Seminars and thesis defences

Laurie HOFLACK -  ADDB and BPBL

Development and pharmacological assessment of a dual nanocarrier containing pro-resolutive drugs in models of rheumatoid arthritis

Clémence FAYT – MNUT

Roles of gut microbes in inter-individual reward dysregulations during obesity

Info : mireille.alhouayek@uclouvain.be

Monday, February 17, 2025 - 1pm - Auditoire Maisin 
 

Membrane lipids as potential biomarkers and therapeutical targets
 

Selected publications
•    Maja M*, Verfaillie M*, Van Der Smissen P, Henriet P, Pierreux C, Sounni NE, Tyteca D. Targeting cholesterol impairs cell invasion of all breast cancer types. Cancer cell international. 2024; 24:27 [1-18].
•    Maja M, Mohammed D, Dumitru A-C, Verstraeten S, Lingurski M, Mingeot-Leclercq M-P, Alsteens D, Tyteca D. Surface cholesterol-enriched domains specifically promote invasion of breast cancer cell lines by controlling invadopodia and extracellular matrix degradation. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022; 79:417.
•    Ghodsi M, Cloos A-S, Lotens A, De Bueger M, Van Der Smissen P, Henriet P, Cellier N, Pierreux CE, Najdovski T, Tyteca D. Development of an easy non-destructive particle isolation protocol for quality control of red blood cell concentrates. Journal of Extracellular Biology. 2025; e70028.
•    Ghodsi M*, Cloos A-S*, Mozaheb N, Van Der Smissen P, Henriet P, Pierreux CE, Cellier N, Mingeot-Leclercq M-P, Najdovski T, Tyteca D. Variability of extracellular vesicle release during storage of red blood cell concentrates is associated with differential membrane alterations, including loss of cholesterol-enriched domains. Front Physiol. 2023; 14:1205493. 

Info: giulio.muccioli@uclouvain.be

Monday, February 10, 2025 - 1pm - Auditoire Maisin 
 

Elsa TEMPERMAN (BPBL) - Inhibiting ABHD6 as anti-inflammatory strategy in the context of chronic lung inflammation
Marie-Sophie MARTOU (CMFA/FATH) - Creating anti-angiogenic miniproteins targeting protein-protein interactions as a new strategy in anticancer therapy
Edwige PIRON (MNUT) - Targeting bacterial metabolites to tackle muscle wasting in colorectal cancer-associated cachexia: toward a mechanistic understanding
Lisa FLASSE (LTAP) - Study of the adverse mechanisms associated with low toxicity, persistent particles
Paul PARRENS (ADDB/FACM) - Engineering bacterocin-based nanomedicines for the eradication of Staphylococcus aureus intracellular reservoirs in the context of skin chronic infections
Yasmine VANDENSANDE (REMA/FATH) - Induction of a mitochondrial oxidative stress in cholangiocarcinoma to boost the sensitivity to targeted therapy
William VAN den BOSSCHE (ADDB) - Gas-promoted microbubbles-based drug delivery systems for the delivery of biologics in inflammatory bowel disease treatment

Info : mireille.alhouayek@uclouvain.be

Monday, February 3, 2025 - 1pm - Auditoire Maisin 
 

Gas-promoted in situ bioadhesive foam platform for efficient macromolecule delivery in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease

Promotor: Prof. Ana Beloqui

Related publications :
•    Zhang W., Van den Bossche W., Yagoubi H., Kambale E.K., Whani K., Saxena T., Guilbaud L., Moreels T.G., Messens J., Beloqui A. Glepaglutide-loaded foam for the induction of mucosal healing in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Advanced Healthcare Materials (2025) Accepted.
•    Zhang W., McCartney F., Xu Y., Bohns Michalowski C., Domingues I., Kambale E.K., Moreels T.G., Guilbaud L., Chen C., Marotti V., Brayden D.J., Beloqui A. An in situ bioadhesive foam as a large intestinal delivery platform for antibody fragment to treat inflammatory bowel disease. Journal of Controlled Release 374 (2024) 254-266.
•    Zhang W., Bohns Michalowski C., Beloqui A. Oral delivery of biologics in inflammatory bowel disease treatment. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology Nanobiotechnology 9 (2021) 675194

