matrixresilience · Role of hevin in the neuroplasticity of stress-related disorders and addiction

Role of hevin in the neuroplasticity of stress-related disorders and addiction

The project focuses on the neurobiology of resilience in rodents in the context of mood-related psychiatric disorders, more specifically depression and addiction. The general objective is to characterize the role of an unexplored protein, hevin, which has recently emerged in the field and seems involved in the regulation of mood. The work has progressed according to the work plan, with few delays. More specifically, we first determined the cellular phenotype of hevin expression in the brain using radiolabeled and double fluorescent in situ hybridization. A manuscript about this work will be submitted for publication mid-november in the journal Brain Structure and Function. Hevin has been implicated in resilience to stress and we found that hevin protein levels are altered after chronic fluoxetine treatment in the plasma of defeated mice. Such finding suggests that hevin could be used as a biomarker of antidepressant treatment. We are now pursuing this project and looking at hevin blood levels prior to social defeat and evaluate its predictive value as a marker of resilience. We also developed several tools to study the role of hevin in vivo using viral-mediated transgenesis approaches. In particular, modification of hevin expression in astrocytes affects behavioral response to cocaine, suggesting that hevin modulate experience-dependent plasticity. This work is well underway and submitted during 2018. During the course of this grant, the Researcher has carried out dissemination activities through the participation to international conferences and to the event "La semaine du Cerveau" (in France). The Transfer of Knowledge has been ensured by teaching activities to first-year and second-year master students (Master Biologie Intégrative et Physiologie) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris); introduction of new techniques (the Fellow has brought the capacity of viral-mediated gene transfer tools to manipulate brain function in the host institution); training and supervision of students in the past 3 years. In regards to its reintegration in the neuroscience laboratory, the fellow obtained in April 2017 the diploma Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), which allows him to supervise officially PhD students. The research started several collaborations within the laboratory, nationally and internationally. Finally, Vincent Vialou participated as committee member of three thesis. Altogether, the Fellow has achieved a good level of independency and he has established a small research team composed of a PhD student starting in October 2015 and a post-doctoral fellow that will be recruited in 2018. The Fellow has got a tenure position as course lecturer to first-year and second-year master students (Master Biologie Intégrative et Physiologie) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris). Moreover, he has been awarded with two additional grants: the ANR JCJC (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche, programme Jeunes Chercheurs Jeunes Chercheuses, France) and PERSU (Promouvoir l’excellence de la Recherche à Sorbonne Universités, from Sorbonne Université, France).

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