In addition to being a senior investigator at the CHU de Quebec–Université Laval Research Center and professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Laval University, Dr. Di Paolo is also an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. She received the Janssen-Ortho pharmaceutical research award from the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada (2002); the Heinz Lehmann prize from the Canadian College of Neuopsychopharmacology, 2003; distinctions: Femmes réussite region Chaudière Appalache, Journal Économique de Québec, 2004, Femme de mérite, YWCA of Québec, Science and technology category, 2006, Empreintes d’elles, YWCA, honoring 400 women, 400th anniversary of Québec City, 2008 and the Diamond prize for excellence in Fundamental Research, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec City, 2015.

Dr. Di Paolo has published over 295 peer-reviewed articles and 470 summaries. Her research interest is on Parkinson’s disease and L-Dopa-induced dyskinesias in the post-mortem human brains of Parkinson’s disease patients, non-human primates, and rodent models of Parkinson. This research was and is currently funded by the CIHR, NSERC, Parkinson Society Canada, CQDM, NIH and contracts from Prexton Therapeutics, Novartis, and Merck Serono. 

In recent years, her research has focused on the glutamatergic neurotransmission and the implication of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors. Various specific antagonists, positive and negative allosteric modulators of glutamate receptors were investigated to inhibit or prevent the development of L-Dopa-induced dyskinesias. Drugs of various pharmacological activities are also investigated in her laboratory including, serotoninergic drugs, omega-3, plasmalogens and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). She recently investigated the effect of a subthalamic lesion on L-Dopa-induced dyskinesias in parkinsonian monkeys, and is now working on the effect of deep stimulation in this area of the brain.

A major research endeavour in her laboratory is also to investigate neuroprotection in a mouse model of Parkinson’s Disease. Repurposing drugs used to treat various endocrine conditions were found to be neuroprotective such as estrogen, progesterone, the selective estrogen receptor modulator raloxifene, and the 5α-reductase inhibitor, dutasteride. Novel non-genomic mechanisms of action were investigated in this neuroprotection, including the implication of the membrane estrogen receptor (GPER1) and the effect of cholesterol on membrane microviscosity.

CHUL
2705, boulevard Laurier
T2-40
Québec, Québec
Canada G1V 4G2
323 entries « 1 of 33 »

Bourque M, Morissette M, Di Paolo T

Neuroactive steroids and Parkinson's disease: Review of human and animal studies

Journal Article

Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 156 , 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Bourque M, Morissette M, Isenbrandt A, Giatti S, Melcangi RC, Carta M, Frau R, Bortolato M, Soulet D, Di Paolo T

Effect of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors in animal models of Parkinson's disease

Journal Article

Front Neuroendocrinol, 75 , 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Lamontagne-Proulx J, Coulombe K, Morissette M, Rieux M, Calon F, Di Paolo T, Soulet D

Sex and Age Differences in a Progressive Synucleinopathy Mouse Model

Journal Article

Biomolecules, 13 (6), 2023.

Abstract | Links:

Isenbrandt A, Coulombe K, Morissette M, Bourque M, Lamontagne-Proulx J, Di Paolo T, Soulet D

Three-Dimensional Analysis of Sex- and Gonadal Status- Dependent Microglial Activation in a Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease

Journal Article

Pharmaceuticals (Basel), 16 (2), 2023.

Abstract | Links:

Bourque M, Morissette M, Soulet D, Di Paolo T

Impact of sex on neuroimmune contributions to Parkinson's disease

Journal Article

Brain Res Bull, 199 , 2023.

Abstract | Links:

Bourque M, Morissette M, Conquet F, Charvin D, Di Paolo T

Foliglurax, a positive allosteric modulator of the metabotrophic glutamate receptor 4, protects dopaminergic neurons in MPTP-lesioned male mice

Journal Article

Brain Res, 1809 , 2023.

Abstract | Links:

Brousseau V, Caron P, Trottier J, Di Paolo T, Milkiewicz P, Barbier O

Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry methods for the selective and sensitive determination of 24S-hydroxycholesterol, its sulfate, and/or glucuronide conjugates in plasma

Journal Article

J Mass Spectrom, 57 (5), 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Morissette M, Bourque M, Tremblay MÈ, Di Paolo T

Prevention of L-Dopa-Induced Dyskinesias by MPEP Blockade of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 Is Associated with Reduced Inflammation in the Brain of Parkinsonian Monkeys

Journal Article

Cells, 11 (4), 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Bourque M, Di Paolo T

Neuroactive steroids and Parkinson's disease

Journal Article

Curr Opin Endocr Metab Res, 22 , 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Poirier AA, Côté M, Bourque M, Jarras H, Lamontagne-Proulx J, Morissette M, Paolo TD, Soulet D

Differential contribution of estrogen receptors to the intestinal therapeutic effects of 17β-estradiol in a murine model of Parkinson's disease

Journal Article

Brain Res Bull, 187 , 2022.

Abstract | Links:

323 entries « 1 of 33 »
Signaler des ajouts ou des modifications

Active projects

  • Brain magnetic stimulation to reduce levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Parkinson’s disease, from 2024-04-01 to 2026-03-31
  • Investigation of neuroprotective and neurorescue properties of zuranolone in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, from 2024-08-01 to 2025-07-31
  • Mechanisms of action of sex-specific endocrine treatments in complementary models of Parkinson's disease, from 2024-04-01 to 2029-03-31

Recently finished projects

  • Mechanisms of action of sex-specific endocrine treatments in animal models of Parkinson's disease, from 2023-03-01 to 2024-02-29
  • Pregnenolone for the treatment of dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease, from 2022-04-01 to 2024-09-01
  • Relationship between COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease in a mouse model, from 2022-10-01 to 2024-03-31
  • Sex-specific investigations of Parkinson's disease mouse models: application for gonadal drugs repurposing, from 2018-10-01 to 2023-03-31
Data provided by the Université Laval research projects registery