Séminaire CIRI (16.04.2024) : Lucie BERNARD

Dr. Lucie BERNARD, postdoctoral researcher in Ken Cadwell's lab, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, "Interferons as mediators of virally-triggered intestinal damage"

Abstract: Polymorphism in the autophagy gene ATG16L1 increases the risk for Crohn's disease but the high frequency in the general population indicates that it is insufficient to explain disease development. Murine norovirus (MNV) CR6 is an asymptomatic persistent enteric virus in WT mice. However, it leads to a Crohn's disease-like phenotypes in mice expressing low levels of autophagy. Interestingly, some of these phenotypes are also observed in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. During my talk, I will share recent data obtained using mouse models and organoid models showing how viruses inducing high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (such as interferons) may alter intestinal permeability, in particular in genetically susceptible hosts.