Bastien Castagner🇨🇦

@castagner.bsky.social

774 Followers 737 Following

Professor at McGill. Drug Discovery, C. difficile infection, microbiota, chemical biology, prebiotics, glycans, polyphenols, inositol phosphates. Running/biking CastagnerLab.com

Flyer with text: Inositol Phosphates 2026, The more, the merrier - 6th edition
A virtual international meeting on inositol phosphates across organisms
· March 25-27, 2026 ·
Deadline for oral presentation abstract submission: December 7.
https://castagnerlab.com/inositol-phosphates-2026/

Schemes showing Urolithins M6 released by Gordonibacter bacteria and taken up by Entercloser and metabolized into urolitin A by its two regioselective dehydroxylases Ucd and Uxd, that are close in the genome.

Email portion that reads: Dear members of the McGill community,

Many of us are watching the escalation of human suffering in Gaza with alarm. While thousands of kilometres away, many members of the McGill community are touched at a human level by the scale and impact of the crisis unfolding, which threatens to intensify over the coming days.

To reiterate my past messages, McGill, as a university, must remain mindful of its academic mission and refrain from commenting or taking a position on a geopolitical crisis. That said, we will always express compassion for and extend care to our community members affected by international emergencies.

If you need support, please do not hesitate to reach out. Resources are set out below.

Sincerely,

Deep Saini
President and Vice Chancellor
McGill University

Crystal structure of the C. difficile toxin B (TcdB) showing the beta-flap in its lowered and raised conformation. The inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) is shown in the holo-raised conformation.

Scheme depicting ellagic acid being converted to urolithin C which in turn is metabolized by Enterocloster species in the gut microbiome into urolithin A, which can be absorbed. Includes a figure that shows proteomics and transcriptomics data both demonstrating the inducible ucdCFO metabolic gene cluster.