Presentation
The Chronobiotron is a platform for the keeping, breeding and functional exploration of rodents that has equipment specifically designed for the study of biological rhythms, i.e. all the mechanisms used by organisms to anticipate and adapt to cyclical variations in their environment. This facility, which is the only one of its kind in Europe, includes installations for the controlled reproduction of changes in the environment: photoperiod (day/night alternation) and temperature (useful for studying hibernation phenomena). It is also possible to mimic dawn and dusk, reproduce natural lighting conditions and expose the animals to specific wavelengths of light (e.g. blue, red, etc.). The facility covers an area of 2,000m2 and comprises three complementary entities: a breeding area for genetically modified mice and rats with monitored health status, a class-3 animal house/laboratory for handling in vivo/in vitro pathogens and conventional experimentation areas. The platform is accredited by the GIS IBiSA and the Network of Scientific Core Facilities for Research and Service Delivery (Réseau des plateformes scientifiques de recherche et de service – CoRTecS) and is a member of the national research infrastructure CELPHEDIA (Creation, Breeding, Phenotyping, Distribution and Archiving of model organisms).
Research topics
Circadian and homeostatic regulation of sleep
Team: Prof. P Bourgin, INCI, UPR 3212
Translational research with the International Research Centre for ChronoSomnology (Centre International de Recherche en ChronoSomnologie – CIRCSom at the Nouvel Hôpital Civil – NHC).
Analysing the direct and indirect effects of light (spectrum, intensity, wavelength) on the sleep/wake cycle and its homeostatic component.
Project funded by: ANSES, PHRC.
Origin and regulation of circadian and seasonal rhythms: impact of environmental and nutritional factors on metabolism and reproduction
Team: E Challet and V Simonneaux, INCI, UPR 3212.
Studying circadian, metabolic and reproductive disorders induced by an unbalanced diet, chronic jet lag, exposure to blue light at night or endocrine disruptors.
Project funded by: ANR, ANSES.
Retinal diseases, visual impairment and cone pathophysiology
Team: MP Felder/D Hicks, INCI, UPR 3212.
Modelling and studying, in diurnal rodent models (arvicanthis ansorgei and psammomys obesus) with a cone-rich retina, human retinal diseases leading to blindness by cone degeneration (diabetic retinopathy, Stargardt disease).
Project funded by: CELPHEDIA, ANSES, Fondation Maladies Rares and UNADEV.
Chronic pain and mood disorders as associated comorbidity: neural pathways, cellular and molecular mechanisms involved
Team: I Yalcin/M Barrot , INCI, UPR 3212.
Studying, in models of chronic inflammatory pain, the neural pathways involved and their role in the development of co-morbidities such as mood disorders in order to identify new therapeutic targets.
Projects funded by: ANR, FRM, EU HAPPY project.
Development of innovative approaches for the treatment of HER2+ breast cancer
Team: A Detappe, UMR 7178, ICANS.
Combining nanotechnologies for drug encapsulation and the use of innovative hydrogel to replace venous administration with less invasive transdermal administration to improve patients' quality of life.
Project funded by: ERC.
Major events and works
- The study, as part of a project for the Foundation for Rare Diseases and the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail – ANSES) of Psammomys obesus, a rodent with a cone-rich retina that was bred in the Chronobiotron, as a viable model for studying diabetic retinopathy caused by a high-calorie diet and Stargardt disease, an early-onset genetic retinal degeneration, using the CRISPR Cas9 approach (inactivation of the ABCA4 gene in the eye). This work led to a publication (Estay-Ahumada et al., Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2024 Apr;1870(4):167118. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2024.167118. Epub 2024 Mar 14) and a preprint (BioRxiv, Sassone F et al.)
- The analysis, as part of an ANSES project, of Arvicanthis ansorgei, a diurnal rodent comparable to humans, to study the harmful effects of exposure to blue light at night on the metabolism, reproduction and eye function.
- An ANR and CELPHEDIA project to create a genetically modified model of a golden hamster using the CRISPR Cas9 genome-editing technique to study the role of RFRP peptides in seasonal reproduction. Prix expertise IdEx 2022.
- Expansion of the Chronobiotron to cancer research, welcoming in particular the ICANS research teams (led by A Detappe and H Burckel) and the ODIMMA start-up working on innovative therapies in the fight against cancer.