Congratulations to Jean-Baptiste Potier, a fellow PhD student from our spin-off  ILONOV and our university lab UR DIATHEC 7294! JB successfully defended his PhD thesis last June 16 at CeeD's amphitheater in Strasbourg.

CeeD's team is very proud of his achievement and wishes him a great career in research for the years to come!

Impact of the myokine ILV001 on the prevention of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)

By Jean-Baptiste Potier

Supervised by Dr Karim Bouzakri from ILONOV and UR DIATHEC 7294 (CeeD) at Strasbourg University

Thesis defense jury members: 

• Dr Catherine Schuster from Strasbourg Université 
• Pr Jean-François Gautier from INSERM, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
• Pr Niklas Björkström from Karolinska Institutet

Summary:

« Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) are rapidly becoming the most common liver disease in the world, mainly as a consequence of the pandemic of type 2 diabetes, genetic factors and sedentary lifestyle. However, the available therapeutic options for patients are highly limited since no drug has been globally approved. Thus, physical exercise and lifestyle intervention are the first line of treatment for these diseases. The molecular mechanisms behind the benefits of physical activity have been widely studied but some aspect still remains unexplored. During the past decades, a new role for skeletal muscle as a secretory organ has been described, through its ability to secrete factors during contraction, called myokines. In this context, these myokines could play a critical role of mediator of the benefits of exercise on whole-body homeostasis.

During this PhD project, we aimed at extending the current knowledge on the role of the liver-muscle crosstalk in the context of metabolic disease. Using human-derived 3D liver models of MASLD and MASH, we studied the role of one muscle secreted myokine, ILV001, in the pathophysiology of these diseases. Our study with cells of different human donors suggest that this myokine may be a critical mediator of the positive impact of exercise on liver metabolism and could represent a promising therapeutic potential for patients suffering of chronic liver diseases. »

Distinctive features of this PhD project

• This work is the result of a CIFRE collaboration between the University of Strasbourg's DIATHEC laboratory at the Centre européen d'étude du Diabète and ILONOV, a biotech company aiming to exploit the potential of the muscle secretome for the treatment of metabolic diseases.
• The  CIFRE (Conventions Industrielles de Formation par la Recherche) scheme, set up by the ANRT (Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie), aims to encourage exchanges between the business world and public academic research.
• This project was also made possible thanks to a collaboration with the Center for Infectious Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, which helped in setting up the 3D human liver model.

Throwback

During his thesis, Jean-Baptiste had the opportunity to go to different congress and research events. He presented at the 58th EASD Annual Meeting (European Association for the Study of Diabetes) in Stockholm (SE) on September 22, 2022 about : 

Skeletal muscle derived myokine affects insulin sensitivity and lipogenesis in a human hepatocyte spheroid model