Nadine Laguette: inspirational and inspired

From the AIDS virus to inflammatory reactions, Nadine Laguette knows how to find her research topics at the heart of the medical concerns of the day. Her post-doctorate at the Institut de Génétique Humaine(IGH) in Montpellier has already led to a key discovery on the interaction between HIV and the immune system. More specifically, the biologist identified the SAMHD1 protein involved in blocking infection, which is targeted by viral proteins to prevent the cell from defending itself. This result, published in Nature in 2011 - " a highly cited piece of work, my first major discovery ", she admits - marked the start of her research career. As proof of this, the young virologist was recruited to the CNRS IGH the following year.

Three years later, another discovery opened his research to the rapidly expanding field of inflammatory immune mechanisms (DNA damage repair machinery and HIV escape from innate immune sensing). " Still observing the modes of action of viral proteins, we realized that certain proteins targeted by the virus - those that repair damage to DNA strands - are also involved in the inflammatory reaction following viral infection ", recounts Nadine Laguette. On the strength of these results, she obtained initial funding from the European Research Council (ERC), enabling her to set up her own research team at the IGH in 2015. In addition to viral infections, the team also looks at inflammatory mechanisms associated with autoimmune diseases and cancers.

Zebra fish

The scientist then developed an original approach combining work on single cells and observation on live animals. "For example, we worked on zebrafish, which have the advantage of being transparent, to directly observe the recruitment of immune cells to a tumor. Result: the team shows that strong inflammation contributes to better action against the tumor, as immune cells accumulate in the inflamed zone(2016). Acute inflammation is becoming a serious area of application in immunotherapy. Nadine Laguette then successfully embarked on a new ERC Proof of concept and two premature programs " to bring fundamental results to the patient ".

" Another important discovery of my team was to show that proteins involved in inflammatory mechanisms are also involved in lipid regulation ", explains the researcher. Here again, these results open up interesting therapeutic avenues, "by taking lipid metabolism into account in the treatment of inflammation ". And here again, the indefatigable researcher applies for and obtains a new ERC Consolidator in 2022, with which she will expand her research team at the Montpellier Institute of Molecular Genetics (IGMM).

Mauritius

Nadine Laguette seems unimpressed by the scale of the work involved. She admits to having finished writing her ERC a month before, in several versions! Pointing to the top of her head, she confides: " Those white hairs are from waiting for the answer. When it comes to managing her team, she doesn't spare herself either: " I adapt to different rhythms. And so much the worse if one expects almost daily feedback on his work, another prefers weekly meetings, and a third who is very independent won't call on her for a month. " This availability is hard to bear, but it allows the team to function smoothly," she admits.

A search on the Internet reveals that Nadine Laguette has received various awards. But she says nothing about it. The Mauritian-born researcher is also invited to share her success with others, to create vocations in the South. " I get a lot of requests from journalists who want to show young Mauritians an example of success ", says the woman who is not angry about going to the island this year during the school vacations, when there will be fewer requests. She left Mauritius after her A-levels to study in London. It was a well-considered choice, to hear her tell it today: " The English university interested me because it offers highly specialized studies from the first year, in this case molecular biology. The city also offers " a multicultural and inclusive atmosphere " where she easily finds her place. She then moved to metropolitan France for her Masters at the Institut Cochin. She was recently invited by the African Union to promote African-European collaboration, to encourage African researchers to apply for European projects.