The Institute of NeuroPhysiopathology (INP) is a training and research centre of excellence that combines basic and translational research to study neural cell organisation, function and interaction, the molecular and cellular bases of major brain diseases, and to develop innovative cellular and molecular therapeutic strategies.
The PFNT Facility is a coherent set of exploration tools in neurobiology allowing research at the molecular, cellular and integrated levels.
Du lundi 15 au vendredi 19 avril 2024 s'est tenue, toujours avec succès, la troisième édition de la formation MedIM (Méthodes d'étude des Interactions Moléculaires) co-organisée par la Plateforme INteractome Timone (PINT) de l’INP, la plateforme de Biologie Structurale de l’AFMB et les plateformes de l’IMM, toutes trois labellisées "Plateformes Technologiques Aix-Marseille".
Louise (our sustainable development referent) led a Ma Terre en 180 Minutes workshop at the annual seminar for laboratory directors (DU) at DR12 of the CNRS in Saint-Raphaël, on April 18.
40 laboratory directors from the Provence and Corsica regions were able to experience the workshop developed by colleagues from the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG). These directors had to collectively identify the levers of action for a research team in order to reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in a very short space of time.
On 4 April, Nora Essakhi, Roberta Stacchini and Alexandre Bertucci, PhD students in the GlioME team, presented their poster at the 5th Scientific Annual Conference - Institut Cancer et Immunologie (ICI) on the theme of "CAR T cells, advances in cellular engineering and future challenges in cancer therapy".
Nora's work on "GD3, a promising therapeutic target for CAR-T cells against glioblastoma stem cells", was recognised by the scientific committee, which awarded her the prize for best poster. Well done Nora!
The review "GD3 ganglioside is a promising therapeutic target for glioma patients" is now published in Neuro-oncology Advances.
Congratulations to Victoria Hein, Nathalie Baeza-Kallee, Alexandre Bertucci, Carole Colin, Aurélie Tchoghandjian, Dominique Figarella-Branger, Emeline Tabouret for this work.
Salma Laftimi, a L3 student at AMU, joined Team 4 for her internship. She will stay with us for 1 month.
Welcome!
Dr Nasab Reda joins Team 6 as a post-doctoral researcher on a one-year project with an industrial partner.
She will be in charge of setting up a cellular model to study the effects of modulating a receptor of interest to the partner.
Congratulations to Nicolas Vermeersch, PhD student in Teams 4 and 6, who received a "bourse de recherche pour l'avancement de l'innovation en neurosciences de Novartis", BRAINNS.
Well done!
Céline joined the Neurocyto team on 04 March 2024.
She will study microtubules and their regeneration mechanism in primary neuronal cultures.
She is in the 3rd year of a biological engineering degree in medical biology and biotechnology at Clermont-Ferrand.
The NeuroCyto lab is looking to hire a postdoctoral fellow for an exciting project at the interface of microscopy and neuronal cell biology.
Deadline for application: January 15th, 2023. Starting date (flexible): April 2023.
About the position and project
Du lundi 15 au vendredi 19 avril 2024 s'est tenue, toujours avec succès, la troisième édition de la formation MedIM (Méthodes d'étude des Interactions Moléculaires) co-organisée par la Plateforme INteractome Timone (PINT) de l’INP, la plateforme de Biologie Structurale de l’AFMB et les plateformes de l’IMM, toutes trois labellisées "Plateformes Technologiques Aix-Marseille".
Louise (our sustainable development referent) led a Ma Terre en 180 Minutes workshop at the annual seminar for laboratory directors (DU) at DR12 of the CNRS in Saint-Raphaël, on April 18.
40 laboratory directors from the Provence and Corsica regions were able to experience the workshop developed by colleagues from the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG). These directors had to collectively identify the levers of action for a research team in order to reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in a very short space of time.
