Institut Jacques Monod Seminar – Magali Suzanne

Invited by the Ladoux/Mege Lab, Magali Suzanne (University of Toulouse, CNRS, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Toulouse, France) will present an Institut Jacques Monod on the theme:

Spatio-temporal control of nuclear mechanotransduction during Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

Abstract:

During epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cells generate mechanical forces. How the nucleus reacts to these mechanical cues, ensuring a tight balance between mechano-protection and mechanotransduction, is a key yet unresolved question. Here we dissect the spatio-temporal control of nuclear mechanostransduction during EMT, using Drosophila mesoderm invagination as a model. We found that two conserved pro-EMT genes respond differently to compressive forces: while snail transcription remains unaffected, compression is sufficient to activate twist transcription within seconds. We further revealed a spatially patterned genome-wide transcriptional response to EMT forces, with an apical mechanoprotection contrasting with a permissive basal nuclear environment. The direct recording of nascent transcription in response to a controlled nuclear micromanipulation provides compelling evidence of nuclear heterogeneity in the transcriptional response to forces. Overall, these results reveal that EMT nuclei respond directly and rapidly to mechanical forces, in a spatially defined pattern.

Suzanne earned her PhD in 1999 from the University of Toulouse, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the CBM in Madrid, Spain. In 2005, she obtained a CNRS research position and worked at the IBV in Nice, France. From 2008 to 2010, she was a visiting scientist at Rockefeller University in New York, USA. She leads a team at the Centre de Biologie Intégrative de Toulouse. She was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2015, was appointed CNRS Research Director (DR) the same year, became an EMBO member in 2022, and received the Louise Basset Prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 2023. Her team has uncovered how cell death shapes tissues by combining cell biology, biophysics, and modeling approaches. Currently, her research focuses on understanding how the integrity of epithelial tissues—critical for protecting and covering our organs—is maintained.