TEAM 3 – Myelination and Nervous System Pathologies NeuroMyelPath
LECTURERS-RESEARCHERS
BECKER Christel (MCU)
BENOLIEL Jean-Jacques (MCU-PH)
BERNARD Sophie (PU)
BROUILLARD Franck (MCU)
GRENIER Julien (MCU)
JAFARIAN-TEHRANI Mehrnaz (PU)
LE MENUET Damien (CRN-INSERM)
MASSAAD Charbel (PU)
MEFFRE Delphine (MCU)
TECHNICIENS-ENGINEERS
DARGENET-BECKER Céline (AI)
MONTANARO Julia (AJT)
SIMON Anne (IGE)
PhD STUDENTS
BARAKAT Rasha
EL MASSRY Mohamed
JALKH Tatiana
PADILLA FERRER Aïda
SUNDARAM Venkat Krishnan
Despite the severe impact of the diseases of demyelination on patients’ lives and society, little is known about the processes of de/re/myelination. Our aim is to build a research group working on myelin physiology and pathologies affecting the nervous system. The main focuses are: (i) to identify new signaling pathways involved in myelination and demyelination; (ii) to examine their impact on nervous system pathologies (Multiple Sclerosis [MS], Nerve Injuries, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathies [DPN], Traumatic Brain Injuries [TBI]); (iii) to study the impact of the environmental factors (stress, pollutants) on normal myelination process and on enhancing insults to cause exacerbated demyelination and co-morbidity.
We will develop an interdisciplinary research based on preclinical and clinical approaches using molecular and cell biology, behavior, biophysics and physiology to study the myelination process as well as de/remyelination following pathological conditions. We will focus our work on oxysterol/LXR, dioxin/AhR and ADAM10 pathways as well as oxidative stress. Our project will allow deciphering the signaling pathways involved in myelination process and their dysregulation during demyelination. It will also open new avenues for the treatment of myelin pathologies.

Immunofluorescent labelled Purkinje cells and myelin sheaths in cerebellum (photo credit: Dr. Elena Chierto)

Electron micrograph of myelinated axons in corpus callosum (photo credit: Dr. Delphine Meffre)
MAIN PUBLICATIONS
Shackleford G, Sampathkumar NK, Hichor M, Weill L, Meffre D, Juricek L, Laurendeau I, Chevallier A, Ortonne N, Larousserie F, Herbin M, Bièche I, Coumoul X, Beraneck M, Baulieu EE, Charbonnier F, Pasmant E, Massaad C.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Feb 6;115(6):E1319-E1328. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1715999115.
Hichor M, Sundaram VK, Eid SA, Abdel-Rassoul R, Petit PX, Borderie D, Bastin J, Eid AA, Manuel M, Grenier J, Massaad C.
Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 6;8(1):2524. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20980-3.
Chierto E, Simon A, Castoldi F, Meffre D, Cristinziano G, Sapone F, Carrete A, Borderie D, Etienne F, Rannou F, Morrison B 3rd, Massaad C, Jafarian-Tehrani M.
Mol Neurobiol. 2018 Oct 8. doi: 10.1007/s12035-018-1372-6.
Llufriu-Dabén G, Carrete A, Chierto E, Mailleux J, Camand E, Simon A, Vanmierlo T, Rose C, Allinquant B, Hendriks JJA, Massaad C, Meffre D, Jafarian-Tehrani M.
Neurobiol Dis. 2018 Jan;109(Pt A):11-24. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2017.09.008.
Bouvier E, Brouillard F, Molet J, Claverie D, Cabungcal JH, Cresto N, Doligez N, Rivat C, Do KQ, Bernard C, Benoliel JJ, Becker C.
Mol Psychiatry. 2017 Dec;22(12):1795. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.211.