Christophe Blanquart PhD Pharmaceutical sciences
Course and current status
Professional experiences
- November 2009 : Nomination In charge of Research project I CNRS
- January 2009 : In charge of Research project II CNRS in Biology of dendritic cells team (LAM and Mesothelioma) in ‘Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie Nantes-Angers’ (France). Study of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma immunology.
- October 2005/December 2008: In charge of Research project II CNRS in cellular department of ‘Institut Cochin’ in Paris (France). Study of insulin (IR) and IGF-1 (IGF-1R) receptors using BRET technology.
- January 2004/ September 2005: Post-Doc in cellular department of ‘Institut Cochin’ in Paris (France). Study of insulin (IR) and IGF-1 (IGF-1R) receptors using BRET technology.
- 1999/2003: PhD in lipoproteins and atherosclerosis laboratory of ‘Institut Pasteur’ in Lille (France). Study of the nuclear receptor PPARa post-translational modifications and theirs implications in its biological functions.
Fields of interest
- Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
- Inhibitors of histones deacetylase
- Inhibitors of DNA methylation
- Immunotherapy
Technical skills
- Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET): Development of BRET based assays for the screening of inhibitors or activators of receptors or enzymes.
- Molecular Biology: Cloning, siRNA, RNA extraction, Real Time PCR.
- Cellular Biology: immunofluorescence, flow cytometry (cell labeling, apoptosis, cell cycle).
- Biochemistry: Western-Blotting, immuno-precipitation and recombinant proteins production.
Scientific summary
Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumor of the pleura, usually associated with chronic asbestos exposure. Clinical strategies for MPM treatments including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, are of limited efficacy, urging search for new therapeutic approaches. Our laboratory is studying two new therapeutic strategies to treat this cancer, which are based on the induction of an immunogenic tumor cell death which may induce an anti-tumor immune response. These strategies are (1) the use of epigenetic drugs such as hypomethylating drugs and/or histone deacetylase inhibitors, and (2) the use of oncolytic virus, such as the vaccine attenuated strain of Measles virus, which kills specifically tumor cells. We study the immunological consequences of these treatments such as their effects on tumor associated antigen expression. We also characterize the release of “damage associated molecular pattern” by tumor cells killed by these treatments and how it affects the maturation status of dendritic cells. We also study the immunogenic status of untreated MPM tumor cells such as their expression of tumor associated antigens and their recognition by T cells.
