Biology subjects

Elie, N.

Publications and source records attributed to Elie, N..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Long-term patient-derived ovarian cancer organoids closely recapitulate tumor of origin and clinical response

There is an urgent need of precision medicine for ovarian cancer patients to identify patients who respond to chemotherapy and PARP inhibitors, a therapy targeting homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). Here we established a panel of 37 long-term patient-derived tumor organoids (PDTO) models of various histological subtypes from 224 patients and demonstrated that they mimic the histological and molecular characteristics of original tumors. Screening of chemotherapeutic drugs showed that PDTO exhibit heterogeneous responses, and that response of PDTO from high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma to carboplatin recapitulated patient response to first-line treatment. Additionally, the detection of HRD phenotype of PDTO using functional assay was associated with the results of the HRD test Genomic Instability Scar (GIScar). Although larger-scale investigations are needed to confirm the predictive potential of PDTO, these results provide further evidence of the potential interest of ovarian PDTO for functional precision medicine even if many challenges remain to be addressed.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Managed honey bee colony losses and causes during the active beekeeping season 2022/2023 in nine Sub-Saharan African countries

This study reports for the first-time managed honey bee colony loss rates and associated risk factors during the active beekeeping season 2022/2023 in nine Sub-Saharan African countries, namely Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Benin, Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The sustainability of bee swarm catches as a main honey bee colony source tool for operation expansion by African beekeepers was also evaluated in Kenya and Ethiopia. In this survey, the 1,786 interviewed beekeepers across these countries collectively managing 41,761 colonies registered an overall loss rate of 21.3%, which varied significantly among countries (from 9.7 to 45.3%) and hive types (from 10.6% in hives with movable frames to 17.9% in frameless hives). The perceived causes of losses in order of significance were issues beyond the beekeepers control (mainly theft, drought, and bushfire), absconding and pests (mainly wax moth, small and large hive beetles, ants and Varroa destructor mite), but this pattern varied greatly across countries. Among the management practices and characteristics, migratory operations and professional beekeepers experienced lower losses than stationary operations and semi-professionals and hobby beekeepers. Insights into the number of bee swarms caught revealed significant decreases in swarm availability over the past three years in Kenya. The opposite situation was observed in some regions of Ethiopia. These trends require further investigation. Overall, this comprehensive survey sheds light on the complexities and challenges beekeepers faced in Sub-Saharan Africa, pointing to the need for targeted interventions and sustained research to support the resilience and growth of the apicultural sector.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2020

Shotgun lipidomics and mass spectrometry imaging unveil diversity and dynamics in lipid composition in Gammarus fossarum

Sentinel species are playing an indispensable role in monitoring environmental pollution in aquatic ecosystems. Many pollutants found in water prove to be endocrine disrupting chemicals that could cause disruptions in lipid homeostasis in aquatic species. A comprehensive profiling of the lipidome of these species is thus an essential step towards understanding the mechanism of toxicity induced by pollutants. We here extensively examined both the composition and spatial distribution of lipids in freshwater crustacean Gammarus fossarum. The baseline lipidome of gammarids of different gender and reproductive stage was established by high throughput shotgun lipidomics. Spatial lipid mapping by high resolution mass spectrometry imaging led to the discovery of sulfate-based lipids in hepatopancreas and their accumulation in mature oocytes. We uncovered in G. fossarum a diverse and dynamic lipid composition that deepens our understanding of the biochemical changes during development and which could serve as a reference for future ecotoxicological studies.

biochemistry↗