You can download my Curriculum Vitae, Here.
Master 2 Thesis
Inference of WW domain Sequence-Function relationship using noisy and indirect measurements.
Supervisors : Aleksandra Walczak and Thierry Mora
Protein's function is ultimately determined by its amino-acid sequence which in turn determine its structure. The general problem of the sequence-function relationship is very complicated and some case studies that focus on a well-defined function in a small portion of the sequence space can be informative. Here, we show that using a protein display assay coupled with high-throughput sequencing, it is possible to examine quantitatively the effect of thousands of mutations around a reference sequence. This approach rely solely on the sequences-function relationship and can provide valuable insights on the mechanisms of a protein without prior structural knowledge. The ability to extract valuable knowledge in the noisy context of biological experiments is made possible thanks to new inference techniques based on Information Theory. Using a simple model that considers each amino acid as independent we demonstrate the ability to infer an energy model for the binding of the hYap65 WW domain, which recapitulates to a certain extent the thermodynamics laws of a binding event. Finally, we extended our analysis by looking at the sequence-structure relationship of two other WW domains.
Master 1 Thesis
Transdifferentiation prediction using gene regulatory networks and genetic algorithm & Functional co-culture of motor neuron and myotube.
Supervisor : Kevin Eggan
Cellular reprogramming, also called transdifferentiation is
the process which change the fate of a defined cell type to another
one. To reprogram a cell, researcher use a cocktail of defined
transcription factors that induce changes in the molecular and
genetic state of the cell. However they have to start with a big
number of transcription factor and then reduce it. Using a motif
based prediction algorithm and graph theory as well as a genetic
algorithm, we constructed the gene regulatory network and scored
factors to predict the importance of each of them in the
reprogramming process.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron
degenerative disease poorly understood. Motor neuron normally form
Neuro Muscular Junction with myotube, and that junction seem to be
implicated in ALS. Here we propose a new in vitro coculture system
of human embryonic stem cell derived motor neuron and chicken
myotubes. That system allows study of the Neuro Muscular Junction
formation and might lead to a better under standing of ALS as well
as drug screen. We also propose an in vivo model to study the
behavior of motor neuron injected in the neural tube of a chicken
embryo.