Guest Editors
Mathieu Charveriat
Theranexus, Lyon, France
Mathieu Charvériat holds degrees from the École Polytechnique and Mines ParisTech, as well as a PhD in neuroscience and cell biology from the Université Pierre & Marie Curie. He also participated in the HEC Challenge + entrepreneur program with Franck Mouthon. He joined the neurosciences research laboratory of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 2009, working with Franck Mouthon on prion diseases and non-neuronal cells, where together they published various papers and filed several patents related to the modulation of drugs targeting neurons. In March 2013, he co-founded Theranexus with Franck Mouthon. As part of his duties as Chief Scientific Officer, Mathieu Charvériat is responsible for the company's research teams and scientific partnerships. He is also deputy CEO and a member of the board of the Company
Bruno Guiard
Toulouse University, Toulouse, France
Currently a professor and researcher in Neuropharmacology at the Research Center on Animal Cognition (University of Toulouse, France), Dr. Guiard obtained his PhD in 2005. His studies conducted in rodents concerned the role of neuropeptides such as substance P and BDNF in the modulation of anxiety and stress-related responses (University of Paris-Sud, France). For his post-doc training, he moved to Canada from 2005 to 2008 in Pr Blier’s group (Institute of Mental Health Research) to characterize the functional interactions between monoaminergic neurons using in vivo electrophysiology. The origin of his research relied on the implementation of translational studies aimed at testing and validating new monoaminergic treatments in both relevant animal models of depression and in depressed patients. Dr. Guiard returned to France in 2008 as an associate professor at the University of Paris Saclay in the laboratory of Pr Gardier. For 5 years, he started taking a real interest in the role of astrocytes in the regulation of monoaminergic neurotransmission and their putative role in major depression. A few years later, he joined Dr Rampon’s team at the University of Toulouse to improve his knowledge on the functional interactions between neurons and glia. In particular, their team is trying to determine to what extent the pharmacological or genetic manipulation of specific astroglial proteins (i.e., connexins) influence the neurobiological mechanisms of emotional processes. To do so, they work in close collaboration with psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies and hope to identify for the first-time antidepressant drugs with an original mechanism of action targeting astrocytes.
Collection Overview
In the brain, glial cells exceed neurons in terms of cellular diversity and functions. Over the past decades, their modulatory properties over neurons have been widely detailed, from the production of myelin by oligodendrocytes, the release of gliotransmitters by astrocytes to regulate neurotransmission within the tripartite synapses, to the pruning of synapses by microglial cells. Those non-neuronal cells have been targeted by different pharmacological approaches, modulated using optogenetic and chemogenetic tools, and studied in several in vitro models, as well as transgenic and conventional animals. Besides, state-of-the-art techniques in cellular biology and neurosciences have been successfully applied, leading to new insights in the understanding of reciprocal interactions between neurons and glial cells.
This method collection aims at sharing both standard and new protocols to study neuroglia interactions, in physiological conditions, but also in pathological ones, such as neurodegenerative disorders, neuro-inflammation processes, and neurological or psychiatric indications. We hope this collection will encourage scientists to work on this exciting endeavor, towards better knowledge of fundamental processes and the design of new and innovative therapies.
