PROJECTS

Polarization, which confers asymmetry at molecular, cellular and tissue scales, is a fundamental process establishing key features of biological systems. In multicellular organisms, symmetry breaking triggers the specification of embryonic body axes, providing general landmarks for subsequent morphogenetic programs. Cells and tissues acquire complex morphological and functional polarity features, which, remarkably, are highly precisely positioned within the general body landmarks. This is the case of the developing nervous system, whose proper wiring requires multiple topographic controls.  We investigate the topography of progenitor cell division, cell migration and axon navigation, with a focus on the developing spinal cord and peripheral ganglia derived from an embryonic population endowed with high proliferation and migration properties, the neural crest. In parallel, we investigate the pathogenic outcome of deregulations of these topography mechanisms.  In particular, we study childhood malignancies with embryonic origin, such as the neuroblastoma,  arising from the sympatho-adrenal neural crest, and the medulloblastoma arising from cerebellar progenitors . We exploit chick and mouse embryo animal models, combined with live imaging, cell and tissue cultures and large-scale transcriptomic approaches.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (since 2015)

• X-linked partial corpus callosum agenesis with mild intellectual disability: identification of a novel L1CAM pathogenic variant (2021) Bousquet I, Bozon M, Castellani V, Touraine R, Piton A, Gérard B, Guibaud L, Sanlaville D, Edery P, Saugier-Veber P, Putoux A. . Neurogenetics. 2021 Jan 7. doi: 10.1007/s10048-020-00629-y
• SlitC-PlexinA1 mediates iterative inhibition for orderly passage of spinal commissural axons through the floor plate (2020) Ducuing H, Gardette T, Pignata A, Kindbeiter K, Bozon M, Thoumine O, Delloye-Bourgeois C, Tauszig-Delamasure S, Castellani V. . Elife. 2020 Dec 21;9:e63205. doi: 10.7554/eLife.63205
• Spatial and temporal profiling of receptor membrane insertion controls commissural axon responses to midline repellents.
  Pignata A, Ducuing H, Boubakar L, Gardette T, Kindbeiter K, Bozon M, Tauszig-Delamasure S, Falk J, Thoumine O, Castellani V. Cell Rep. (2019) 29, 347–362, October 8.
• Hijacking of Embryonic Programs by Neural Crest-Derived Neuroblastoma: From Physiological Migration to Metastatic Dissemination (2019) Delloye-Bourgeois C, Castellani V. Front Mol Neurosci. (2019) Mar 1;12:52.
• Septin functions during neuro-development, a yeast perspective (2019) Falk J, Boubakar L, Castellani V. Curr Opin Neurobiol. (2019) Feb 18;57:102-109
• Commissural axon navigation in the spinal cord: A repertoire of repulsive forces is in command (2019) Ducuing H, Gardette T, Pignata A, Tauszig-Delamasure S, Castellani V. Semin Cell Dev Biol. (2019) S1084-9521:30286-0.
• Microenvironment-Driven Shift of Cohesion/Detachment Balance within Tumors Induces a Switch toward Metastasis in Neuroblastoma(2019) Delloye-Bourgeois C, Bertin L, Thoinet K, Jarrosson L, Kindbeiter K, Buffet T, Tauszig-Delamasure S, Bozon M, Marabelle A, Combaret V, Bergeron C, Derrington E, Castellani V. Cancer Cell (2017) 32:427-443.
• Molecular Memory of Morphologies by Septins during Neuron Generation Allows Early Polarity Inheritance (2017) Boubakar L, Falk J, Ducuing H, Thoinet K, Reynaud F, Derrington E, Castellani V. Neuron (2017) 95:834-851.
• Genetic specification of left-right asymmetry in the diaphragm muscles and their motor innervation (2017) Charoy C, Dinvaut S, Chaix Y, Morlé L, Sanyas I, Bozon M, Kindbeiter K, Durand B, Skidmore JM, De Groef L, Seki M, Moons L, Ruhrberg C, Martin JF, Martin DM, Falk J, Castellani V. Elife (2017) e18481.
• Cerebrospinal fluid-derived Semaphorin3B orients neuroepithelial cell divisions in the apicobasal axis(2015) Arbeille E, Reynaud F, Sanyas I, Bozon M, Kindbeiter K, Causeret F, Pierani A, Falk J, Moret F, Castellani V. Nat Comm (2015) 27;6:6366.
• PlexinA1 is a new Slit receptor and mediates axon guidance function of Slit C-terminal fragments (2015) Delloye-Bourgeois C, Jacquier A, Charoy C, Reynaud F, Nawabi H, Thoinet K, Kindbeiter K, Yoshida Y, Zagar Y, Kong Y, Jones YE, Falk J, Chédotal A, Castellani V. Nat Neurosci. (2014) 18:36-45.

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