Info: ana.beloqui@uclouvain.be

Friday January 31, 2025 – 4pm – Auditoire Maisin
 

Transforming the oral route for drug delivery
 
Selected publications:
•    Arrick G, Sticker D, Chazal A, Lu Y, Duncombe T, Gwynee D, Mouridsen B, Wainer J, Jepsen JPH et al. Cephalopod-inspired jetting devices for gastrointestinal drug delivery. Nature. 2024 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08202-5
•    Ramadi KB, McRae JC, Selsing G, Su A, Fernandes R, Hickling M, Rios B, Babaee S, Min S, Gwynne D, Jia NZ, Aragon A, Ishida K, Kuosmanen J, Jenkins J, Hayward A, Kamrin K, Traverso G. Bioinspired, ingestible electroceutical capsules for hunger-regulating hormone modulation. Sci Robot. 2023 Apr 26;8(77):eade9676. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.ade9676. 
•    Srinivasan SS, Alshareef A, Hwang AV, Kang Z, Kuosmanen J, Ishida K, Jenkins J, Liu S, Madani WAM, Lennerz J, Hayward A, Morimoto J, Fitzgerald N, Langer R, Traverso G. RoboCap: Robotic mucus-clearing capsule for enhanced drug delivery in the gastrointestinal tract. Sci Robot. 2022 Sep 28;7(70):eabp9066. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.abp9066.

Full list of publications:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/carlo.traverso.1/bibliography/public/

Info: ana.beloqui@uclouvain.be

Friday, January 24, 2025 – 1pm – Salle Couvreur 
 

Eloise VIERA OLIVERA – MNUT - Interest of volatolome analysis in the elucidation of gut microbiota-host interaction in nutrition and health
Ariana JIJON - CMFA/GEPI - Inhibition of the TSPYL5-USP7 interaction and its relation with the viability of ALT-positive cells
Yasmine BOUIDIDA – FATH - Is there a metabolic control of tissue-specific metastasis in pancreatic cancer
Daria KOVRYZHENKO – FACM - Membrane properties upon aggressiveness and invasiveness of glioblastoma cells in relation to mechanosensation
Lorine LEMAIRE - ADDB/VUB - Design of an anti-elastase nanomedicine to prevent the evolution of emphysema in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Judicael OUEDRAOGO – FACM - The role of intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs) in the persistence and recurrence of urinary tract infections treated with antibiotics: a study in a bladder-on-a-chip model
Mathilde AKUE – PMGK - Impact of Drug Transportome on the Pharmacokinetics of Anticancer drugs: a systematic approach unraveling the impact of modulating factors and their translational potential
Imane EL BAKKALI – CLIP - Développement de la pharmacie clinique au Bénin : exploration, implémentation et impact des soins pharmaceutiques dans la prise en charge du diabète.
 

Info : mireille.alhouayek@uclouvain.be

Monday, January 20, 2025 – 1pm – Auditoire Maisin
 

Generative AI for Biomarkers and Drug Discovery: A Tutorial on Concepts, Challenges, and Breakthroughs

