INSERM – Institute of Psychiatry and Neurosciences of Paris, France

The team of Dr. G van Niel at INSERM – Institute of Psychiatry and Neurosciences of Paris is composed of 2 post-docs and one technician. The ESR will be supervised by Dr. van Niel and trained by the different members of the team. The team is internationally recognized for its contribution to our understanding of the cell biology behind exosome biogenesis and functions (van Niel et al. Nature Review MCB 2018). We have recently developed exosomes reporter that allows to vizualize and characterize exosomes release in live cells (Verweij et al JCB 2018) and to track inter-organ communication in vivo at the vesicle scale (Verweij et al Dev Cell 2019). The main focus of the team is to better understand the mechanisms that cells develop to regulate endosome functions (lysosomal degradation vs exosome secretion) and at developing different tools to monitor the endosomal dynamics in vitro and in vivo. For this purpose we combine imaging methods (in vivo confocal microscopy, TIRF, super resolution, electron microscopy) and biochemical methods in cellular model and in zebrafish embryos.

The team has been created in 2017 in the brand new Institute of Psychiatry and Neurosciences of Paris (IPNP). IPNP is a multi-disciplinary community of over 100 basic and clinical scientists. The 4300 m²new building houses multidisciplinary teams of experts in biology, clinical research, physics, chemistry, engineering and computational science. At IPNP the team profits from an excellent environment as the institute provides core facilities and services such as a state-of-the-art imaging platforms (confocal spinning microscopy, in vivo imaging, super-resolution), a biochemistry platform for exosome isolation, a zebrafish facility set up and run by Dr. van Niel, (up to 3000 fishes, microinjection quarantine). The Institut Curie, in a collaborative frame, provides the equipment for electron microscopy analyses and a mass spectrometry platform with a strong background in exosome analysis.

Website
https://ipnp.paris5.inserm.fr/research/teams-and-projects/17-equipe-van-niel