Frédéric Charbonnier

T3S-1124 - UMR-S 1124
Université de Paris
Campus Saint-Germain-des-Près
45 rue des Saints Pères
75270 Paris Cedex 06

Fax : +33 (0) 1 42 86 38 68

Pr. Frédéric Charbonnier

University Professor
Degeneration and plasticity of the locomotor system

frederic.charbonnier@-Code to remove to avoid SPAM-u-paris.fr
+33 1 42 86 40 37, room H330

Student :

Frederic Charbonnier obtained a PhD degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology at University Paris Descartes in 1998 and State Doctorate from University of Evry (France) in 2001. From 1998 to 1999 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Neurosciences Institute of Fer-à-Moulin (France). From 1999 to 2005 he was an Associate Professor in Sport and Exercise Science at University of Evry (France). From 2005, he became a Full Professor at University Paris Descartes and currently heads the team “Neuromuscular degeneration and plasticity” at INSERM UMR_S1124. From January 2014, he was also nominated as head the Interdisciplinary Center of Chemistry Biology- Paris (CICB-Paris).

The group of Prof. Charbonnier develops original multidisciplinary approaches to describe and quantify the motor capacities in mice using behavioral, cellular and molecular analyses. The studies are focused mainly on the effects of the modulation of motor activities in mouse models of severe human neuromuscular diseases such as ALS and SMA.The team’s recent data obtained with the severe SMA mouse model clearly indicate that 1) motor unit maturation is delayed in SMA, 2) the importance of this delay is associated with the severity of neuronal death, and 3) the increase in motor neuron activity through appropriately designed exercise training programs limits developmental delay and neuronal death. These improvements lead to an increase in the motor capacities and, ultimately, to increased survival in SMA mice. The post-natal maturation of the motor unit appears to be an important factor in SMA genesis and progression which reinforces the potential role of activity-dependent triggering of intracellular signaling such as those dependent on NMDA receptor activation. The deciphering of the intracellular signaling pathways which are activated in the contexts of motor-neuron degeneration or survival permitted the group to understand the importance of a deregulation of the ERK and AKT pathways in the SMA spinal cord and to patent (International patent n°61/489721, 2013) a new therapeutic approach to limit motor-neuron degeneration which is based on the inhibition of the ERK pathway.

Recent Publications

Articles