featuring

Laurent Groc, PhD (DR)

CNRS - Université de Bordeaux

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Wednesday, April 30, 2025 I 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET

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Autoimmunity in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Neurological and psychiatric symptoms, as well as cognitive deficits, represent a prominent phenotype associated with variable forms of autoimmune encephalitis, regardless of the neurotransmitter receptor targeted by autoantibodies. The mechanistic underpinnings of these autoantibody-mediated conditions remain however still unclear. Using a combination of single molecule and superresolution imaging, immunocytochemistry, and electrophysiology, we investigated the molecular and cellular impacts of patient-derived autoantibodies against the glutamatergic NMDA receptor and other targets in the hippocampus. Here, I will discuss how autoimmunity in the neuropsychiatry is changing our field. More specifically, our current understanding on how autoantibodies trigger convergent network dysfunctions through a combination of shared and distinct mechanisms will be discussed, highlighting the major impact of autoantibodies onto extrasynaptic receptors. In addition, tuning the surface dynamics of membrane receptors emerges as an efficient target to circumvent autoantibody-induced cellular deficits.

Laurent Groc is Exceptional Class Research Director (DRCE CNRS) at the CNRS and Université de Bordeaux, head of the Team Developmental Brain Physiology and Pathology, and deputy director of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience. His research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the maturation of glutamate synapses in physiology and neuropsychiatric conditions, such as psychosis. He received his Ph.D. in Neurosciences in 2000 from Wayne State University (Michigan, USA) and Université de Lyon (France). He then joined the Department of Physiology at the University of Goteborg (Sweden) as a postdoctoral fellow to investigate the physiology of developing synapses. In 2004, he was appointed CNRS young investigator (CR) in Bordeaux to decrypt how excitatory synapses mature using an original combination of approaches. He received several prestigious awards, including the 2008 CNRS Young Investigator Award, 2009 Young Investigator Biology Award of the French Science Academy, 2015 Prix Foulon of the French Science Academy, 2015 Prix Dassault, 2016 Human Frontier Science Program Award, 2020 ERC Synergy Award, and 2022 CNRS Silver Medal. In 2020, he has been nominated Guest Professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden. Biosketch.

Webpage: Laurent Groc - France | CNRS

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