Our team focuses on the biology and physiopathology of the spinal cord, as well as the peripheral nervous system. Our research strategy is built around four main axes:

• Modulation of excitability and inflammation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),
• The role of neuromuscular junctions in motoneuron degeneration,
• The effects of magnetic stimulation on regeneration and repair following spinal cord injury (SCI) and in ALS,
• The effects of electrical stimulation on the growth and guidance of peripheral nerves after complete injury and axonal outgrowth in vitro.

These projects combine in vitro and in vivo approaches, utilizing cutting-edge methods such as in vivo electrophysiology, chemogenetics, single-nucleus RNA sequencing, advanced imaging, and electroactive biomaterials. As a cross-cutting innovative approach, we are developing a scalable, non-invasive method for continuous 24/7 monitoring of motor activity in mice.

Our overarching goal is to generate fundamental insights with strong translational potential for incurable diseases such as ALS, peripheral nerve injuries, and SCI.

Former members

Recent Publications

Articles

• Involvement of the Endothelial N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor on Vessel-Associated Positioning and Differentiation of Cortical Oligodendrocytes and on Motor Activity.
  Beranger A, Lafenêtre M, Lacomme S, Lebon A, Genty D, Brosolo M, Janin F, Leroy A, Guérout N, Vivien D, Galas L, Marret S, Marguet F, Gontier E, Gonzalez BJ, Lecointre M : J Neurosci, 2025
• KCC2 enhancers normalize reflex responses and improve locomotor function after chronic spinal cord injury.
  Bilchak JN, Danner SM, Caron G, Côté MP : J Physiol, 2025
• Beyond paralysis: Impact of spinal cord injury on brain inflammation and cognitive function through cell therapy.
  Delarue Q, Guérout N : Neural Regen Res, 2025
• Cell adhesion and surface interactions: A comprehensive review of surface energy, wettability, and topography effects
  Hamraoui A : AIP Advances, 2025
• Activation of Endogenous Spinal Cord Stem Cell Mediates Recovery Induced by Olfactory Ensheathing Cell Transplantation Following Spinal Cord Injury
  Delarue Q, Honore A, Xu T, Chalfouh C, Di Giovanni M, Vaudry D, Li X, Guérout N : (preprint), 2025
• Managing surface energy dynamics for enhanced axonal growth: An overview of present and future challenges
  Sénépart O, Legay C, Hamraoui A : Biophysics Reviews, 2025
• Unveiling the Phenotypic Variability of Macrophages: Insights from Donor Diversity and Pooling Strategies.
  Taciak B, Grochowska A, Górczak M, Górka E, Skorzynski M, Białasek M, Rygiel TP, Król M : Int J Mol Sci, 2025
• Harnessing macrophage-drug conjugates for allogeneic cell-based therapy of solid tumors via the TRAIN mechanism.
  Taciak B, Bialasek M, Kubiak M, Marszalek I, Gorczak M, Osadchuk O, Kurpiel D, Strzemecki D, Barwik K, Skorzynski M, Nowakowska J, Lipiński W, Kiraga Ł, Brancewicz J, Klopfleisch R, Krzemiński Ł, Gorka E, Smolarska A, Padzinska-Pruszynska I, Siemińska M, Guzek J, Kutner J, Kisiala M, Wozniak K, Parisi G, Piacentini R, Cassetta L, Forrester LM, Bodnar L, Weiss T, Boffi A, Kucharzewska P, Rygiel TP, Krol M : Nat Commun, 2025
• Ice templating water-stable macroporous polysaccharide hydrogels to mimic plant stems.
  Komiyama K, Allard M, Eschenbrenner C, Sicard C, Hamraoui A, Fernandes F : Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2025
• Breast Cancer Plasticity after Chemotherapy Highlights the Need for Re-Evaluation of Subtyping in Residual Cancer and Metastatic Tissues.
  Padzińska-Pruszyńska IB, Akbar MW, Isbilen M, Górka E, Kucukkaraduman B, Canlı SD, Dedeoğlu E, Azizolli S, Cela I, Akcay AG, Hakanoglu H, Bodnar L, Cierniak S, Kozielec Z, Pruszyński JJ, Bittel M, Gure AO, Król M, Taciak B : Int J Mol Sci, 2024
• Brain inflammation and cognitive decline induced by spinal cord injury can be reversed by spinal cord cell transplants
  Q Delarue, A Robac, F Semprez, C Duclos, B Pileyre, P Neveu, C Raimond, G Riou, I Ziane, N Guérout : Brain Behav Immun, 2024
• Spinal microcircuits go through multiphasic homeostatic compensations in a mouse model of motoneuron degeneration.
  Nascimento F, Özyurt MG, Halablab K, Bhumbra GS, Caron G, Bączyk M, Zytnicki D, Manuel M, Roselli F, Brownstone R, Beato M : Cell Rep, 2024
• Contributions of Surface and Interface Physical Chemistry to Biology
  Ahmed Hamraoui : (preprint), 2024
• Lesion-induced impairment of therapeutic capacities of olfactory ensheathing cells in an autologous transplantation model for treatment of spinal cord injury
