear evolutionary implications could be made with their dimerization properties. Class I receptors encompasses homodimers or monomers while class II assembles the receptors that form heterodimers with RXR. In order to decipher the structural bases of the communication between nuclear receptors, DNA and components of the basal transcription machinery he used the multi-scale approach of integrative structural biology. The solution structures of several nuclear receptors heterodimers bound to their DNA response elements was the first milestone. It was followed by the cryo-EM structure determination of two additional complexes.

Honors and awards

- Bronze Medal, CNRS, 1972, silver Medal, 1982 -

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

, 1987 -

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(EMBO) member, 1987 -

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

, member, 1998 - American Academy of Arts and Sciences, member, 1998 - Chevalier de l'ordre de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, 2002 - Officier dans l’

Ordre National du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

, 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moras, Dino Living people 1944 births French biochemists Members of Academia Europaea Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research