Scientific manager: Valérian Dormoy – Inserm U1250
Official start date: 01/06/2015 (5 year period)
Funders: Inserm/URCA
Chairholder: Valérian Dormoy (MCU) (university lecturer)
The Inserm-URCA PEpithe chair, "Plasticity of the respiratory epithelium in normal and pathological conditions" is developed within the Inserm U1250 unit: "Pulmonary Pathologies and Cellular Plasticity (P3Cell)".
Respiratory diseases are a major concern in public health, particularly because of the lack of effective therapeutic strategies. The identification of new molecular players involved in pulmonary homoeostasis and pathological alterations will improve medical diagnosis and the exploration of new treatments.
The loss of lung function can be explained in particular by a modification to the mucociliary clearance made possible by differentiation of a precursor in a ciliated or secretory cell. In this context, the research conducted by the chair aims to characterise the plasticity of the airway epithelium in connection with ciliogenesis.
If this process is critical in the establishment and reparation of the respiratory epithelium, the signalling pathways associated with its control will constitute biological markers and pharmaceutical targets in diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Keywords:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory epithelium, cellular plasticity, ciliogenesis
Scientific collaborations:
Institut Pasteur (Paris, France), Centre d’Infection et Immunité (Lille, France), Institut de Biologie Valrose (Nice, France).