iCAN science seminar with Agnès Noel on 31.5.2024

You are warmly welcome to iCAN science seminar on Fri 31.5.2024 at 10:00-11:00, Biomedicum 1, Seminar room 1-2, and to the public examination of Sanni Alve at 13.00, Haartman Instituutti, Sali 2, Haartmaninkatu 3 with prof. Noel as the opponent.

Speaker: Prof. Agnès Noel, University of Liège

Title: Lymphatic dysfunctions in pathological conditions

Host: Prof. Päivi Ojala (paivi.ojala@helsinki.fi)

Short bio:

Agnès Noel (PhD) is Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Liège (ULiège, Belgium). She has been Director of the GIGA-Cancer (>100 researchers) from 2011-2023. She is heading the Laboratory of Biology of Tumor and Development (LBTD) in the GIGA. She has been elected to the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium and received several national and international awards. 

Earning a master in Zoology at the University of Liège (Belgium), she got her PhD at the same university. She was a Marie Currie postdoctoral fellow in Pierre Chambon’s Institut (IGBMC, Strasbourg, France). She provided pioneering evidence that fibroblasts in tumors represent the main source of proteases in the tumor microenvironment. She has gained an internationally recognized expertise in matrix biology, tumor microenvironment and pathological (lymph)angiogenesis. 

The main interest of her team is currently the study of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying pathological (tumor, ocular and associated to vascular dysfunction in lymphedema) lymphangiogenesis and metastatic dissemination. 

Selected publications:

Gillot L, Lebeau A, Baudin L, Pottier C, Louis T, Durré T, Longuespée R, Mazzucchelli G, Nizet C, Blacher S, Kridelka F, Noël A. Periostin in lymph node pre-metastatic niches governs lymphatic endothelial cell functions and metastatic colonization.Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 May 14;79(6):295. doi: 10.1007/s00018-022-04262-w.

Gucciardo F, Pirson S, Baudin L, Lebeau A, Noël A. uPARAP/Endo180: a multifaceted protein of mesenchymal cells. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 Apr 22;79(5):255. doi: 10.1007/s00018-022-04249-7.

Buntinx F, Lebeau A, Gillot L, Baudin L, Ndong Penda R, Morfoisse F, Lallemand F, Vottero G, Nizet C, Nizet JL, Blacher S, Noel A. Single and combined impacts of irradiation and surgery on lymphatic vasculature and fibrosis associated to secondary lymphedema. Front Pharmacol. 2022 Oct 18;13:1016138. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1016138. 

Van de Velde M, Ebroin M, Durré T, Joiret M, Gillot L, Blacher S, Geris L, Kridelka F, Noel A. Tumor exposed-lymphatic endothelial cells promote primary tumor growth via IL6. Cancer Lett. 2021 Jan 28;497:154-164. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2020.10.020.

Primac I, Maquoi E, Blacher S, Heljasvaara R, Van Deun J, Smeland HY, Canale A, Louis T, Stuhr L, Sounni NE, Cataldo D, Pihlajaniemi T, Pequeux C, De Wever O, Gullberg D, Noel A. Stromal integrin α11 regulates PDGFR-β signaling and promotes breast cancer progression. J Clin Invest. 2019 Jul 9;129(11):4609-4628. doi: 10.1172/JCI125890.

Durré T, Morfoisse F, Erpicum C, Ebroin M, Blacher S, García-Caballero M, Deroanne C, Louis T, Balsat C, Van de Velde M, Kaijalainen S, Kridelka F, Engelholm L, Struman I, Alitalo K, Behrendt N, Paupert J, Noel A. uPARAP/Endo180 receptor is a gatekeeper of VEGFR-2/VEGFR-3 heterodimerisation during pathological lymphangiogenesis. Nat Commun. 2018 Dec 5;9(1):5178. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07514-1.

For more information on the iCAN science seminar series, please contact ican@helsinki.fi