King's College London

Basic & Clinical Neuroscience

Sandrine Thuret

sandrine.1.thuret@kcl.ac.uk
thudrine
Website

Research Interests

The central theme of the lab is adult hippocampal neurogenesis, which is implicated in memory formation and mood regulation. We investigate environmental and molecular mechanisms controlling neural stem cell fate, the production of new neurons, and how they impact mental health. We study neurogenesis (i) in a healthy context—such as the effect of diet, exercise, or changes occurring upon healthy aging—and also (ii) in the context of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and depressive disorders. By approaching neurogenesis in health and disease, the strategy is twofold:
  • Validating the neurogenic process as a target for prevention and pharmacological interventions.
  • Developing neurogenesis as a biomarker of disease prediction and progression.

Most significant discovery

•Hippocampus-dependent learning associates with adult neurogenesis PMID: 19140178
•Depletion of adult neurogenesis induces depression phenotypes PMID: 28440814
•The systemic environment (blood) can modulate neurogenesis and human hippocampal stem cell fate (2, 3) and the concept be used as a biomarker assay (4)

Educational Interests

• Director of King’s MRC DTP in Biomedical Sciences
• Co-Director Wellcome PhD Programme in Mental Health
Research for Health Professionals
• Lecturing in 9 programmes across King’s and Module leader “Neural stem cells & nervous system repair”

Top 4 Publications

  1. Lifestyle mediates the role of nutrient-sensing pathways in cognitive aging. de Lucia C et al. Nat Commun Biol. 2020
  2. The serum metabolome mediates the concert of diet, exercise, and neurogenesis, determining the risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Du Preez A et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2022
  3. Impaired hippocampal neurogenesis is modulated by diet and associated with depression. Du Preez A et al. Mol Psychiatry. 2022
  4. Predicting progression to Alzheimer’s disease with human hippocampal progenitors exposed to serum. Maruszak et al. Brain. 2023

Methods / Expertise

• induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Human-derived hippocampal stem cells
• High-content imaging and transcriptomics
• Statistics and Predictive Modelling
• Human interventions, biological measures, mood and cognitive assessments