Mucus Barrier

Our team is highly interdisciplinary, bringing together students and researchers from a variety of backgrounds. We work side by side to investigate gel-forming mucins in the context of respiratory diseases, intestinal maturation, as well as cervicovaginal mucins in relation to women's health and pregnancy.

Our research combines a broad range of experimental approaches, from physiologically relevant models to advanced imaging and biophysical techniques. These include precision-cut lung slices, mouse organ cultures, primary epithelial cell cultures under dynamic microfluidic conditions, lentiviral-mediated production of molecules of interest, and experimental mouse infection models. We also use microrheology based on particle tracking to characterize mucus properties, track the movement of motile cells, and perform imaging of both fixed and live cells and tissues.

We're always on the lookout for new members excited about our field of research and eager to explore questions at the interface of mucus biology, epitheliums, and human health. If this sounds like you, we'd love to have you join us!

Current members of the team are:
Jean-Luc Desseyn, PhD, HDR, head of the mucus team
Valérie Gouyer, PhD, HDR, Eng. CHU
Emilie Wong Chong, PhD, Postdoc
Frédéric Gottrand, MD, PhD, PUPH
Léonie Vandomber, Tech.
Karim Tazibet, MD (pneumologist), M2R

Adjunct to the group:
David Séguy, MD, PhD, PUPH
Jean Lesage, PhD, PU
Delphine Ley, MD, PhD, PUPH

Previous PhD students:
Hélène Valque, PhD (2008-2011), Translational medicine early project representative, Servier, Orléans
Céline Portal, PhD (2013-2016), Postdoctoral fellow USA, then Institut de la Vision, Paris. Now Research Engineer, Pasteur Paris
Bastien Demouveaux, PhD (2016-2019), Researcher, HEDERA-22, Belgium
Salah Amini, Postdoctoral fellow, Norway (PhD under the supervision of D. Séguy)
Guillaume Lacroix, PhD (2018-2022), Eng. Res/Dev at Epynext Therapeutics, Grenoble, France (2022-2026), now Ass. Pr, Univ. Orléans, France
Nathan Hennion, PhD (2021-2025), Postdoc, Paris