Degenerative Processes, Stress and Aging
Head: Véronique Monnier (PR UPCité)
Our team is interested in degenerative processes involved in aging of animal organisms and in various degenerative diseases in humans. Our main objective is to identify genetic mechanisms modulating these processes and, on this basis, to identify potential therapeutic interventions. For this, we use invertebrate (the Drosophila fly, Drosophila melanogaster) or mammalian (the mouse, Mus musculus) animal models as well as cellular approaches. The following three themes are developed:
1) The search for interventions modulating aging and the analysis of the underlying molecular processes (Leader: V. Monnier).
2) The study of neurodegenerative and cardiac diseases (Leaders: V. Monnier and E. Martin).
We are interested in diseases due to triplet expansions (polyglutamine diseases and Freidreich’s ataxia) and in Parkinson’s disease for which we are developing Drosophila models to test new therapeutic strategies. We are also involved in the functional analysis of the pathogenicity of variants identified by genomic approaches in human patients with cardiomyopathies.
3) Analysis of the involvement of metabolic pathologies in neurodegenerative diseases for the search for biomarkers and new therapeutic strategies (Leaders: N. Janel and S. Middendorp).
Complementary methodologies (genetics, genomics, transgenesis, functional and behavioral analysis, etc.) are used in these different projects, developed with national collaborators and within European programs.
