Le vendredi 25 octobre 2024, Madame Damla ISCI, titulaire d’un Master en sciences biomédicales à finalité approfondie et d’un Certificat de formation à la recherche en sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques, présentera l'examen en vue de l'obtention du grade de Doctorat en sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques, sous la direction de Madame Virginie NEIRINCKX et de Monsieur Bernard ROGISTER.

Cette épreuve consistera en la défense publique d'une thèse intitulée :  "Multilevel investigation of the atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) expression and function in glioblastoma".

Le jury sera composé de :

Akeila BELLAHCENE (Présidente),  Alain COLIGE (Secrétaire), Andreas BIKFALVI (Univ. Bordeaux), Julien HANSON, Virginie NEIRINCKX, Charles NICAISE (UNamur), Bernard ROGISTER, Félix SCHOLTES.

Résumé de la thèse :

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent and common primary malignant tumor of the central nervous system, with a median survival of about 16 months despite standard treatments combining surgery and radio-chemotherapy. Morever, the disease progression is marked by frequent relapses. We have recently demonstrated that CXCR4, a receptor for the chemokine CXCL12, plays a role in GBM stem-like cells (GSCs), particularly in their migration to the subventricular zone and protection from radiation therapy. This project investigates the possible role of ACKR3, the second receptor for CXCL12, which expression in GBM is upregulated and correlated with a poor prognosis and whose affinity for CXL12 is 10-times higher than the CXCR4. Our results indicate that ACKR3 is expressed in patient-derived tissues and distributed in various cell types within the tumor microenvironment, showing intra- and inter-individual heterogeneity. However, the cell surface level of ACKR3 remains low in patient-derived GBM cells, even when stimulated with CXCL12. Overexpression of ACKR3 in GBM cells does not affect stem-cell marker expression, proliferation, or morphology in vitro. Given its presence in different cells within the GBM microenvironment, it is crucial to study ACKR3's function in a complete immunocompetent tumor microenvironment, considering both tumor and surrounding cells