Prof. Julien Lescar, Ph.D

Prof. Julien Lescar, Ph.D is a biochemist and structural biologist with extensive experience in using X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy as a main tool for protein structure-function studies. He has determined the 3D structures of numerous viral proteins involved in RNA virus entry and virus replication for several major human pathogens (flaviviruses such as dengue virus or Zika virus, alphaviruses such as chikungunya virus, human metapneumovirus). In the last eight years, he has collaborated extensively with Professors Chuan Fa Liu and James Tam on identifying, characterizing and cloning several peptidyl asparaginyl ligases, with tremendous applications in biotechnology and biomedicine. His lab has conducted structural studies on recombinant asparaginyl ligases leading to a better understanding of their mechanism of action and accelerating their use for the rapid and precise bioconjugation of biomolecules such as nanobodies or full-length antibodies.