NAmur Research Institute for LIfe Sciences
NARILIS PhD student Chloé Matthys had the floor to present her research at the Meeting on Toxinology in Nice
The French Society of Toxinology (SFET) organized its 30th Meeting on Toxinology, titled “Unlocking the Deep Secrets of Toxins”, on December 2-3, 2024, at Hôtel Le Saint Paul in Nice. On this occasion, Chloé Matthys’ abstract “Advancing esophageal adenocarcinoma treatment using animal venoms” was selected for an oral presentation.
Since September 2022, Chloé Matthys is pursuing a PhD in the Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology, led by Prof. Jean-Pierre Gillet (UNamur, URPhyM). Her doctoral thesis focuses on venomics, a multidisciplinary field integrating genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics to study animal venoms and explore their potential as a tool to improve treatment of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The incidence of this cancer type has been rising over the past decades and is now the prominent histological type of esophageal cancer in high-income countries. The 5-year survival rate remains at 15%, mainly related to its diagnosis at advanced clinical stages of the disease, and its poor responsiveness to chemotherapy and radiation, the mainstay of pre-surgical treatment for late stages of the disease. Immunotherapy alone or in combination is being evaluated in clinical trials and show mixed outcomes. There is a dire need to address the mechanisms of treatments resistance in this cancer and to develop new therapeutic strategies. Chloé’s work addresses these two unmet clinical needs. At this meeting, she reported on the pharmacological activities of six fractionated venoms from different species on three esophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines, and immortalized normal esophageal cells. Fractions showing selective cytotoxic activity against cancer cells were further analyzed by mass spectrometry to identify the sequence of the lead toxins. Efforts are now focused on identifying their mechanisms of action.
Recently, in collaboration with ULiège, Chloé Matthys published a comprehensive review discussing the origins and activities of approved venom-derived drugs and providing an overview of venom peptides still under development.
Read more:
Freuville L, Matthys C, Quinton L, Gillet JP. Venom-derived peptides for breaking through the glass ceiling of drug development. Front Chem. 2024 Sep 26;12:1465459.
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