Research Interests
Chronic liver diseases (CLDs) are diseases of long duration and slow progression and represent a major public health issue. Hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis are the final outcomes of CLDs and have been associated with hepatitis B and C viral infection, alcohol drinking, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. More recently, environmental pollutants have been reported to exacerbate liver diseases, and growing impact of CLDs in industrialized countries has pointed out the role of occupational lifestyle and environmental pollution in promoting these pathologies.
Our projects contribute to a larger “fibrexpo” program that aims to understand both how the exposome affects the development of fibrosis and in turn how fibrosis affects the hepatic response to environmental contaminants.
This program is rooted in our current studies including :
1) the effects of 3D-microenvironment on hepatocyte functions and their susceptibility to environmental contaminants
2) the role of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and HSC-dependent microenvironment remodeling in the progression of chronic liver disease and susceptibility to environment contaminants
3) the identification of markers for mechanical strains.
To reach our objectives we will take advantages of our expertise in
- Innovative cell models (Culture 3D, spheroids, microfluidic approaches)
- In vivo models using biologic ressource center from Rennes and public databases
- In silico models for prediction and identification of controllers of fibrosis
- P-SHG microscopy for the identification of mechanical strength based SHG signatures.
