Territory

Audrey Ferrand

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Research Institution

INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE EN SANTÉ DIGESTIVE (IRSD)

Team Environment and Intestinal Epithelium Interactions

Director

Researcher's interest in a few words:

Main field of activity

  • technology development;
  • biologic model development;
  • biologic model application/user.

Target organs

  • colon.

Main collaborations

Keywords


Type/models systems

Organoids, spheroids & organ-on-a-chip;

Physio-pathological models

Cancer & inflammatory disease;

Application areas

Organ development, physiopathology studies, diseases models, organ interaction studies, drug discovery, clinical drug efficacy, medical treatments, physiological responses, toxicity, drug safety, toxicology testing & personalized medecine.

Technologies

  1. microfluidic chips & biosensors;
  2. cell biology, cell production, stem cells, iPSC & cell media;
  3. tissue engineering.

Main research or activities topics

Colorectal epithelial cells interact with their microenvironment, particularly the fibroblasts representing the major stromal cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). These interactions regulate the cell phenotypes and behavior such as proliferation, differentiation and migration processes involved in the renewal of the colorectal epithelium. Under tumoral or inflammatory conditions, these interactions are altered, contributing to the disease development. By combining morphological, functional, pharmacological and microfluidic approaches to 3D cell primocultures of colorectal organoids and fibroblasts, we study the interactions between epithelial cells and their environment along colorectal tumorigenesis. One topic is the development of a colon-on-chip (Collab. with LAAS-CNRS).

Contact


Adresse

Institut de Recherche en Santé Digestive - INSERM u1220, INRA u1416, ENVT, UT3
Bat B - CHU Purpan
Place du Dr Baylac, CS 60039
31024 Toulouse
France