Francine Chenou

Babraham Institute · Lymphocyte Signalling and Development ISP (Institute Strategic Programme)

Intravascular hemolysis (IH) contributes to the development of endothelial dysfunction (ED) in sickle cell anemia (SCA), and the effects of hydroxyurea (HU, the only approved drug that decreases the frequency and severity of vaso-oclussive crises) on IH and ED in SCA remain unclear. We evaluated and compared the markers of IH among steady-state adu...

Objective/Background Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is associated with increased levels of extracellular heme, which is a key mediator of inflammation in this condition. Despite abundant evidence supporting this concept in cell and animal models, few studies addressed the association between heme levels and the development and severity of acute vaso-occl...

Background: Recent evidence suggests that generation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETosis), one of the components of immunothrombosis, is associated with the pathogenesis of both venous thromboembolism and sickle cell disease (SCD). NETosis is a complex process regulated by several proteins such as peptidyl arginine deami- nase 4 (PADI4),...

Free extracellular heme has been shown to activate several compartments of innate immunity, acting as a danger-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) in hemolytic diseases. Although localized endothelial barrier (EB) disruption is an important part of inflammation that allows circulating leukocytes to reach inflamed tissues, non-localized/deregulated...

The impaired bioavailability of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) in sickle cell anemia (SCA) may be influenced by polymorphisms in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (eNOS). We compared allelic/genotypic frequencies of the eNOS polymorphisms T-786C, VNTR4a/b and G894T between 89 adult SCA patients and 100 healthy controls, and investigated the...

Housekeeping (HK) genes are constitutively expressed genes that are required for the maintenance of basic cellular functions. Despite their importance in the calibration of gene expression, as well as the understanding of many genomic and evolutionary features, important discrepancies have been observed in studies that previously identified these g...

Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is characterized by chronic hemolysis and endothelial dysfunction (ED). Plasma hemoglobin (pHb) and its heme component released from intravascular hemolysis (IH) are among the most important factors contributing to ED. Unfortunately, the importance of IH to the development of an ED and the effects of hydroxyurea...

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests that coagulation activation is involved in the pathogenesis of progressive organ failure in Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA). In addition, generation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETosis), one of the components of immunothrombosis, has been associated with the pathogenesis of both venous thromboembolism and SCA....

Housekeeping (HK) genes are constitutively expressed genes that are required for the maintenance of basic cellular functions. Despite their importance in the calibration of gene expression, as well as the understanding of many genomic and evolutionary features, important discrepancies have been observed in studies that previously identified these g...

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a common genetic blood disorder, affecting millions worldwide. According to current evidence, individuals with SCA have more than 300 times greater risk to develop bacterial meningitis (BM) than the general population. Herein we have described the characteristics of a series of BM cases in SCA patients in Salvador, Brazi...

Introduction: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with heterogeneous clinical features and the reasons for the heterogeneity of the clinical manifestations has not been fully elucidated. New mediators of the pathogenesis of SCA described recently include the formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), which may contri...

Les mécanismes à la base du développement de cancer ovarien sont complexes et englobent des déformations de l’enveloppe nucléaire, des anomalies du nombre de chromosomes et des mutations.Cet article est une revue des mécanismes moléculaires à la base d’une instabilité chromosomique conduisant au cancer ovarien. La plupart des cancers sont aneuploïd...