External Seminar Stéphane BELIN

Insults to the central nervous system (CNS) induce permanent cognitive, sensory and/or motor disabilities, as the mature CNS is not able to regenerate. Because of the continuous increase of traumatic injuries cases (such as spinal cord injuries) or chronic neurodegenerative diseases, along with the lack of treatment, promoting neuronal growth, repair and functional recovery represent a great challenge for neurobiology, patients and public health. Since 2008, CNS regeneration has been unlocked, in part, by the modulation of neuronal molecular pathways. These master regulators promote regeneration from few millimeters to long distance regeneration when combined. However, there is still important limitations to achieve full functional recovery and patient’s treatment. Indeed, none of these molecules induce sufficient axon growth to allow complete circuit reconstruction. Moreover, most of these candidates cannot be used as therapy because of their large spectrum of action and potential oncogenic side effects. Thus, there is still a need to identify new molecules controlling CNS regeneration and define precisely their underlying molecular mechanisms in order to develop innovative treatments. Recently, our team identified protein synthesis as a key mechanism to promote axon regeneration. Particularly, we demonstrated that the translational complex (ribosomes and their interacting proteins) is a direct regulator of protein synthesis with specific modulation of the ribo-interactome and ribosomal proteins. Our work shed the light on the role translation, allowing the understanding of the molecular mechanisms at play during regeneration.