Domaines
Biophysics
Type of internship
Expérimental Description
The number of cases of Multiple Sclerosis (“Sclérose en plaques” in French) has rapidly increased in the past decades. This disease is related to the progressive disruption of the protective myelin sheath that covers nerve fibers. There are more and more suspicions that endocrine disrupting chemicals, and in particular the fluorosurfactants (PFAS) (e.g. related to Teflon) can be involved. These lipophilic components could indeed accumulate in the lipid-rich structures like the myelin sheath and modify its membrane composition and mechanical properties, thus compromising its capability to coat long projecting axons.
The internship project aims at studying the mechanical properties of membranes affected or not by PFAS using biophysical approaches (nanotube pulling experiments with optical tweezers and micropipette aspiration). In parallel, our collaborators will use lipidomics to analyze the lipids composition of the myelin of animals exposed or not to PFAS.
Contact
Patricia Bassereau