Nathalie Journiac

Université de Lille · Lille Neurosciences & Cognition - UMR-S 1172

The key role of B cells in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is supported by the presence of oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid, by the association of meningeal ectopic B cell follicles with demyelination, axonal loss and reduction of astrocytes, as well as by the high efficacy of B lymphocyte depletion in controlling inflamm...

A distinctive feature of neocortical development is the highly coordinated production of different progenitor cell subtypes, which are critical for ensuring adequate neurogenic outcome and the development of normal neocortical size. To further understand the mechanisms that underlie neocortical growth, we focused our studies on the microcephaly gen...

Fifteen million babies are born preterm every year and a significant number suffer from permanent neurological injuries linked to white matter injury (WMI). A chief cause of preterm birth itself and predictor of the severity of WMI is exposure to maternal-fetal infection-inflammation such as chorioamnionitis. There are no neurotherapeutics for this...

This chapter focuses on neurogenesis only, corresponding to the period of neuron production. Microcephalies are clinically divided into two subgroups: primary and secondary. Primary microcephaly is usually evident on ultrasound examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during the third trimester of the pregnancy from 26 weeks of gestation wh...

The molecular mechanisms that orchestrate the development of the human dentate gyrus are not known. In this study, we characterized the formation of human dentate and fimbrial progenitors and postmitotic neurons from 9 gestational weeks (GW9) to GW25. PAX6+ progenitor cells remained proliferative until GW16 in the dentate ventricular zone. By GW11,...

The development of the mammalian cerebral cortex involves a series of mechanisms: from patterning, progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation, to neuronal migration. Many factors influence the development of the cerebral cortex to its normal size and neuronal composition. Of these, the mechanisms that influence the proliferation and differen...

Studies of staggerer mice, in which retinoid-related orphan receptor-alpha (RORα) is mutated, have provided new insights into the critical functions of RORα in various physiological processes in peripheral tissues and in the brain. Staggerer mice present an ataxic phenotype caused by a massive neurodegeneration in the cerebellum. As a result, most...

There is increasing evidence to suggest that the neuronal response to hypoxia is regulated through their interactions with astrocytes. However, the hypoxia-induced molecular mechanisms within astrocytes which influence neuronal death have yet to be characterized. In this study, we investigated the roles of the nuclear receptor RORα (retinoid-relate...

Astrocytes and one of their products, IL-6, not only support neurons but also mediate inflammation in the brain. Retinoid-related orphan receptor-alpha (RORalpha) transcription factor has related roles, being neuro-protective and, in peripheral tissues, anti-inflammatory. We examined the relation of ROR(alpha) to astrocytes and IL-6 using normal an...

Influence of surface energy distribution on neuritogenesis, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces (2008), doi:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2009.04.006 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyeditin...

Lactadherin is a secreted extracellular matrix protein expressed in phagocytes and contributes to the removal of apoptotic cells. We examined lactadherin expression in brain sections of patients with or without Alzheimer's disease and studied its role in the phagocytosis of amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta). Cells involved in Alzheimer's disease, includ...

Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1ss and IL-6, have been detected in the cerebellum of Rora(sg/sg) mice during the first postnatal month of neurodegenerative process. This suggests the existence of a microglial reaction in the context of an inflammatory process that would be triggered by the massive neuronal loss. To test t...

The atipa (Hoplostemum littorale) seems to show only one growth cycle per year contrary to the other studied fishes of French Guiana. In the males, an important deposit of spongy bone appears at the end of each great dry season. This secondary sexual character is peculiar to this species and it makes easier the estimation of age for each specimen c...