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2022 - Pilot clinical studies have suggested that the mucus plug that forms in the cervical canal during pregnancy is altered, increasing the risk of preterm delivery following a vaginal infection. We investigated whether the mucus plug acts as an antibacterial barrier. We showed that Muc5b and 5ac are the two main gel-forming mucins. During pregnancy, a mucus plug made of Muc5b and 5ac is formed in the cervical canal. Muc5b-deficient mice harbor a very porous mucus plug. Intravaginal infection with a pathogenic strain of E. coli in these mice triggers cervical and uterine inflammation leading to preterm delivery. This study demonstrates the in vivo barrier function of the mucus hydrogel and gel-forming mucins.
Full article published in iScience here (open access).
2019 - Microrheology experiments using bead scattering and tracking of bacteria and sperm cells in mucus from murine colon and from HT29-MTX cells were performed. Comparison between wild-type mice and our transgenic line, secreting in its intestine a recombinant molecule composed of 12 CYS domains (rCYSx12) of gelling mucins, and mucus samples from co-cultured HT29 cells with HT29 cells secreting rCYSx12, demonstrate that the recombinant molecule decreases mucus permeability and impedes movement of motile cells. In addition, the model of empirical obstruction scaling shows that poly-CYS enrichment decreases the size of the mucin mesh in mice. Our data show that the CYS-domain is crucial in the properties of mucus hydrogels.
The full paper in open access here.
2017 - The changes in mucus cell density and mucin production are established characteristics of many mucosal conditions. To better understand the role of the gel-forming mucin MUC5B and its value as a biomarker, we have created a genetically modified mouse Muc5b-GFP using homologous recombination. Our model allows the visualization of the mucin production in anesthetized mice as green mucus in the trachea and nose. In the vagina, Muc5b production greatly varies during estrous cycle, with a peak during proestrus and in pregnant mice. We also observed that Muc5b is expressed earlier in embryonic lung than previously thought. We were also surprised by the high number of Muc5b+ goblet cells in the conjunctiva. We then used this tissue to demonstrate that the density of Muc5b+ goblet cells can easily be monitored in living mice using confocal laser endomicroscopy in an experimental dry eye model. Full story in open access here.
Eye conjunctiva of Muc5b-GFP transgenic mouse observed by probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy
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Apr 2024: We are seeking a talented postdoc candidate to apply for an MSCA fellowship
March 2024: The review, in French, by invitation in Rev. Mal. Respir. from Nathan is now online
Jan 2024: Our unpublished mouse Muc4 KO is available @ Infrafontier/EMMA
Oct 2023: Nathan Hennion won the prize for best poster presentation in the interstitium session at the Journées de Recherche Respiratoire conference organized by the "RESeau de Pneumologie en Innovation et Recherche translaTionnelle", Tours, Oct. 13-14. Congratulats.
Apr 2023: Best wishes to Mylène for her new job in private research and welcome to Léonie.
Aug 2022: Congrat to Guillaume Lacroix for his original article published in iScience highlighted by the French Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
July 2022: Congrat to Nathan for his review in French on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis published in Med Sci (Paris).
June 2022: PhD student Guillaume Lacroix published his research titled A porous cervical mucus plug leads to preterm birth induced by experimental vaginal infection in mice in iScience (open access).
May 2022: Congratulations to Guillaume Lacroix now PhD on his wonderful thesis talk!
March 2022: The next Gordon Research Conference on Cilia, Mucus and Mucociliary Interactions is scheduled for February 19-24, 2023 in Tuscany. We are looking forward to the prospect of finally being able to exchange face-to-face with other laboratories in the field after the meeting was canceled in 2021 due to Covid-19.
Sept 2021: The AE2BM annual meeting will host JL Desseyn as the keynote speaker Friday, Sept. 17, Paris. The topic for this keynote will be about a specific mucin domain in mucus properties.
July 2021: Congratulations to Nathan who graduated with flying colors and for his 3-yr PhD competitive Région Hauts-de-France/hospital Fellowship.
July 2021: Guillaume's abstract gets selected for an oral presentation at the 2021 SFBBM meeting in Paris. We thank the French Society for his travel grant.
June 2021: J-L Desseyn has been invited as a speaker for a Webinar in June organized by the UGSF lab (Univ. Lille) on the story of the CYS domain.
June 2020: The next Gordon Research Conference on Cilia, Mucus and Mucociliary Interactions has been postponed to May 2-7 and relocated to Switzerland. Cancelled.
Feb. 2020: J-L Desseyn will moderate a session and will contribute as a speaker at the next CF Conference, to be held in Lyon, France from 3-6 June 2020. Cancelled.
Jan. 2020: J-L Desseyn will be the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the AE2BM (French association of professors and teachers in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the faculties of pharmacy), which will be held on 20 March 2020 in the Salle des Actes of the Facuté de Pharmacie de Paris. Cancelled.
Dec. 2019: Salah Amini defended his thesis with flying colors. The post-defense reception was an opportunity to appreciate the culinary specialties of the region of origin of Salah. Thank you to his loved ones for this wonderful shared moment.
Oct. 2019: Congratulations to Bastien Demouveaux and Thomas Hueso for successfully defending their PhD thesis. Bastien is now a Project Manager in a Biotech and Thomas joined the Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre. We wish them the best luck.
March 2019: Congrat. to Bastien who received financial support to present his thesis work at the 19th FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum and the 44th FEBS Congress that will be held in Krakow, 3-11 July.
Jan. 2019: Congrat. to Bastien who has been selected for an oral presentation at the Gordon Research Seminar next month.
Feb. 2019: The conference program of the 2019-Gordon Research Conference (Feb. 17-22) in Italy on Cilia, Mucus and Mucociliary Interactions is known. See the exciting program here. We hope to meet many people from the field.
June 2018: Congratulations to Guillaume Lacroix for his 3-yr PhD competitive fellowship starting next October.
Mar. 2018: After the exciting meeting on CF in Greece, we’ll be delighted to present our data at the 41st European Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Belgrade (6-9 June).
Jan. 2018: It’s a pleasure to welcome Salah Amini, a new PhD student, who will work on the mucus layer reinforcement during chemotherapy.
Dec. 2017: We will present our most recent results at the 15th ECFS (European Cystic Fibrosis) Basic Science Conference that will take place in Loutraki, Greece in March 2018.
Nov. 2017: Next January, we will be at the 33rd Transatlantic Airway Conference (Lucerne, Switzerland) on lung biology.
Jul. 2017: We were at the International Workshop on Carcinoma-Associated Mucins in Cambridge in July to present our most recent results.
Jan. 2017: Céline Portal, PhD, joined the Iomini laboratory as a post-doctoral fellow. Good luck to her in New York!
Dec. 2016: Céline Portal successfully defended her PhD thesis with flying colors.
Oct. 2016: Bastien Demouveaux stays in the group for a 3-year PhD thesis on gel-forming mucins and mucus properties. Congratulations to him for earning the Région Hauts-de-France/ hospital Fellowship!
Aug. 2016: Congratulations to our PhD student Céline Portal for winning a 15th TFOS award to attend the upcoming 8th International Conference (Sept) on the Tear Film & Ocular Surface: Basic Science and Clinical Relevance (Montpellier, France). She will present her recent data on mucins and dry eye, and she will co-chair a session.
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