Jean-Noel Freund. Director of the Research Unit 
University of Strasbourg. Website
Inserm UMR_S1113. 3 avenue Molière, 67200 Strasbourg, France
Reseach subject
Basic and Translational Cancer Research
Summary
The Unit 1113 of Inserm / University of Strasbourg has two main topics. On the one hand, we explore the early steps of malignant conversion in the digestive and hematopoietic systems, with a special interest in developmental genes reactivated or deregulated in cancer, and in the cell programs at work at the initiation of the diseases. On the other hand, we investigate the cell response to stress in relation to the p53 gene family, in order to better understand the tumour cell resistance and side effects induced by the treatments, and to develop more efficient chemotherapeutic drugs based on organometallic compounds. For this purpose, we develop a comprehensive approach combining the analysis of human disease samples with the development of original animal and cellular models, and omics studies.
Publications
- Bellis J, Duluc I, Romagnolo B, Perret C, Faux MC, Dujardin D, Formstone C, Lightowler S, Ramsay RG, Freund JN, De Mey JR. The tumor suppressor Apc controls planar cell polarities central to gut homeostasis. J Cell Biol. 2012;198(3):331-41. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201204086.
- Vallat L, Kemper CA, Jung N, Maumy-Bertrand M, Bertrand F, Meyer N, Pocheville A, Fisher JW 3rd, Gribben JG, Bahram S. Reverse-engineering the genetic circuitry of a cancer cell with predicted intervention in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110(2):459-64. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211130110.
- Travnickova J, Tran Chau V, Julien E, Mateos-Langerak J, Gonzalez C, Lelièvre E, Lutfalla G, Tavian M, Kissa K. Primitive macrophages control HSPC mobilization and definitive haematopoiesis. Nat Commun. 2015;6:6227. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7227.
- von Grabowiecki Y, Abreu P, Blanchard O, Palamiuc L, Benosman S, Mériaux S, Devignot V, Gross I, Mellitzer G, Gonzalez de Aguilar JL, Gaiddon C. Transcriptional activator TAp63 is upregulated in muscular atrophy during ALS and induces the pro-atrophic ubiquitin ligase Trim63. Elife. 2016;5. pii: e10528. doi: 10.7554/eLife.10528.
- Chow MJ, Licona C, Pastorin G, Mellitzer G, Ang WH, Gaiddon C. Structural tuning of organoruthenium compounds allows oxidative switch to control ER stress pathways and bypass multidrug resistance. Chemical Science 2016;7(7): 4117-4124. doi: 10.1039/c6sc00268d.