CV Science

Martin DUTERTRE PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Course and current status

1991 : B.Sc. in Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Paris 6, France

1998 : Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Paris 11, France. Laboratory: INSERM U493 (directors : N. Josso and J.Y. Picard), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Dept of Biology, Paris, France.

1998-2003: Postdoc, team of Carolyn L. Smith, Dept of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.

2003-2005 : Postdoc, team of D. Auboeuf, INSERM U685 (director: M. Lanotte), Institut Universitaire d’Hématologie, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France.

2005-2010: INSERM researcher, team of D. Auboeuf. In 2009, we moved to : INSERM U590 director: A. Puisieux, Centre Léon Bérard (Lyon, France)

2009 : "Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches" (University of Paris 7).

Since 2010 : INSERM researcher (“CR1”), team of D. Auboeuf, INSERM U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL).

Scientific summary

One of my main research interests since 1998 has been the molecular mechanisms of gene expression regulation  by estrogens, especially at the level of transcription and in the context of breast cancer. Since 2003, as genome/transcriptome analyses revealed that the majority of human genes generate multiple messenger RNA “isoforms” through alternative splicing, alternative polyadenylation and alternative promoters, allowing the production of >200.000 mRNA species from ~25.000 genes, my primary research interest concerns the role and regulation of alternative isoforms in cancer.  Indeed, a major current endeavor in oncology is to integrate transcript heterogeneity (mRNA isoforms) into transcriptomic analyses of tumors and oncogenic pathways.  In this context, I recently contributed to the genome-wide analysis of mRNA isoforms regulation in breast cancer in response to estrogens and genotoxic chemotherapeutic drugs, and in the context of tumor progression.  In order to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying RNA processing (e.g., splicing and polyadenylation) alterations in cancer and their potential links with other layers of gene regulation (e.g., transcription), I am interested in the role of RNA-binding proteins involved in multiple steps of gene expression (e.g., the Ewing sarcoma proto-oncoprotein, EWS).