[LUM#9] The immunology virus

[LUM Magazine] - Published on July 23, 2019 in Science-Society

Nadège Nziza, is completing her PhD in biology in the Stem Cells, Cell Plasticity, Regenerative Medicine and Immunotherapy Laboratory(IRMB). Her work aims to improve diagnosis and understanding ddifferent forms of juvenile arthritis. Last June, she was a finalist in the prestigious Ma thèse en 180 secondes competition.

"Cluedo 2.0 is what I'd call my thesis. Forget Colonel Mustard and focus on a child's swollen joint caused by inflammation. It was with this investigative scenario that Nadège Nziza, doctoral student in cell biology, captivated the audience and jury of the national My thesis in 180 seconds.

Juvenile arthritis

The inflammation she's talking about has a name: juvenile arthritis. An autoimmune disease affecting one in every 3,000 children in France, which can lead to the destruction of joints," she explains, " a disease in which the immune system, which is supposed to protect us, breaks down and turns against us." Immunology. A virus caught by the young researcher " as a child" and which led her, at the age of 17, to leave Rwanda to study in Belgium before completing her doctorate in France " in order to meet specialists in the field. "

For three years at Inserm, under the direction of Florence Apparailly and with funding from the Arthritis Foundation, Nadège has been collecting blood and synovial fluid samples from the joints of young patients at Montpellier University Hospital, to learn more about this disease. While effective treatments exist, diagnosis remains slow and complex. "Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, the autoimmune form of arthritis in children, comes in 7 subtypes with different treatments. There' s also septic arthritis, which is infectious and can be treated with antibiotics. Today, the only solution is to test the various treatments one after the other until a result is obtained.

The right culprits

In her thesis, the student sets out to find the right culprits more quickly: " I'm analyzing several types of white blood cells and microRNAs, small fragments derived from DNA, and looking for differences between different forms of arthritis. My aim is to find different signatures that would enable a direct diagnosis to be made and thus facilitate the choice of treatment. " This research has already led to the filing of a patent " with a list of microRNAs differentially expressed between septic arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis ", explains Nadège Nziza.

In a few months' time, the young researcher hopes to fly to " the United States, Canada or Australia " for a post-doctorate. " Still in immunology, but on infectious diseases and malaria in particular, because I'd like to go back to Rwanda and that's what affects people in my country the most. "

Key words : LUM#9, LUM Magazine, Research, Health, Science