Dr. Donald Poirier has been a professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine (Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Qc) since July 1991 as well as a researcher at the CHU de Québec – Research Center (Québec, Qc). Since 2008, he has also been Director of the Organic Synthesis Service and Co-Director of the Analytical and Medicinal Chemistry Platform.

Professor Poirier received his basic training in organic chemistry (PhD from Laval University, 1980-1985) and subsequently specialized in medicinal chemistry and endocrinology (Postdoctoral studies at the CHUL-Research Center, 1986-1990, CRM fellowship) and more recently in solid phase synthesis of small molecules of therapeutic interest such as steroid derivatives. He is especially interested in the development of steroidogenic enzyme (17b-HSDs, steroid sulfatase, CYP1B1) inhibitors and antitumor agents for the treatment of different cancers (breast, prostate, ovary, pancreatic, and leukemia). As examples, he developed the first non-estrogenic irreversible steroidal inhibitor of 17β-HSD1 for the treatment of breast cancer and endometriosis. He also developed a family of aminosteroid derivatives that inhibited tumor growth in mice for different cancers (breast, ovary, pancreatic, and leukemia).

In addition to the synthesis of small molecules by classical chemistry, he succeeded by developing solid-phase syntheses of C18-steroid (estrane) derivatives as well as C19-steroid (androstane) derivatives that enabled the generation of model libraries of targeted therapeutic compounds. Thus, he developed a diethylsilylacetylenic linker that produces more stable compounds and a sulfamate linker that produces two classes (phenol and sulfamate) of relevant steroidal or nonsteroidal compounds according to cleavage conditions. He is also interested in additional aspects of organic chemistry (synthesis, new methodologies, NMR analysis, etc.) and medicinal chemistry (SAR, molecular modeling, biological assays, etc.). A particularity of his research group is that he is interested in several stages of the development of a new drug: conception, chemical synthesis, in vitro biological tests (enzymatic assays, cell proliferation, etc.) and in vivo (estrogenic activities and androgenic in female and male mice, plasma concentration, metabolic stability, xenografts of cancer cells, etc.).

Professor Poirier has published 220 scientific publications and is the holder of 11 patents and patent applications. He has also been involved in more than 450 oral and poster presentations, as well as conferences as invited speaker.

CHUL
2705, boulevard Laurier
T4-50
Québec, Québec
Canada G1V 4G2
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Poulin R, Poirier D, Thériault C, Couture J, Bélanger A, Labrie F

Wide spectrum of steroids serving as substrates for the formation of lipoidal derivatives in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells

Journal Article

J Steroid Biochem, 35 (2), 1990.

Abstract | Links:

Poirier D, Labrie C, Mérand Y, Labrie F

Derivatives of ethynylestradiol with oxygenated 17 alpha-alkyl side chain: synthesis and biological activity

Journal Article

J Steroid Biochem, 36 (1-2), 1990.

Abstract | Links:

Lautier D, Poirier D, Boudreau A, Alaoui Jamali MA, Castonguay A, Poirier G

Stimulation of poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis by free radicals in C3H10T1/2 cells: relationship with NAD metabolism and DNA breakage

Journal Article

Biochem Cell Biol, 68 (3), 1990.

Abstract | Links:

Thériault C, Poulin R, Tremblay S, Poirier D, Labrie F

Hormonal regulation of estradiol 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in the ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cell line

Journal Article

Ann N Y Acad Sci, 595 , 1990.

Poirier D, Poulin R, Mérand Y, Thériault C, Labrie F

High level of esterification of steroids to long-chain fatty acids in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells

Journal Article

Ann N Y Acad Sci, 595 , 1990.

Labrie F, Poulin R, Simard J, Zhao HF, Labrie C, Dauvois S, Dumont M, Hatton AC, Poirier D, Mérand Y

Interactions between estrogens, androgens, progestins, and glucocorticoids in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells

Journal Article

Ann N Y Acad Sci, 595 , 1990.

Abstract | Links:

Poulin R, Poirier D, Merand Y, Thériault C, Bélanger A, Labrie F

Extensive esterification of adrenal C19-delta 5-sex steroids to long-chain fatty acids in the ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cell line

Journal Article

J Biol Chem, 264 (16), 1989.

Abstract | Links:

Poulin R, Merand Y, Poirier D, Levesque C, Dufour JM, Labrie F

Antiestrogenic properties of keoxifene, trans-4-hydroxytamoxifen, and ICI 164384, a new steroidal antiestrogen, in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells

Journal Article

Breast Cancer Res Treat, 14 (1), 1989.

Abstract | Links:

Poulin R, Baker D, Poirier D, Labrie F

Androgen and glucocorticoid receptor-mediated inhibition of cell proliferation by medroxyprogesterone acetate in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells

Journal Article

Breast Cancer Res Treat, 13 (2), 1989.

Abstract | Links:

Poirier D, Poulin R, Labrie F

Screening of lipoidal steroid formation in the ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cell line

Book Chapter

Bresciani F, King RJB, Lippman ME, Raynaud JP (Ed.): Hormones and cancer 3: proceedings of the Third International Congress on Hormones and Cancer, pp. 384-387, New York, Raven Press, 1988, ISBN: 0881674532.

242 entries « 24 of 25 »
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Active projects

  • 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 as a modulator of human adipose tissue function and distribution, from 2020-04-01 to 2024-03-31
  • Aminosteroid derivatives as a new class of cholesterol homeostasis disruptors for selective treatment of pancreatic cancer: Mechanistic and translational studies, from 2022-10-01 to 2027-09-30
  • Investigating TBC1D9 clinical relevance in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs in triple negative breast cancer, from 2023-06-21 to 2024-03-31
  • TBC1D9: therapeutic target of the aggressiveness of triple negative breast cancer, from 2023-03-01 to 2024-02-29

Recently finished projects

  • Évaluation du potentiel thérapeutique de la protectine DX et d'analogues contre la COVID-19 , from 2020-06-01 to 2022-03-31
  • La conception de nouveaux agents thérapeutiques et la résonance magnétique nucléaire, from 2022-01-01 to 2023-05-31
  • Un aminostéroïde actif oralement pour traiter les cancers du sein triple négatif, from 2021-09-08 to 2022-03-31
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