Presentation
Developmental Neurobiologist | PhD, HDR
Fate specification in the developing nervous system
I am a developmental neurobiologist interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain development, especially neuronal fate specification and cell death/survival in the cerebral cortex. My aim is to understand the gene regulatory networks underpinning these processes and how their dysregulations can lead to pathologies.
We typically use single-cell RNAseq to characterize progenitor cells, mature neurons and intermediate cell states, allowing to reconstruct the developmental differentiation trajectories for distinct lineages. We combine with mouse genetics to investigate pathways of interest, using histology for tissue validation.
I was trained at the Magistère de Biologie from École Normale Supérieure, and obtained my PhD from Université Paris VI in 2004. I did a postdoc at Imperial College (London, UK) and rejoined France in 2007 with an Inserm Junior position before becoming a tenured Inserm researcher in 2012. I obtained my HDR from Université Paris VII in 2014. I was appointed as a Theme Leader by the scientific advisory board of Imagine in 2021. I am also an elected representative of Imagine researchers, a member of the Executive Committee, and a gender equality representative.
Selected recent publications:
Differential contribution of P73+ Cajal-Retzius cells and Reelin to cortical morphogenesis. (2025) Elorriaga V, Bouloudi B, Delberghe E, Saillour Y, Morel JS, Azzam P, Moreau MX, Stottmann R, Bahi-Buisson N, Pierani A, Spassky N, Causeret F. Development 152:dev.204451. DOI: 10.1242/dev.204451
Repurposing of the multiciliation gene regulatory network in fate specification of Cajal-Retzius neurons. (2023) Moreau M, Saillour Y, Elorriaga V, Bouloudi B, Delberghe E, Deutsch Guerrero T, Ochandorena-Saa A, Maeso-Alonso L, Marques MM, Marin MC, Spassky N, Pierani A, Causeret F. Dev Cell 58(15):1365-1382.e6. DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2023.05.011
- Cajal-retzius cells: Recent advances in identity and function. (2023) Elorriaga V, Pierani A, Causeret F. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 79:102686. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2023.102686
- Single-cell transcriptomics of the early developing mouse cerebral cortex disentangles the spatial and temporal components of neuronal fate acquisition. (2021) Moreau MX, Saillour Y, Cwetsch AW, Pierani A, Causeret F. Development 148(14):dev197962. DOI: 10.1242/dev.197962
- The multiple facets of Cajal-Retzius neurons. (2021) Causeret F, Moreau MX, Pierani A, Blanquie O. Development 148(11):dev199409. DOI: 10.1242/dev.199409
Team members :
Juliette Morel, PhD student
Elodie Delberghe, Engineer
Alexandrine Garrigue, Engineer
Muriele Nguyen Huy
Alumni:
Vicente Elorriaga, PhD
Matthieu Moreau, PhD
Iffat Sumia, PhD
Liloïe de la Guillonière
Benjamin Bremaud
Mehdi Indari
Thandi Philippe
Tanya Deutsch-Guerrero
Stephen Babin
Esther Hondré
Full publication list and ORCID profile
Resources & publications
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Journal (source)Cell Death Discov
Kremen1-induced cell death is regulated by homo- and heterodimerization.
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Journal (source)Curr. Opin. Neurobiol.
Cortical developmental death: selected to survive or fated to die.
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Journal (source)Evodevo
Neuronal fate specification by the Dbx1 transcription factor is linked to the...
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Journal (source)Curr. Biol.
Migration Speed of Cajal-Retzius Cells Modulated by Vesicular Trafficking Con...
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Journal (source)PLoS ONE
Dbx1-expressing cells are necessary for the survival of the mammalian anterio...
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Journal (source)PLoS Biol.
A novel role for Dbx1-derived Cajal-Retzius cells in early regionalization of...
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Journal (source)Cell Death Differ.
Kremen1 and Dickkopf1 control cell survival in a Wnt-independent manner.
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Journal (source)bioRxiv
Functional characterization of RELN missense mutations involved in recessive ...
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Journal (source)Development
The multiple facets of Cajal-Retzius neurons.
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Journal (source)Development
Single-cell transcriptomics of the early developing mouse cerebral cortex dis...
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Journal (source)Dev Cell
Repurposing of the multiciliation gene regulatory network in fate specificati...
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Journal (source)Curr Opin Neurobiol
Cajal-retzius cells: Recent advances in identity and function
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Journal (source)J Comp Neurol
Diversity within olfactory sensory derivatives revealed by the contribution o...
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Journal (source)Dev Cell
Repurposing of the multiciliation gene regulatory network in fate specificati...
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Journal (source)Dev Cell
Repurposing of the multiciliation gene regulatory network in fate specificati...
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Journal (source)J Clin Invest
De novo monoallelic Reelin missense variants act in a dominant-negative manne...
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Journal (source)J Clin Invest
De novo monoallelic Reelin missense variants cause dominant neuronal migratio...
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Journal (source)Development
Differential contribution of P73+ Cajal-Retzius cells and Reelin to cortical ...