  Quentin Delarue, Matthis Brodier, Pauline Neveu, Laurine Moncomble, Alizée Hugede, Axelle Blondin, Amandine Robac, Clémence Raimond, Pamela Lecras, Gaëtan Riou, Nicolas Guérout : (preprint), 2024
• Complementarity between Brillouin signature and Scholte wave for controlled elasticity in fibrillated collagen medium for culture cell
  Ahmed Hamraoui, Océane Sénépart, Laurent Belliard : Applied Physics Letters, 2024
• The collagen ColQ binds to LRP4 and regulates the activation of the Muscle-Specific Kinase–LRP4 receptor complex by agrin at the neuromuscular junction
  Thi Minh Uyen Dao, Susie Barbeau, Julien Messéant, Bruno Della-Gaspera, Tahar Bouceba, Fannie Semprez, Claire Legay, and Alexandre Dobbertin : J Biol Chem, 2023
• Advances in Spinal Cord Neuromodulation: The Integration of Neuroengineering, Computational Approaches, and Innovative Conceptual Frameworks.
  Pradat PF, Hayon D, Blancho S, Neveu P, Khamaysa M, Guerout N : J Pers Med, 2023
• Mesenchymal calcium waves underpin intestinal smooth muscle differentiation
  Chevalier N R, Zig L, Gomis A, Amedzrovi Agbesi R, Pontoizeau L, Eude-Le Parco I, Rouach N, Arnoux I, De Santa Barbara P, Faure S : Communications Biology, 2023
• Electrical and Mechanosensitive Activity of the Mouse Fetal Enteric Nervous System
  Amedzrovi Agbesi R, Spencer N, Hebberd T, Chevalier N R : J Physiol, 2023
• Beneficial Effect of Bee Venom and Its Major Components on Facial Nerve Injury Induced in Mice.
  Er-Rouassi H, Bakour M, Touzani S, Vilas-Boas M, Falcão S, Vidal C, Lyoussi B : Biomolecules, 2023
• Bumetanide increases postsynaptic inhibition after chronic SCI and decreases presynaptic inhibition with step-training.
  Caron G, Bilchak J, Côté MP : J Physiol, 2023
• Flow and mixing induced by single, colinear, and colliding contractile waves in the intestine
  Agbesi R J A, Chevalier N R : Physical Review Fluids, 2022
• Regulation of perineuronal net components in the synaptic bouton vicinity on lumbar α-motoneurons in the rat after spinalization and locomotor training: New insights from spatio-temporal changes in gene, protein expression and WFA labeling.
  Grycz K, Głowacka A, Ji B, Krzywdzińska K, Charzyńska A, Czarkowska-Bauch J, Gajewska-Woźniak O, Skup M : Exp Neurol, 2022
• Efficacy of LED Photobiomodulation for Functional and Axonal Regeneration After Facial Nerve Section-Suture.
  Er-Rouassi H, Benichou L, Lyoussi B, Vidal C : Front Neurol, 2022
• Data clustering analysis of scanning ultrafast acoustic experiments. How acoustic and structural properties of a motoneuron are revealed
  Péronne E, Sénépart O, Legay C, Semprez F, Hamraoui A, Belliard L : {Physical Review Applied}, 2022
• Adhesion energy modulation acts as an NGF receptor activator for neuronal differentiation in NGF-free medium
  Sénépart O, Legay C, Hélary C, Hamraoui A : Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2022
• The SELENOT mimetic PSELT promotes nerve regeneration by increasing axonal myelination in a facial nerve injury model in female rats.
  Pothion H, Lihrmann I, Duclos C, Riou G, Cartier D, Boukhzar L, Lefranc B, Leprince J, Guérout N, Marie JP, Anouar Y : J Neurosci Res, 2022
• How Smooth Muscle Contractions Shape the Developing Enteric Nervous System.
  Chevalier NR, Agbesi RJA, Ammouche Y, Dufour S : Front Cell Dev Biol, 2021
• Correlative Imaging of Motoneuronal Cell Elasticity by Pump and Probe Spectroscopy.
  Hamraoui A, Sénépart O, Schneider M, Malaquin S, Péronne E, Becerra L, Semprez F, Legay C, Belliard L : Biophys J, 2021
• Repetitive Trans Spinal Magnetic Stimulation Improves Functional Recovery and Tissue Repair in Contusive and Penetrating Spinal Cord Injury Models in Rats.
  Robac A, Neveu P, Hugede A, Garrido E, Nicol L, Delarue Q, Guérout N : Biomedicines, 2021
• RNA Profiling of Mouse Ependymal Cells after Spinal Cord Injury Identifies the Oncostatin Pathway as a Potential Key Regulator of Spinal Cord Stem Cell Fate.
  Chevreau R, Ghazale H, Ripoll C, Chalfouh C, Delarue Q, Hemonnot-Girard AL, Mamaeva D, Hirbec H, Rothhut B, Wahane S, Perrin FE, Noristani HN, Guerout N, Hugnot JP : Cells, 2021
• Plasticity of the Injured Spinal Cord.
  Guérout N : Cells, 2021
• Comparison of the effects of two therapeutic strategies based on olfactory ensheathing cell transplantation and repetitive magnetic stimulation after spinal cord injury in female mice.
  Delarue Q, Robac A, Massardier R, Marie JP, Guérout N : J Neurosci Res, 2021
• Spinal cord injury: can we repair spinal cord non-invasively by using magnetic stimulation?
  Delarue Q, Chalfouh C, Guérout N : Neural Regen Res, 2021
