NAmur Research Institute for LIfe Sciences
Florence Chainiaux-Debacq
Stress and ageing
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of ageing, focusing on the interconnection between stress and premature cellular senescence
Prof. Florence Chainiaux-Debacq PhD
UNamur, Department of biology, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology (URBC)
Research portal UNamur | ORCID | ResearchGate | LinkedIn
Expertise and research interests
Prof. Florence Chainiaux leads a research group devoted to the understanding of the biological processes that govern ageing. Her group, called SAGE for "Stress and AGEing", focuses on the interconnection between stress and cellular senescence, a phenomenon defined as the irreversible arrest of normally dividing cells. Florence pursued the work initiated by her colleague Prof. Olivier Toussaint. Their research previously showed the impact of oxidative stress and/or DNA-damaging agents (H2O2, t-BHP, UVB...) on the premature appearance of the senescent phenotype in human cells, a concept called "Stress Induced Premature Senescence (SIPS)". As the skin represents an ideal model to study the impact of environmental stress on its ageing, in vitro experiments are carried out on human skin cells, including epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts. The SAGE group works therefore in close collaboration with the research group of Prof. Yves Poumay, which aims at developing an in vitro skin model of senescence. In parallel, Dr. Florence Chainiaux has gained an expertise in the in vitro evaluation of the toxicity of nanoparticles.
Besides basic research, Dr. Florence Chainiaux is also partner of several clinical projects around human ageing (search for biomarkers associated with frailty, longevity and age) and more recently, around caregiving (search for biomarkers predicting the impact of caregiving on the caregiver’s health). In this context, Florence maintains a longstanding and fruitful collaboration with Prof. Marie de Saint-Hubert from the Department of Geriatrics of the CHU UCL Namur and develops a multidisciplinary approach with colleagues from UNamur involved in the SATRAP project and in the research group GRIVES.
Research projects
- Placental molecular signatures of prenatal exposure, predictive of environmental pollution effects on neurodevelopment in early life. PhD thesis by Leen Luyten on 26/03/2021. Joint PhD thesis at UNamur (Prof. Florence Chainiaux) and UHasselt (Prof. Tim Nawrot).
- Structural and functional modifications in lipidic membrane microdomains during senescence of epidermal keratinocytes. PhD thesis defended by Céline Warnon on 26/01/2021. Under co-supervision by Prof Florence Chainiaux (promoter) and Prof. Yves Poumay (co-promoter).
- Study of the reciprocal interaction between replicative senescent or UVB-SIPS fibroblasts and squamous cell carcinoma cell lines at different stages of tumorigenesis. PhD thesis defended by Marie Toutfaire on 09/11/2018.
- Caregiver2, Caregiver's Health Assessment: Clinical and Biological Markers. In collaboration with Prof. Marie de Saint-Hubert, Geriatrics, CHU UCL Namur
Selected publications
Giroud J, Bouriez I, Paulus H, Pourtier A, Debacq-Chainiaux F, Pluquet O. Exploring the Communication of the SASP: Dynamic, Interactive, and Adaptive Effects on the Microenvironment. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jun 28;24(13):10788.
Bauwens E, Parée T, Meurant S, Bouriez I, Hannart C, Wéra AC, Khelfi A, Fattaccioli A, Burteau S, Demazy C, Fransolet M, De Schutter C, Martin N, Théry J, Decanter G, Penel N, Bury M, Pluquet O, Garmyn M, Debacq-Chainiaux F. Senescence induced by UVB in keratinocytes impairs amino acids balance. J Invest Dermatol. 2023 Apr;143(4):554-565.e9.
Warnon C, Bouhjar K, Ninane N, Verhoyen M, Fattaccioli A, Fransolet M, Lambert de Rouvroit C, Poumay Y, Piel G, Mottet D, Debacq-Chainiaux F. HDAC2 and 7 down-regulation induces senescence in dermal fibroblasts. Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Jul 12;13.
Luyten LJ, Dieu M, Demazy C, Fransolet M, Nawrot TS, Renard P, Debacq-Chainiaux F. Optimization of label-free nano LC-MS/MS analysis of the placental proteome. Placenta. 2020 Sep 14;101:159-162.
Potier F, Degryse JM, Bihin B, Debacq-Chainiaux F, Charlet-Renard C, Martens H, de Saint-Hubert M. Health and frailty among older spousal caregivers: an observational cohort study in Belgium. BMC Geriatr. 2018 Nov 26;18(1):291.
Toutfaire M, Dumortier E, Fattaccioli A, Van Steenbrugge M, Proby CM, Debacq-Chainiaux F. Unraveling the interplay between senescent dermal fibroblasts and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cell lines at different stages of tumorigenesis. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2018 Mar 14;98:113-126.
Mound A, Lozanova V, Warnon C, Hermant M, Robic J, Guere C, Vie K, Lambert de Rouvroit C, Tyteca D, Debacq-Chainiaux F, Poumay Y. Non-senescent keratinocytes organize in plasma membrane submicrometric lipid domains enriched in sphingomyelin and involved in re-epithelialization. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2017 Sep;1862(9):958-971.
