[LUM#11] Noise for senescent cells

[LUM Magazine] - Published on April 6, 2020 in Science-Society

Comparing senescent cells, which accumulate in our joints as we age, to a noisy neighbor in an apartment building—you had to think of it. This funny and powerful image earned Yassin Tachikart, a doctoral student in biology, victory in the regional final of the "My Thesis in 180 Seconds" competition and a place in the national final.

For the second consecutive year, the Stem Cells, Cellular Plasticity, Regenerative Medicine, and Immunotherapy Laboratory provided Occitanie with its winner in the "My Thesis in 180 Seconds" competition. Yassin Tachikart succeeded Nadège Nziza by winning the regional final of the competition before advancing, along with Valentin Chaput, the second Montpellier representative, to the national final held in Grenoble last June.

Beneficial cells

A doctoral student at Inserm under the supervision of Jean-Marc Brondello, Yassin Tachikart, who is working on a thesis combining pharmacy and biology, has been researching the role of stem cell senescence in knee osteoarthritis for three years. "The scientific definition of senescence is the cessation of proliferation," explains the young researcher. "A senescent cell is a cell that can no longer divide."

Contrary to popular belief, senescent cells play a role in our bodies throughout our lives, and even a particularly beneficial one, since "basically, these cells intervene to repair damaged tissue by causing the cells around them to differentiate or by involving the immune system," explains the doctoral student. Similarly, when a cell accumulates mutations and is at risk of becoming cancerous, senescence acts as a defense mechanism. "To prevent the onset of cancer and uncontrolled division, these cells become senescent and are eliminated by the immune system. So in theory, yes, it's really great!"

An accumulation linked to aging

Problem: for various reasons related to aging, these cells appear more quickly or are no longer properly eliminated and accumulate in the joints. They then disrupt their environment by releasing inflammatory molecules that cause diseases such as osteoarthritis. To use Yassin's analogy, they become "that neighbor who turns up the music at 4 a.m. and wakes up the whole building."

In his thesis, which he will defend in October 2019, the researcher highlighted "the role of a protein that causes joint cells to age. It could enable us to identify new therapeutic targets. Part of this work is due to be published shortly in the scientific journal Aging and has already been published in the journal Les cahiers de myologie (Targeting senescent cells, 2018) .

The means to do so

A fitting conclusion for someone who, on the MT180 stage, proposed that weshouldno longer "add years to life, but life to years." In the meantime, at 28, his life lies ahead of him. And while Yassin has no shortage of projects, he prefers to remain open to all opportunities. "What I really want to do is research. Whether it's in the public sector, in the private sector through a start-up, in France or abroad, as long as I'm given the means, I'll go for it." Research to follow so we can look forward to our old age with greater peace of mind.

Keywords: LUM#11, LUM Magazine, Research, Science, Company