Biomedical research institute
Biomedical research institute
Team leader
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Selim Aractingi PU-PH Université Paris V |
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The "Cutaneous Biology" team combines fundamental and translational approaches in order to understand skin homeostasis better and three severe associated skin diseases as well: wound healing delay, carcinogenesis and adnexal inflammation (hidrosadenitis suppurativa and acne). To carry out our work, we are using new animal models such as the naked-mole rat as well as human samples. |
1/ Delayed skin healing and fetal stem cells:
We focused our work on the ability of fetal cells (transferred from the fetus to the mother’s bone marrow during pregnancy) to facilitate delayed maternal healing. We have discovered that Ccl2 electively triggers the mobilization of peculiar fetal stem cells. Our goals are first to further explore the therapeutic potential of Ccl2 further in maternal wound healing, then perform a comprehensive profiling of signaling pathways that recruit fetal cells and last investigate the heterogeneity and the hierarchy of these cells.
2/ Skin carcinogenesis:
Congenital Melanocytic Nevi (CMN) are tumors that present a risk of malignant transformation into melanoma. Recently we have found that a sole post-zygotic NRAS mutation was sufficient to trigger CMN pathogenesis and that clonogenic melanocytic cell subpopulations maintained these lesions when cooperating with keratinocytes. Our aims are to target specific signaling pathways below NRAS in pre-clinical models of CMN and investigate the role of keratinocyte-melanocyte interactions in the development of CMN. We have also built an analysis of melanoma dissemination and of non UV induced skin cancers in order to depict their pathways.
3/ Adnexal inflammation:
We are investigating the relationships between pathogenic bacteria and skin and characterized two P. acnes surface proteins: CAMP1 and DsA1, a fibrinogen-binding protein. Now our goals are to determine the role of DsA1 and CAMP1 during the inflammatory process and further characterize the structure and properties of DsA1.We have also developed a project on the study of sebaceous stem cells in a severe follicular disorder, namely hidrosadenitis suppurativa (HS).
In 2019 the Skin Biology team obtained an ANR funding for the analysis of fetal stem cells implicated in wound healing and is part of a RHU (Success) for the study of a new device using fetal cell secretome to treat child burns. In 2017, we also obtained a Leo Foundation and a Société Française de Dermatologie fundings which is helping us in the analysis of the signaling pathways in carcinomas. Recently, R. Fontaine obtained an IDEX Emergence for his project on aging skin in the naked mole rat model. Bénédicte Oulès successfully became Chef de Clinique/Inserm/Fondation Bettencourt which will allow us to get financial support for her work on hidrosadenitis suppurativa.