Chloé Journo PhD Biological Sciences, HDR
Course and current status
Assistant Professor (Maître de Conférences)
Ecole Normale Supérieure
INSERM U1111, "Retroviral Oncogenesis" team (Pr Mahieux)
Lyon, France
Course:
Since 2012 : Assistant Professor (Maître de Conférences), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon, France
2017 : HDR
2010-2012 : Post-doc (Agrégée Préparatrice), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon
2007-2010 : PhD, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon
2006-2007 : Master 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure d'Ulm/ Université Paris 6 / Institut Pasteur, Paris
2006 : Agrégation SV-STU
Scientific summary
According to the WHO, approximately 15% of human cancers are linked to an infectious etiology. Among virus-induced cancers, adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is one the the most aggressive blood cancers: the median survival time does not exceed 6 months in the acute forms. This pathology is caused by a retrovirus discovered in 1982 and named human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). HTLV-1 is also the causative agent of tropical spastic paraparesis, a neuroinflammatory disease. In HTLV-1-infected individuals, the long clinical latency prior to ATL onset (several decades) suggests that retroviral oncogenesis is a multi-step process, which our lab aims at understanding.
My research themes are at the interface of virology, cancer cell biology and immunology, and involve approaches ranging from molecular biology, biochemistry and proteomics, to cell biology.
My research activity focuses on the molecular mechanisms leading to HTLV-1-induced cell transformation. I investigate how interactions of the HTLV Tax oncoprotein with cellular partners affect essential cellular pathways such as immune and oncogenic signaling, with a special focus on NF-ĸB and IRF3 signaling pathways. Together with Dr H. Dutartre in the team, I also aim to understand how the virus modulates NF-ĸB and IRF3 signaling pathways in infected DCs.
I am also working on the identification of molecular partners of HTLV-1 Tax. We are particularly interested in the centrosomal partners of Tax. The centrosome is key to the maintenance of the genetic integrity of the cell, and its functions are altered upon oncogenesis. We are currently developing a proximity labelling proteomics strategy known as BioID. This consists in the fusion of a biotin ligase domain to Tax, which allows in cellulo biotinylation of proximity partners of Tax. After the purification of centrosomes, biotinylated proteins are selected and identified by mass spectrometry. We expect to identify new centrosomal partners of Tax involved in viral-induced oncogenesis and thus to better understand the functional alterations of the centrosome induced by oncogenic viruses. In collaboration with Dr Gruffat (CIRI) and Dr Tommasino (IARC, Lyon), this strategy is expanded to the oncoproteins from the human oncogenic viruses EBV and HPV (project supported by a Ligue contre le Cancer grant, 2019-2020).
Current peaople involved in the projects: Elodie Téruel (PhD student), Florence Lormières (technical staff), Auriane Carcone (Master student).
As an Assistant Professor, I am involved in teaching at the ENS de Lyon. I mainly teach Virology and Immunology to Licence 3 and Master 1 students.
