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Eye & nutrition

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Researchers

M-A. Bringer, A. Bron, S. Gambert Nicot, E. Masson.

Enginneers and technicians

O. Berdeaux, P. Cailler, M. Crépin, E. Fautré, C. Forbes Fenech, S. Grégoire, K. Ihadadene, L. Leclere, B. Loriot, L. Martine.

PhD students

P. Eid, J. Urban.

Trainees

M. Sibert.

Lipids display a large variety of functions in the retina: structure, functionality, pathophysiological associations, therapeutic value. In order to improve scientific knowledge and identify novel applications in the relationships between diet and retinal pathophysiology, the Eye, Nutrition and Cell Signalling Research Group aims at studying the roles of lipids in the physiology and dysfunctions of the retina in relation to retinopathies. One if not the main strength of our group stands in its translational research approach that is led at experimental level and in human studies. Since the group gathers clinicians and researchers, the projects timely benefits from both fundamental science and clinical concerns.

Key words : Retina, lipid, diet, ageing, membrane dynamics, angiogenesis, neurodegeneration, autophagy.

Thematic : Lipids and retina
Our projects aim at better understanding how lipid and lipid metabolism intervene in the functioning and dysfunctions of the retina.

Research group in detail Open all tabs

  • Thematics

Our objective is to decipher and better understand how lipids and lipid metabolism participate in the functionning of the retina, and whether their are implicated in its age-associated disorders.

Theme 1 : Roles of lipids in the functions and dysfunctions in the retina

    Lipids represent a large variety of molecules with various properties. Amon them, the Eye, Nutrition and Signalling research group focuses on the role of plasmalogens, cholesterol and gangliosides in the retina, in relation to aging processes and dysfunctions.
    The projects are channelled in two axes:
  • - Lipids and cell interactions
    The objective is to better understand the role of cell dynamics and cell signalling in the death and survival of retinal ganglion cells. We aim at deciphering the mechanisms that surround the interactions between retinal ganglion cells, which death is responsible for visual field loss in glaucoma, and glial cells in the retina. A peculiar attention is paid on the importance of gangliosides and 24S-hydroxycholesterol, a metabolite of cholesterol formed by cholesterol-24S-hydroxylase, in the response of glial cells to retinal ganglion cell death, with special emphasis on ganglioside-rich lipid rafts as cell signalling platforms.
  • - Lipids and vascular development
    Plasmalogens account for an important part of phospholipids in the retina, an as such are considered as reservoirs of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The objective is to better understand the role of plasmalogens in the metabolism of glial cells (astrocytes, Müller cells) and the interactions during vascular development.

Theme 2 : Diet and retina

  • - Lipid intakes, structure and functionning of the retina during the lifespan
    Diet is one of the environmental factors that participate in the functionning and aging of the retina. The objective is to characterize the importance of dietary factors (macro- and micronutrient intakes) in the risk of retinal pathologies (Age-related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, Glaucomas) in clinical studies.
  • - Dietary disbalances, autophagy and pathophysiology
    The objective is to elucidate how the retina adapts to disbalanced dietary intakes, and define the long-term consequences. The role of autophagy as an adaptive mechanism and the long term consequences in neovascular complications are especially studied.

  • Methodologies / technicality

Analytical chemistry

Lipid analysis using thin layer, gas or liquid chromatography coupled with FID (total lipids, fatty acids and sterols), UV (carotenoïds), Corona (phospholipids), mass spectrometer (oxysterols, phospholipids, plasmalogens and gangliosides).

Physiology

in vivo exploration of retina structure and function using angiography and electroretinography.

Others

preparation of lipid rafts

  • Models

Human model

- Healthy subjects and patients (plasma, red blood cells)
- Deceased donors (retina and other ocular structures, plasma, red blood cells)

Rodent

- Rats and mice
- Induced models of retinal diseases : glaucoma (accute hypertonia induced by ischemia-reperfusion and chronic hypertonia induced by laser photocoagulation), age-related macular degeneration (choroïdal neovascularisation induced by laser impacts).
-  Genetic models : ApoB100,LDLR-/- ; DHAPAT-/- ; GM2 synthase -/- et GD3 synthase -/- mice.

