Retinoic acid, an active derivative of vitamin A, acts directly on chromatin remodelling and transcriptional regulation by inducing conformational changes of its nuclear receptors. Our work aims at better understanding how these changes affect the behavior of stem/progenitor cells in embryonic and adult tissues, and how their misregulation leads to neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression or Parkinsonian syndromes. We are using murine models with targeted disruptions of enzymatic pathways or nuclear receptors to characterize the roles of retinoid signaling at various stages of brain development and in two sensory organs, the neural retina and the inner ear. Conditional knockout strategies, virus-based gene therapy, behavioral and electrophysiological approaches are being used to assess the functions of retinoic acid, as well as of non-retinoid ligands such as omega 3 fatty acids, during adult brain physiology. Additional work involves the study of genes regulating central nervous system patterning, such as Gbx1/2, and development of the craniofacial region and teeth.


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Team certified by the FRM in 2008