On 4 April, Nora Essakhi, Roberta Stacchini and Alexandre Bertucci, PhD students in the GlioME team, presented their poster at the 5th Scientific Annual Conference - Institut Cancer et Immunologie (ICI) on the theme of "CAR T cells, advances in cellular engineering and future challenges in cancer therapy".
The review "GD3 ganglioside is a promising therapeutic target for glioma patients" is now published in Neuro-oncology Advances.
Congratulations to Victoria Hein, Nathalie Baeza-Kallee, Alexandre Bertucci, Carole Colin, Aurélie Tchoghandjian, Dominique Figarella-Branger, Emeline Tabouret for this work.
Salma Laftimi, a L3 student at AMU, joined Team 4 for her internship. She will stay with us for 1 month.
Welcome!
Dr Nasab Reda joins Team 6 as a post-doctoral researcher on a one-year project with an industrial partner.
She will be in charge of setting up a cellular model to study the effects of modulating a receptor of interest to the partner.
Congratulations to Nicolas Vermeersch, PhD student in Teams 4 and 6, who received a "bourse de recherche pour l'avancement de l'innovation en neurosciences de Novartis", BRAINNS.
Well done!
Céline joined the Neurocyto team on 04 March 2024.
She will study microtubules and their regeneration mechanism in primary neuronal cultures.
She is in the 3rd year of a biological engineering degree in medical biology and biotechnology at Clermont-Ferrand.
Chiara Bastiancich (GlioME) and Maud Gratuze (SynapTau) participated to the CNRS welcome day in Paris.
It was a great opportunity for them to meet the 770 other new recruits of the CNRS in 2023 and to get to know their new scientific ally better!
Matthew Lennol
"Deciphering apolipoprotein E-associated alterations in Alzheimer's Disease"
APOE, the gene encoding the apolipoprotein E (apoE) protein, is the most prominent genetic risk factor for sporadic AD. Although the APOE ε4 allelic variant is linked to increased risk of AD, it is likely that all isoforms are participating in the pathology to some degree. Other apoE-related proteins, including receptors and competitive ligands, such as reelin, may also play yet undescribed roles in AD. The following studies aim to characterise alterations in both apoE and reelin patterns in the cerebrospinal fluid of AD patients with the aim of developing new potential biomarkers for the pathology. We also describe a relatively unknown apoE receptor family member, LRP3, to try and elucidate novel pathways that may be participating in AD.
Chiara Bastiancich
"Characterization of the glioblastoma post-surgical microenvironment for developing treatment strategies to prevent tumor recurrence"
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent and aggressive primary brain tumour in adults. The standard of care therapy includes surgery followed, several weeks later, by radiotherapy and chemotherapy but inevitably leads to lethal recurrences. The local delivery of active agents is an attractive approach for GBM as it expands the number of drugs that can be used to treat this devastating disease bypassing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Our prior work with a nanomedicine hydrogel (GemC12-LNC) demonstrated delayed recurrence onset when administered post-surgery. To enhance its anticancer efficacy, we hypothesized combining it with an immunomodulatory drug. However, the impact of surgery on tumor recurrence lacks characterization, hindering combinatory therapy development.
In this study, we investigated the impact of surgery on the brain and the post-surgical microenvironment (SMe) using a syngeneic mouse tumor resection model. We explored BBB opening via PET-SPECT and immune cell dynamics using two-photon imaging, whole mount staining, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry. We determined the time frames for recurrence development and observed a temporary BBB disruption that recovered within a week, providing a therapeutic window for systemic drug administration. Immune cell differences between unresected and recurrent tumors in mice revealed overexpression of pro-tumoral macrophages, border-associated macrophages, and reactive microglia in resected tumors. Combining local GemC12-LNC with systemic SMAC-mimetic drug reversed this immune response, delaying recurrence onset and increasing survival in GBM-bearing mice.
This study provides critical SMe time frames and immune cellular targets, enabling rational combinatory treatment design to delay GBM recurrence onset. These findings hold promise for translating into novel therapies aimed at improving GBM patient outcomes.
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