In addition to being a regular researcher at the CHU Research Center of Québec-Laval University (Regenerative Medicine Axis) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University, Dr. Solange Landreville is a regular researcher at the Center for Research in Experimental Organogenesis at Laval University / LOEX. Her work focuses on the development of treatment for the metastatic stage of ocular melanoma, and the improvement of cell culture and tissue engineering models in ophthalmology.
Dr. Landreville is a Junior 1 Research Fellow with the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) and was the recipient of the Bernard-Belleau Award from the Association Francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) in 2005.
Develop a treatment for metastatic uveal melanoma
Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults, and the second most common type of melanoma after the skin. It is a sporadic cancer, and familial cases are very rare. It is therefore difficult to prevent or justify large-scale screening tests. Metastases to the liver occur in half of the cases, despite the success of the eye’s treatment. Translational research on uveal melanoma has progressed rapidly in the last decade, with the development of prognostic genetic tools, but the main obstacle to improving patient survival remains the notorious resistance of this cancer to treatment. We must therefore focus our efforts on the characterization of the tumor / metastatic microenvironment (hypoxia, stromal cells, extracellular matrix, epigenetic). This research is important because it will provide crucial information on the molecular mechanisms of resistance to cancer and stromal cell treatment. Any innovative treatment that will stop the growth of uveal melanoma cells in the liver could turn the deadly metastatic stage into a chronic disease, impacting the overall patient survival rate.
Study of oxygen’s effects on the physiology of different eye cell types
Cell culture is essential to better understand the physiology of normal and pathological cells, as well as tissue reconstruction. It is traditionally carried out in incubators with 21% oxygen (atmospheric rate), which does not represent physiological conditions. In fact, oxygen is transported by the blood and delivered to the tissues at rates lower than 14%. This physiological oxygen level varies from one tissue to another, as well as within the tissue depending on the vascularization and metabolic activity. There is also a significant decrease in oxygen supply (hypoxia) in tumors. Several ocular pathologies affecting Canadians involve oxygen deficiency in their progression, such as uveal melanoma (ocular cancer) and diabetic retinopathy (complication of diabetes). Transfer of results obtained through research to the clinic depends strongly on their physiological validity, and thus on the maintenance of biological functions in the cells in culture, which are close to those found in the tissues of origin. It is therefore essential to modulate oxygen levels for the improvement of cell culture and tissue engineering models in ophthalmology.
1050, chemin Sainte-Foy
CUO-Recherche
H2-02
Québec, Québec
Canada G1S 4L8
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- Chancy, OlivierDoctoral studentolivier.chancy@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
- Chancy, OlivierMaster studentolivier.chancy@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
- Coutant, KellyDoctoral studentHôpital Saint-Sacrement+1 418-682-7511, extension 84917kelly.coutant@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
1050 Chemin Sainte-Foy
JS2-05
Québec, QC
Canada G1S 4L8 - Fuentes-Rodriguez, AurélieDoctoral studentHôpital Saint-Sacrement+1 418-525-4444, extension 84917aurelie.fuentes-rodriguez.1@ulaval.caaurelie.fuentes-rodriguez@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
1050 Chemin Sainte-Foy
JS2-05
Québec, QC
Canada G1S 4L8 - Fuentes-Rodriguez, AurélieMaster studentHôpital Saint-Sacrement+1 418-525-4444, extension 84917aurelie.fuentes-rodriguez.1@ulaval.caaurelie.fuentes-rodriguez@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
1050 Chemin Sainte-Foy
JS2-05
Québec, QC
Canada G1S 4L8 - Marcoux, SylvieEmployeeSylvie.Marcoux@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
- Mitchell, AndrewEmployee+1 418-525-4444, extension 87661andrew.mitchell@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
MiR-181a-5p inhibits uveal melanoma development by targeting GNAQ and AKT3
Journal ArticleAm J Cancer Res, 13 (1), 2023.
Extracellular Vesicles from Ocular Melanoma Have Pro-Fibrotic and Pro-Angiogenic Properties on the Tumor Microenvironment
Journal ArticleCells, 11 (23), 2022.
Experimental eye research / short communication format characterization of DNA hydroxymethylation in the ocular choroid
Journal ArticleExp Eye Res, 205 , 2021.
Uveal melanoma pathobiology: Metastasis to the liver
Journal ArticleSemin Cancer Biol, 71 , 2021.
Human Organ-Specific 3D Cancer Models Produced by the Stromal Self-Assembly Method of Tissue Engineering for the Study of Solid Tumors
Journal ArticleBiomed Res Int, 2020 , 2020.
Synergic Interactions Between Hepatic Stellate Cells and Uveal Melanoma in Metastatic Growth
Journal ArticleCancers (Basel), 11 (8), 2019.
Characterization of a tissue-engineered choroid
Journal ArticleActa Biomater, 84 , 2019.
Analysis of the proteasome activity and the turnover of the serotonin receptor 2B (HTR2B) in human uveal melanoma
Journal ArticleExp Eye Res, 184 , 2019.
The bidirectional crosstalk between metastatic uveal melanoma cells and hepatic stellate cells engenders an inflammatory microenvironment
Journal ArticleExp Eye Res, 181 , 2019.
Regression rate of choroidal melanoma following iodine-125 brachytherapy is not associated with metastatic spread
Journal ArticleMelanoma Res, 29 (3), 2019.
Active projects
- Anatomically relevant brachytherapy implants by a 3D printing and radiosenstizing approach, from 2020-10-01 to 2025-09-30
- Cryo-TEM infrastructure for the visualisation of nanoparticles, exosomes and virus-like particles, from 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31
- Hepatic stellate cells as a driver of the pre-metastatic niche in uveal melanoma, from 2023-03-01 to 2024-02-29
- Mécanismes de communication intercellulaire dans le vieillissement de la choroïde et dans la progression du mélanome choroïdien, from 2021-07-01 to 2024-02-28
- Rôle des mélanocytes choroïdiens dans la gestion du stress oxydatif des cellules de l’épithélium pigmentaire rétinien, from 2020-04-01 to 2023-08-30
- Roles of melanocytes in choroid homeostasis, from 2020-04-01 to 2025-03-31
- Targeting mRNA translation to effectively treat uveal melanoma, from 2021-10-01 to 2026-09-30
Recently finished projects
- Banque québécoise pour la recherche sur le mélanome uvéal, from 2017-04-01 to 2023-03-31
- Caractérisation des métastases hépatiques du mélanome uvéal par microspectroscopie infrarouge, from 2018-03-12 to 2022-03-30
- Étude de l’évolution clonale du mélanome uvéal pour identifier la sous-population cellulaire à l’origine des métastases hépatiques, from 2021-02-01 to 2022-03-31
- Génération de lignées isogéniques pour les mutations GNA11/BAP1 par « PRIME editing » comme modèles d’études du mélanome oculaire., from 2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31
- Régulation de l’angiogenèse choroïdienne par les vésicules extracellulaires des mélanocytes en contexte diabétique, from 2020-07-01 to 2021-06-30
- Utilisation du criblage génétique CRISPR-Cas9 pour l'identification de cibles thérapeutiques: application aux tumeurs oculaires, from 2021-04-01 to 2023-03-31