Visiting Research Professorship

2021-2022 CAG Visiting Research Professor

FRANÇOIS BOUDREAU, PhD, CAGF

Pr Boudreau completed his PhD in Cell Biology at the Université de Sherbrooke under the supervision of Pr Claude Asselin. He then pursued studies on regulatory mechanisms involved in intestinal epithelial gene transcription at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision  of Dr Peter Traber. Pr Boudreau joined the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Université de Sherbrooke in 2003 and is currently Full Professor and Chair of the recently restructured  Immunology and Cell Biology Department. His interpersonal and decision-making skills have led him to lead several administrative positions both locally (graduate programs, clinical research axis, center of excellence, department) and nationally (CAG VP research, NSERC chair panel, etc.). His success in integrating GI disease patient-derived organoids with biobanking is in process to be extended nationally in collaboration with other Canadian institutions. His work focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms involved in gene transcription during normal intestinal development and diseases. He has identified transcription factors regulating intestinal gene expression and involved in the maintenance of intestinal epithelial functions, in colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases and metabolic disorders, notably diabetes and obesity. Pr Boudreau’s laboratory aims are to define the molecular cascades and the intestinal epithelium deregulated functions associated with the activity of these regulators, in order to identify novel targets for pharmacological and therapeutic applications.

Potential topics of presentation:

• Role of nuclear receptors during colon cancer initiation and progression
• Identification of novel gene targets for the NCOR1 repressor complex in mouse models recapitulating colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseaseS
• MODY genes and their intestinal impact on metabolism and diabetes

Selected publications:

• Girard R., Tremblay S., Noll C., St-Jean S., Gélinas Y., Laplante M., Carpentier A.C., Boudreau F. Intestinal HNF4A is crucial in sustaining white adipose tissue energy storage under a high fat diet. Nat Comm, Resubmitted after revision.
• Jones C., Avino M., Boudreau F. HNF4A acts a functional regulator of intestinal Wnt3 and Paneth cell fate. CMGH, Resubmitted after revision.
• Lambert E., Babeu J.P, Simoneau J., Levesque D., Jolibois E., Scott M., Boudreau F*, Boisvert F.M*. (2020). Human Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor alpha encodes isoforms with distinct transcriptional functions. Mol Cell Proteom 19(5): 808-827. * co-senior authors.
• Babeu, J.P., Jones, C., Geha, S., Carrier, J.C., Boudreau, F. (2018). P1 promoter-driven HNF4alpha isoforms are specifically repressed by beta-catenin signaling in colorectal cancer cells. J Cell Sci 131(13): jcs214734.
• Brial F., Lussier C.R., Belleville, K., Sarret, P., Boudreau, F. (2015). Ghrelin inhibition restores glucose homeostasis in hepatocyte nuclear factor-1alpha (MODY3) deficient mice. Diabetes 64(9): 3314-20.
• Darsigny, M., Babeu, J.P., Seidman, E.G., Gendron, F.P., Levy, E., Carrier, J.C., Perreault, N. and Boudreau, F. (2010). Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4alpha promotes gut neoplasia in mice and protects against the production of reactive oxygen species. Cancer Research 70(22): 9423-33.

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