Le lundi 22 septembre 2025, Paola REDEGHIERI présentera l'examen en vue de l’obtention du grade académique de Docteur en Sciences (Collège de doctorat en Biochimie, biologie moléculaire et cellulaire, bioinformatique et modélisation) sous la direction de Mireille DUMOULIN et Rita VANBEVER.

Cette épreuve consistera en la défense publique d’une dissertation confidentielle intitulée :

« Camelid single domain antibodies inhibiting neutrophil serine proteases as therapeutic and prognostic agents in the context of inflammatory diseases  ».

Le Jury sera composé de :

M. F. KERFF (Président), Mmes et MM. M. DUMOULIN (Promotrice), P. LAFAYE (Institut Pasteur), G. LALMANACH (Université de Tours), I. LANDRIEU (Université de Lille), R. VANBEVER (UCLouvain) (Co-promotrice), A. VANDEN BROECK (Secrétaire).

Cette défense étant confidentielle, le public présent devra signer un accord de confidentialité.

Summary

Neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs), including neutrophil elastase (NE), play a major role in the pathogenesis of various chronic inflammatory diseases. These conditions are characterized by an imbalance between NSPs and their endogenous inhibitors, leading to excessive and uncontrolled proteolytic activity. This disregulation results in detrimental effects such as progressive tissue degradation. Additionally, NSPs levels in biological fluids correlates with the disease severity making them valuable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. In this work, we have generated a camelid single-domain antibody fragments (VHHs) competitively and specifically inhibiting NE from both human and murine origins. Various strategies have been carried out to enhance its properties. Altogether, our results highlight the diagnostic and therapeutical potential of VHHs targeting neutrophil proteases in chronic inflammatory diseases.