Related publications:
•    Giard, J., Alface, P. R., Gala, J. L., & Macq, B. (2009). Fast surface-based travel depth estimation algorithm for macromolecule surface shape description. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, 8(1), 59-68.
•    Barragán-Montero, A., Javaid, U., Valdés, G., Nguyen, D., Desbordes, P., Macq, B., ... & Lee, J. A. (2021). Artificial intelligence and machine learning for medical imaging: A technology review. Physica Medica, 83, 242-256.
•    Gruson, D., Dabla, P., Stankovic, S., Homsak, E., Gouget, B., Bernardini, S., & Macq, B.(2022). Artificial intelligence and thyroid disease management: considerations for thyroid function tests. Biochemia medica, 32(2), 182-188.
•    Gruson, D., Gruson, D., & Macq, B. (2024). The Next Clinical Decision Frontier: How to Efficiently and Safely Combine Machine Learning and Human Expertise. Clinical Chemistry, 70(3), 471-473.
•    Dausort, M., Godelaine, T., Zanella, M., Khoury, K. E., Salmon, I., & Macq, B. (2024). Exploring Foundation Models Fine-Tuning for Cytology Classification. arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.14975. 
•    Macq, B. (2024). Face aux défis de l’intelligence artificielle générative. Académie en Poche.

Info : mireille.alhouayek@uclouvain.be

Monday, January 13, 2025 – 1pm – Auditoire Maisin 
 

Tuesday December 17, 2024 – 5pm – Auditoire Maisin

Audrey COMEIN – TFAR/FACM

Intracellular Persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: When Bacteria Play Hide-and-Seek with Antibiotics

Promotor: Prof. Françoise Van Bambeke

Info: francoise.vanbambeke@uclouvain.be

Monday, December 16, 2024 – 1pm – Auditoire Maisin 

Prof. Roberta GUALDANI, chercheuse qualifiée FNRS, UCLouvain, IoNS, Pôle Cellulaire et Moléculaire

TRP Channel Mutations as Key Factors in Neuropathic Pain Susceptibility

Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels are molecular detectors of our body. They respond to changes in the cellular environment, including temperature, chemicals, stretch/pressure, osmolarity, oxidation/reduction, and pH. Several members of the TRP channel superfamily are expressed in the nerve endings of peripheral sensory neurons and play central roles in the development of acute and chronic pain.

Using a combination of molecular modeling and biophysical techniques, I am looking for recurrent TRP channel mutations in patients with severe chronic pain to understand whether there is a genetic predisposition to the development of neuropathic pain. In this context, I recently analyzed two mutations found in patients with trigeminal neuralgia [1-3], and provided key structural insights into how these mutations may cause hyperexcitability of trigeminal neurons and lead to the onset of neuropathic pain.

[1] Gualdani et al., Neurology: Genetics (2021), 7(1)

[2] Gualdani et al., PNAS (2022), 119(38), e2119630119

[3] Gualdani et al., PNAS (2024), 121(37), e2406186121

Info: laure.bindels@uclouvain.be

Thursday December 12, 2024 – 4:30pm – Auditoire Maisin

François-Xavier SIBILLE – IRSS and TFAR/CLIP

Deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists in hospitalised older adults, from the description of actual practices to the development of a targeted intervention

Promotor: Prof. Marie de Saint-Hubert

Co-Promotor: Prof. Anne Spinewine

Related publications:

• Current practice in benzodiazepine receptor agonists deprescribing on acute geriatric wards: a cohort study.Sibille, François-Xavier ; Spinewine, Anne ; Zerah, Lorène ; Maljean, Laurentine ; Schoevaerdts, Didier ; de Saint Hubert, Marie. In: BMC Geriatrics, Vol. 22, no. 1 (2022), p. 88 (2022). doi:10.1186/s12877-022-02753-w. http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/257967
• Benzodiazepine receptor agonists use and cessation among multimorbid older adults with polypharmacy: secondary analysis from the OPERAM trial François-Xavier Sibille, de Saint-Hubert Marie, Séverine Henrard, Carole Elodie Aubert, Namiko Anna Goto, Emma Jennings, Olivia Dalleur, Nicolas Rodondi, Wilma Knol, Denis O’Mahony, Matthias Schwenkglenks, Anne Spinewine. In Drugs & Aging https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-023-01029-1

Info: anne.spinewine@uclouvain.be