Yvon STERKERS

Information

Scientific interests and projects

The team's interest relies in the molecular and cell biology of protozoan parasites, with a focus on Trypanosomatids (Leishmania and Trypanosoma brucei). More precisely, we seek to elucidate the mechanisms of basic biological processes of the parasite cell which are 'divergent' from classical eukaryotic models – and more specifically related to mitosis, e.g. DNA replication, chromosomal segregation, recombination, spindle assembly, cell division …

One of the great conceptual achievements of the group over the last 10 years has been the demonstration of a constitutive so-called 'mosaic aneuploidy' in Leishmania, which, even if exaggerated in in vitro conditions (as opposed to the 'real life' of the parasite), questions its astonishing ability to generate and tolerate aneuploidy. This may be related to a greater tolerance to mis-replication or to some degree of 'permissive' segregation – and this is still being elucidated.

More on the 'cell biology' side, the team takes interest into microtubular structures and microtubule-associated proteins, which are deeply involved in events such as cell growth and cell division. Present projects focus on the role of post-translational modifications of microtubules and that of kinesins in cell division.

For these studies, the group has developed novel molecular tools, in particular the first efficient CRISPR-Cas9 strategy in Leishmania and more recently, has set up an efficient and straightforward approach for inducible knock-outs, opening for the first time the way to the study of essential genes in this parasite. It also takes advantage of the mastering by the team of two demanding techniques, DNA molecular combing and FISH, as well as obviously, more 'classical' approaches such as microscopy and imaging, WGS, ChIP, etc.

Collaborations are open about (i) these matters/models with different view angles or technological approaches, or (ii) different models of which the study would benefit from technical approaches not necessarily mastered in the network.

Top 5 publications of the last 5 years

1. Corrales RM, Vincent J, Crobu L, Neish R, Nepal B, Espeut J, Pasquier G, Gillard G, Cazevieille C, Mottram JC, Wetzel DM, Sterkers Y, Rogowski K, Lévêque MF. Tubulin detyrosination shapes Leishmania cytoskeletal architecture and virulence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jan 21;122(3):e2415296122.

2. Muakasungula S, Rougeron V, Arnathau C , Boudenga L , Miguel E, Boissiere A, Jiolle D, Durand P, Msigwa A, Mswata S, Olotu A, Sterkers Y, Roche B, Killeen G, Cerqueira F, Bitome-Essono Paul Y, Bretagnolle F, Masanja H, Paupy C, Sumaye R, Prugnolle F. Using haematophagous fly blood meals to study the diversity of blood-borne pathogens infecting wild mammals. Mol Ecol Resour. 2022 Jun 22. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13670.

3. Negreira GH, Monsieurs P, Imamura H, Maes I, Kuk N, Yagoubat A, Van den Broeck F, Sterkers Y, Dujardin JC, Domagalska MA. Exploring the evolution and adaptive role of mosaic aneuploidy in a clonal Leishmania donovani population using high throughput single cell genome sequencing. bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.05.976233, Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 Jan 11;50(1):293-305.

4. Corrales RM, Vaselek S, Neish R, Berry L, Brunet CD, Crobu L, Kuk N, Mateos-Langerak J, Robinson DR, Volf P, Mottram JC, Sterkers Y, Bastien P. The kinesin of the flagellum attachment zone in Leishmania is required for cell morphogenesis, cell division and virulence in the mammalian host. PLoS Pathog. 2021 Jun 18;17(6):e1009666.

5. Yagoubat A, Corrales RM, Bastien P, Lévêque MF, Sterkers Y. Gene Editing in Trypanosomatids: Tips and Tricks in the CRISPR-Cas9 Era. Trends Parasitol. 2020 Sep;36(9):745-760.