In vitro

- Cultures primaires humaine et murine (astrocytes, cellules de Müller, cellules de l’épithélium pigmentaire rétinien, cellules endothéliales, monocytes)
- Lignées (ARPE-19, HUVEC, C13NJ, THP-1, HeLa-LC3GFP)

  • Projects

ANR BLISAR : Biomarkers of lipid status and metabolism during retinal aging

LabEx LipSTIC : Lipoproteins and health : prevention and treatment of non vascular inflammatory diseases and cancer

  • Publications

Ajana, S., Acar, N., Bretillon, L., Hejblum, B. P., Jacqmin-Gadda, H., Delcourt, C. and BLISAR Study Group (2019). Benefits of dimension reduction in penalized regression methods for high-dimensional grouped data: a case study in low sample size. Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) 35(19): 3628-3634.

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Gattoussi, S., Buitendijk, G. H. S., Peto, T., Leung, I., Schmitz-Valckenberg, S., Oishi, A., Wolf, S., Deák, G., Delcourt, C., Klaver, C. C. W., Korobelnik, J.-F., on behalf of the European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium, Acar, N., Bretillon, L., Bron, A. and Creuzot-Garcher, C. (2019). The European Eye Epidemiology spectral-domain optical coherence tomography classification of macular diseases for epidemiological studies. Acta Ophthalmol. 97(4): 364-371.

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Léger-Charnay, E., Masson, E. A. Y., Morala, T., Martine, L., Buteau, B., Leclere, L., Bretillon, L. and Gambert, S. (2019). Is 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol a potent modulator of cholesterol metabolism in Muller cells? An in vitro study about neuron to glia communication in the retina. Exp. Eye Res. 189: 107857.

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Merle, L., Person, O., Bonnet, P., Grégoire, S., Soubeyre, V., Grosmaitre, X. and Jarriault, D. (2019). Maternal high fat high sugar diet disrupts olfactory behavior but not mucosa sensitivity in the offspring. Psychoneuroendocrino 104: 249-258.

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Pallot, C., Mazzocco, J., Meillon, C., Semama, D. S., Chantegret, C., Ternoy, N., Martin, D., Donier, A., Gregoire, S., Creuzot-Garcher, C. P., Bron, A. M., Bretillon, L. and Acar, N. (2019). Alteration of erythrocyte membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids in preterm newborns with retinopathy of prematurity. Sci. Rep. 9(1): 7930.

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Vidal, E., Lalarme, E., Maire, M.-A., Febvret, V., Grégoire, S., Gambert, S., Acar, N. and Bretillon, L. (2019). Early impairments in the retina of rats fed with high fructose/high fat diet are associated with glucose metabolism deregulation but not dyslipidaemia. Sci. Rep. 9(1): 5997.

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Al Azzaz, J., Rieu, A., Aires, V., Delmas, D., Chluba, J., Winckler, P., Bringer, M.-A., Lamarche, J., Vervandier-fasseur, D., Dalle, F., Lapaquette, P. and Guzzo, J. (2018). Resveratrol-induced xenophagy promotes intracellular bacteria clearance in intestinal epithelial cells and macrophages. Front. Immunol. 9: 3149.

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Delcourt, C., Korobelnik, J.-F., Buitendijk, G. H., Foster, P. J., Hammond, C. J., Piermarocchi, S., Peto, T., Jansonius, N., Mirshahi, A., Hogg, R. E., Bretillon, L., Topouzis, F., Deak, G., Grauslund, J., Broe, R., Souied, E. H., Creuzot-Garcher, C., Sahel, J., Daien, V., Lehtimaki, T., Hense, H.-W., Prokofyeva, E., Oexle, K., Rahi, J. S., Cumberland, P. M., Schmitz-Valckenberg, S., Fauser, S., Bertelsen, G., Hoyng, C., Bergen, A., Silva, R., Wolf, S., Lotery, A., Chakravarthy, U., Fletcher, A. and Klaver, C. C. (2016). Ophthalmic epidemiology in Europe: the "European Eye Epidemiology" (E3) consortium. Eur. J. Epidemiol. 31(2): 197-210.

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Klionsky, D. J., Abdelmohsen, K., et al. (2016). Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition). Autophagy 12(1): 1-222.

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Sibille, E., Berdeaux, O., Martine, L., Bron, A. M., Creuzot-Garcher, C. P., He, Z., Thuret, G., Bretillon, L. and Masson, E. A. Y. (2016). Ganglioside profiling of the human retina: comparison with other ocular structures, brain and plasma reveals tissue specificities. PloS one 11(12): e0168794.

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  • Funding

  • ANR
  • Bourgogne
  • FEDER

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