Host Organisation

The Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 welcomes Marie Sklodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships applications !

With 62 laboratories and more than 7000 publications per year, and leading French university in terms of the number of patents filed in collaboration with industry, Lyon 1 contributes to scientific and innovation progress in numerous fields: health, mathematics, IT, physics, chemistry, earth and space sciences, life sciences, etc. Creator of emerging knowledge and new technologies, the University is consolidating its research excellence on a global and international level by developing inter- and multidisciplinary approaches targeting the major challenges facing today society

Host research lab/team:

The Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie (CIRI) is a leading research lab in Europe in the field of infectious diseases. The Center gathers Immunologists, Bacteriologists and Virologists (24 teams, >400 employees) to answer the new and older challenges in the fields of infection (antibiotic resistance, emerging diseases, sepsis). It is part of the Bioscience Lyon-Gerland Campus where is located the ENS-Lyon, and have access to top technology platforms (rodent SPF facility with A2/A3 and transgenesis services, microscopy, cytometry, protein preparation and analysis including mass spectrometry).

The “NLRP3 inflammasome and Immune Response to Sepsis” research team focuses on the regulation of inflammation and its impacts in diseases with special interest on

sepsis, hereditary auto-inflammation (CAPS) and diabetes, using biochemistry, cell biology, mouse model and patient cohort analysis approaches.

At the molecular level, inflammation is triggered by receptors activated upon infections or tissue damages. Among these, NLRP3 is particularly detrimental in highly common metabolic diseases (diabetes, liver disease, obesity, gouty arthritis), neurodegenerations (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, age-associated decline), and vascular diseases (atherosclerosis, ischemia/reperfusion insults). In addition, gain-of- function mutations in the NLRP3 gene cause the rare Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) hereditary autoinflammations. Better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of NLRP3 regulation and activation is critical in the development of specific inhibitors.

NLRP3 is a cytosolic stress sensor that assembles the “inflammasome” signalling complex controlling the secretion of major inflammatory cytokines IL-1b and IL-18 as well as pyroptosis, a proinflammatory form of cell death leading to the release of alarmins. Although the mechanism of the inflammasome assembly is still poorly known, the host team discovered and documented the key role of successive post-translational modifications of NLRP3.1–5

Using biochemistry and cell biology approaches, we decipher the molecular mechanisms of the inflammasome assembly. Using transgenic mouse lines (KO for enzymes and components of the inflammasomes, as well as KI for NLRP3 point mutants), we validated our results in vivo and investigate their impact in various diseases (endotoxic choc, diabetes models). Finally, we investigate the role of the inflammasome pathway in immune dysregulation associated with sepsis using mouse models and patients’ cohorts.

Hosting Offer

The “NLRP3 inflammasome and Immune Response to Sepsis” team offers to host a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship candidate (typically a post-doc of less than 8 years research experience since PhD defence), submitting an application to the next MSCA-2024

• PF call for proposals (deadline 11th September 2024), interested to work on the following research topic:
  • Regulation of the inflammasome through NLRP3 post-translational modifications (combining biochemistry, cell biology and mouse models)
  • Impact of the inflammasome pathway in immune alterations following sepsis (mouse models and/or cohort studies)