Sandra Touati
Since 2019: Chargé de recherche at CNRS (CRCN, section 22), Katja Wassmann’s team, Institute Jacques Monod, Paris
2015 – 2019: Postdoctoral Researcher, Chromosome Segregation Laboratory, Frank Uhlmann’s team, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
2011 – 2014: PhD Physiology, Physiopathology and Therapeutic (ED394), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris.
Meiosis is a specialized form of cell division that ensures gamete formation and genome stability. It relies on a profound reprogramming of phosphorylation networks compared to mitosis. These networks are guided by a phosphocode: a combination of phosphorylation sites, recognition motifs, and interactions with regulatory proteins. We aim to understand how this phosphocode is established and reorganized during meiosis using the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our approach combines mechanistic analyses of kinases and phosphatases, large-scale time-resolved phosphoproteomics, and structural modeling. We focus on key cell cycle enzymes, including the kinase Cdk, the meiosis-specific kinase Ime2, and the phosphatase PP2A, to understand how their activity and specificity are rewired during meiosis. This project aims to provide new insights into meiotic regulation, with implications for fertility, genome stability, and the evolution of specialized signaling networks.
2022 – 2026 ANR JCJC, 300 k€
2021 – 2023 Project ARC PJA1, 50 k€
2020 – 2021 Tremplin FSI – Sorbonne université, 15 k€
- Alessandra Carbone (IBPS, LCQB, Paris, France)
- Philipp Kaldis (Lund University, Sweden)
- Simonetta Piatti (CRBM, Montpellier, France)
- Piotr Sicinski (Dana Farber cancer Institute, Boston, USA)
PhD student : Irem Polat (2023 – 2026), Dunja Celebic (2020 – 2023)
6 Master, 2 licence/BTS
Underlined – PhD candidates and students supervised
2025 El Jailani S, Cladière D, Nikalayevich E, Touati SA, Chesnokova V, Melmed S, Buffin E, Wassmann K. Eliminating separase inhibition reveals absence of robust cohesin protection in oocyte metaphase II. The EMBO Journal, 44: 5187-5214. Open Access
2025 Cladière D, Wassmann K, Touati SA*. ” JESS Simple western ” – a new technology to assess protein abundance in mouse oocytes. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2946:175-192.
* Corresponding author
2024 Varela Salgado M, Adriaans IE, Touati SA, Ibanes S, Lai-Kee-Him J, Ancelin A, Cipelletti L, Picas L, Piatti S. Phosphorylation of the F-BAR protein Hof1 drives septin ring splitting in budding yeast. Nature Communication, 15(1):3383. Open Access
2024 Celebic D, Polat I, Legros V, Chevreux G, Wassmann K, Touati SA*. Qualitative rather than quantitative phosphoregulation shapes the end of meiosis I in budding yeast. The EMBO Journal, 43: 1325-1350. Open Access
* Corresponding author
2024 El Jailani S, Wassmann K, Touati SA*. Whole immunofluorescence staining to visualize cell cycle progression in mouse oocytes. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2740: 211-227.
* Corresponding author
2022 Nikalayevich E, El Jailani S, Dupré A, Cladière D, Gryaznova Y, Fosse C, Buffin E, Touati SA, Wassmann K. Aurora B/C-dependent phosphorylation promotes Rec8 cleavage in mammalian oocytes. Current Biology. S0960-9822(22)00436-5. Open Access
2021 Gryaznova Y, Keating L#, Touati SA#, Cladière D, El Yakoubi W, Buffin E, Wassmann K. Kinetochore individualization in meiosis I is required for centromeric cohesin removal in meiosis II. The EMBO Journal. 40(7):e106797. Open Access
# Co-second
2020 Jones AW, Flynn HR, Uhlmann F, Snijders AP*, Touati SA*. Assessing Budding Yeast Phosphoproteome Dynamics in a Time-Resolved Manner using TMT10plex Mass Tag Labeling. STAR protocols. 1(1):100022. Open Access
* Corresponding author
2020 Keating L, Touati SA, Wassmann KW. A PP2A-B56-Centered View on Metaphase-to-Anaphase Transition in Mouse Oocyte Meiosis I. Cells. 9(2):390. Open Access
2019 Touati SA*, Hofbauer L, Jones AW, Snijders AP, Kelly G, Uhlmann F*. Cdc14 and PP2A phosphatases cooperate to shape phosphoproteome dynamics during mitotic exit. Cell Reports. 29(7):2105-2119. Open Access
* Corresponding author
2018 Touati SA* and Uhlmann F*. A global view of substrate phosphorylation and dephosphorylation during budding yeast mitotic exit. Microbial Cell. 5, 389-392. Open Access
* Corresponding author
2018 Touati SA, Kataria M, Jones AW, Snijders AP, Uhlmann F. Phosphoproteome dynamics during mitotic exit in budding yeast. The EMBO Journal. 37: e98745. Open Access
2017 Godefrey M, Touati SA, Kataria M, Jones A, Snijders AP, Uhlmann F. PP2ACdc55 phosphatase imposes ordered cell cycle phosphorylation by opposing threonine phosphorylation. Molecular Cell. 65;393-402 e393. Open Access
2017 El Yakoubi W, Buffin E, Cladière D, Gryaznova Y, Berenger I, Touati SA, Gomez.R, Suja JA, van Deursen JM, Wassmann K. Mps1 kinase-dependent Sgo2 centromere localisation mediates cohesin protection in mouse oocyte meiosis I. Nature Communication. 8,694. Open Access
2016 Touati SA and Wassmann K. How oocytes try to get it right: spindle checkpoint control in meiosis. Chromosoma. 125, 321-335.
2015 Touati SA, Buffin E, Cladière D, Hached K, Rachez C, van Deursen JM, Wassmann K. Mouse oocytes depend on BubR1 for proper chromosome segregation but not for prophase I arrest. Nature Communication. 6, 6946. Open Access
2013 Chambon JP, Touati SA, Berneau S, Cladière D, Hebras C, Groeme R, McDougall A, Wassmann K. The PP2A inhibitor I2PP2A is essential for sister chromatid segregation in oocyte meiosis II. Current Biology. 23, 485-490. Open Access
2012 Touati SA, Cladière D, Lister LM, Leontiou I, Chambon JP, Rattani A, Böttger F, Stemmann O, Nasmyth K, Herbert M, Wassmann K. Cyclin A2 is required for sister chromatid separation, but not Separase control, in mouse oocyte meiosis. Cell Reports. 2, 1077-1087. Open Access
2012 Cromer L, Heyman J, Touati S, Harashima H, Araou E, Girard C, Horlow C, Wassmann K, Schnittger A, De Veylder L, Mercier R. OSD1 promotes meiotic progression via APC/C inhibition and forms a regulatory network with TDM and CYCA1;2/TA. Plos Genetics. 8, e1002865. Open Access
2025 – now Member of the Institute Jacques Monod council, representative rang B
2024 – now Member of the COPIL for the LID (Laboratory of Interdisciplinarity studies on the doctorate) of Adoc Talent Management
2020 – now Secretaire generale and Member of the Executive Committee Association Nationale des docteurs (ANDès)