Mélody DUFOSSEE PhD student, Cell Biology, Physiology and Pathology
Course and current status
After 10 years working in scientific research laboratories as a technician/engineer, I wanted to develop my skills and career, and decided to do a PhD.
Scientific summary
The INSERM unit U1034 is involved in the study of cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, dementia of vascular origin and ischemia of the lower limb. The pathophysiological mechanisms triggering these diseases remain poorly understood. Recent results obtained in our unit and by other research groups suggest that these 3 diseases could be linked to microcirculation disorders and thus be considered as small vessels diseases.The production of blood cells is performed from hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. During aging, these cells can acquire mutations, potentially leading to the development of hematological malignancies such as leukemias. In some patients, mutations involvedin leukemia can be detected in the absence hematological malignancy. These condition is called Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP). Unexpectedly, CHIP are mainly associated with cardiovacular complications with a doubling risk of suffering a myocardial infarction or a stroke compared to the general population. In this context, my thesis project aims to study interactions between endothelial cells and mutated hematopoietic cells (compared to not mutated cells). In particular, we aim to determine the impact of these interactions on the functions and properties of endothelial cells (in term of spatial organisation, pro-thrombotic and inflammatory properties) that could contribute to microcirculatory disorders and promote the development of small vessels diseases.