• Exercise-Induced Plasticity in Signaling Pathways Involved in Motor Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury.
  Bilchak JN, Caron G, Côté MP : Int J Mol Sci, 2021
• Comments on the article by Jensen et al. (2020).
  Manuel M, Zytnicki D : J Physiol, 2021
• Synaptic disruption and CREB-regulated transcription are restored by K channel blockers in ALS.
  Catanese A, Rajkumar S, Sommer D, Freisem D, Wirth A, Aly A, Massa-López D, Olivieri A, Torelli F, Ioannidis V, Lipecka J, Guerrera IC, Zytnicki D, Ludolph A, Kabashi E, Mulaw MA, Roselli F, Böckers TM : EMBO Mol Med, 2021
• Is there hope that transpinal direct current stimulation corrects motoneuron excitability and provides neuroprotection in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
  Bączyk M, Krutki P, Zytnicki D : Physiol Rep, 2021
• Enhancing KCC2 activity decreases hyperreflexia and spasticity after chronic spinal cord injury.
  Bilchak J, Yeakle K, Caron G, Malloy D, Côté MP : Exp Neurol, 2021
• Differential expansion of circulating human MDSC subsets in patients with cancer, infection and inflammation.
  Cassetta L, Bruderek K, Skrzeczynska-Moncznik J, Osiecka O, Hu X, Rundgren IM, Lin A, Santegoets K, Horzum U, Godinho-Santos A, Zelinskyy G, Garcia-Tellez T, Bjelica S, Taciak B, Kittang AO, Höing B, Lang S, Dixon M, Müller V, Utikal JS, Karakoç D, Yilmaz KB, Górka E, Bodnar L, Anastasiou OE, Bourgeois C, Badura R, Kapinska-Mrowiecka M, Gotic M, Ter Laan M, Kers-Rebel E, Król M, Santibañez JF, Müller-Trutwin M, Dittmer U, de Sousa AE, Esendağlı G, Adema G, Loré K, Ersvær E, Umansky V, Pollard JW, Cichy J, Brandau S : J Immunother Cancer, 2020
• Molecular Crowding and Diffusion-Capture in Synapses.
  Kokolaki ML, Fauquier A, Renner M : IScience, 2020
• L1 Cell Adhesion Molecule Overexpression Down Regulates Phosphacan and Up Regulates Structural Plasticity-Related Genes Rostral and Caudal to the Complete Spinal Cord Transection.
  Płatek R, Grycz K, Więckowska A, Czarkowska-Bauch J, Skup M : J Neurotrauma, 2020
• AChR β-Subunit mRNAs Are Stabilized by HuR in a Mouse Model of Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome With Acetylcholinesterase Deficiency.
  Karmouch J, Delers P, Semprez F, Soyed N, Areias J, Bélanger G, Ravel-Chapuis A, Dobbertin A, Jasmin BJ, Legay C : Front Mol Neurosci, 2020
• Collagens at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction, from structure to pathologies.
  Legay C, Dobbertin A : Neurosci Lett, 2020
• Building neuromuscular junctions in vitro.
  Barbeau S, Tahraoui-Bories J, Legay C, Martinat C : Development, 2020
• Generation of a human induced pluripotent stem cell line (iPSC) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a patient with a myasthenic syndrome due to mutation in COLQ.
  Barbeau S, Desprat R, Eymard B, Martinat C, Lemaitre JM, Legay C : Stem Cell Res, 2020
• Syngeneic Transplantation of Rat Olfactory Stem Cells in a Vein Conduit Improves Facial Movements and Reduces Synkinesis after Facial Nerve Injury.
  Bense F, Montava M, Duclos C, Bisson A, Delarue Q, Mardion NB, Boyer O, Féron F, Guérout N, Marie JP : Plast Reconstr Surg, 2020
• The corepressor CtBP2 is required for proper development of the mouse cerebral cortex.
  Karaca E, Li X, Lewicki J, Neofytou C, Guérout N, Barnabé-Heider F, Hermanson O : Mol Cell Neurosci, 2020
• Inhibition of ADAMTS-4 Expression in Olfactory Ensheathing Cells Enhances Recovery after Transplantation within Spinal Cord Injury.
  Delarue Q, Mayeur A, Chalfouh C, Honoré A, Duclos C, Di Giovanni M, Li X, Salaun M, Dampierre J, Vaudry D, Marie JP, Guérout N : J Neurotrauma, 2020
• The Regenerative Effect of Trans-spinal Magnetic Stimulation After Spinal Cord Injury: Mechanisms and Pathways Underlying the Effect.
  Chalfouh C, Guillou C, Hardouin J, Delarue Q, Li X, Duclos C, Schapman D, Marie JP, Cosette P, Guérout N : Neurotherapeutics, 2020
• A Citrus Based Sensory Functional Food Ingredient Induces Antidepressant-like Effects: Possible Involvement of an Interplay between the Olfactory and the Serotonergic Systems.
  Coutens B, Rekik K, Harster A, Etienne P, Noirot V, Frances B, Moulédous L, Guiard BP : Neuroscience, 2020
• Direct evidence for decreased presynaptic inhibition evoked by PBSt group I muscle afferents after chronic SCI and recovery with step-training in rats.
  Caron G, Bilchak JN, Côté MP : J Physiol, 2020
• Synaptic Restoration by cAMP/PKA Drives Activity-Dependent Neuroprotection to Motoneurons in ALS
  Bączyk M, Alami NO, Delestrée N, Martinot C, Tang L, Commisso B, Bayer D, Doisne N, Frankel W, Manuel M, Roselli F, Zytnicki D : J Exp Med, 2020

