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Research Fellow CNRS Contact: veronique.perrier(at)umontpellier.fr Phone: 04 67 14 33 87 Team 6: "Environmental impact in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders" Recent collaborations:
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Presentation
After obtaining my PhD in the field of protein biochemistry at the Pasteur Institute of Paris (1997, Paris XI University, Orsay), I continued my education with a postdoctoral training on the innovative concept of "prions", which are infectious proteins responsible of prion diseases. I joined the laboratory of Pr. S. Prusiner in the United States (San Francisco, CA, 1997-2000) to study the mecanisms of resistance of prions via the characterization of "dominant negative" polymorphisms in transgenic mice, as well as a new approach of structure-based drug design via molecular and cellular screenings.In 2000, I got a researcher position at the CNRS and I joined the laboratory of Pr. S. Lehmann (Institute of Human Genetics, Montpellier, 2001-2004). The identification of antibodies and molecules such as dendrimers having "anti-prion" properties in cell cultures, and the development of lentiviral vectors carrying "dominant negative" prion proteins to develop a gene therapy approach were the main work carried out during this period.Since 2005, I joined the laboratory INSERM U710-now U1198- headed by Dr. JM Verdier. My research theme focuses on the study of molecular mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases. I identified a family of thienyl pyrimidine compounds that specifically induce oligomers of the pathological isoform of the prion protein, PrPSc. These compounds exhibit very interesting properties for the diagnosis of prions and the deprionization of blood (collaboration with EFS Midi-Pyrénées). Furthermore, one of the identified compounds is a molecule derived from α-tertiophenes, which are synthesized by plants and possessed powerful herbicidal properties. Currently, my research theme has evolved into the role of pesticides in neurodegenerative diseases especially Alzheimer's and prions.