Steeve Boulant will present his work on “Basal Type III Interferon (IFNλ2/3) Regulates Tight Junction Formation in Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells”

Wednesday the 12^th of March , at 11am in Amphitheatre G2 – UCBL Gerland– 50 avenue Tony Garnier – 69007

In this seminar, Steeve Boulant will introduce how they are exploiting human intestinal organoids to dissect the host/enteric pathogen interface, and he will summarize their current understanding of the mode of action of type III interferons which are key cytokines in protecting the intestinal mucosa. Finally, he will present novel unpublished findings from the laboratory that describe a new function of type III interferon in regulating the primary function of epithelial cells, namely the establishment of barrier function through regulation of tight junction formation. He will highlight how loss of this function might lead to inflammatory bowel diseases

More about Steeve:

Throughout his career, Steeve Boulant has worked on multiple viruses (Hepatitis C virus, Reovirus, Hepatitis E virus, SARS-CoV-2, Astrovirus, Rotavirus). He obtained his PhD from the University of Lyon 1 in France, where he worked on the structure of the Hepatitis C virus capsid protein and discovered new open reading frames encoded by the virus. Following his PhD, he went to Glasgow, Scotland, where he continued his work on Hepatitis C virus but focused on its life cycle. For his second postdoctoral experience, he decided to change direction and went to Harvard Medical School, where he studied the endocytic mechanisms of the enteric virus reovirus in human intestinal epithelial cells.

In 2012, he established his own research group at the University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany, where they focused on the enteric virus life cycle, from receptor binding, entry into the host cell, replication and assembly, host antiviral response, and viral immune evasion.

In January 2022, he relocated his laboratory to the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Florida. Their research strategy is to develop and exploit novel cell culture and bioengineered model systems to better reproduce the physiological conditions present in the gastrointestinal tract. The research in my lab focuses on understanding the host/pathogen interface, particularly the interferon response generated by intestinal epithelial cells upon enteric pathogen challenges.

Host: Pierre-Yves Lozach (iWAYS-IVPC)