Chapters

• De la molécule au neurone
  Claire Legay : extracted from La cognition, Du neurone à la société Thérèse Collins, Daniel Andler, Catherine Tallon-B - Folio, ISBN:2072764378, 2023
• De la molécule au neurone
  Claire Legay : extracted from La cognition, Du neurone à la société Thérèse Collins, Daniel Andler, Catherine Tallon-B - Folio, ISBN:2072764378, 2023
• From Physiological Properties to Selective Vulnerability of Motor Units in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  Bączyk M, Manuel M, Roselli F, Zytnicki D : extracted from Advances in neurobiology vol. 28 Michael J O’Donovan, Mélanie Falgairolle - Springer Nature, pages 375-394, ISBN:978-3-031-07167-6, 2022
• Diversity of Mammalian Motoneurons and Motor Units
  Bączyk M, Manuel M, Roselli F, Zytnicki D : extracted from Advances in neurobiology vol. 28 Michael J O’Donovan, Mélanie Falgairolle - Springer Nature, pages 131-150, ISBN:978-3-031-07167-6, 2022

Speech communications / proceedings

• Extracting Weak Signal with the Help of Data Clustering: Application to Motoneuron Adhesion
  Emmanuel Péronne, Sophie Malaquin, Loic Becerra, Laurent Belliard, Ahmed Hamraoui, Claire Legay, Fannie Semprez : Forum Acusticum, Lyon, France, 2020
• Picosecond ultrasounds as elasticity probes in neuron-like cells models.
  Laurent Belliard, Alexis Viel, Emmanuel Péronne, Océane Sénépart, Loic Becerra, Claire Legay, Fannie Semprez, Lea Trichet, Thibaud Coradin, Ahmed Hamraoui : Forum Acusticum, Lyon, France, 2020

Patent

• Nerve repair implant: International application
  A Hamraoui, O Sénépart, C Legay : Patent # : WO2024/241069, 2024