IRCM: bringing the medicine of the future to life
Since it was founded almost 60 years ago, the IRCM has been a rich crucible of cutting-edge discoveries, giving life to the most innovative therapies. Today, the work of our teams is more than ever focused on the science of tomorrow, at the heart of precision medicine and the most innovative technologies. Through monthly meetings in our labs, this series presents you with different aspects of it.
Collaborations between laboratories often start with a simple, informal meeting over a cup of coffee. All we need to do is sit down, share our ideas, and great things can happen.
In 2023, the IRCM launched its Sidney-Altman RNA Therapeutic Hub. This avenue quickly took off at the Institute, fostering talent and bringing together several laboratories. The path towards the development of new therapies in precision medicine is vibrant and alive.
Several of the Institute's laboratories are working to unlock the therapeutic potential of RNA. Dr. Martin Sauvageau, who leads one of them, talks to us about his passion for this research field and the origins of his scientific vocation.
Where does your passion for biology originate?
As a child, I remember enjoying consulting an encyclopedic work on nature, paleontology and biology. I still have this book at home. I've always been curious about how the human body works and how it interacts with its environment.
I've long been attracted to the fields of biology and health. At first, I wanted to study medicine, but fate brought me to the bachelor’s program in microbiology and immunology at the Université de Montréal. From the very first year, I caught the field’s bug and have never looked back since.
How did your career path lead you here at the IRCM to devote yourself to the field of RNA therapeutics?
Like many students, my first internship in my second year of undergraduate studies, was in Pierre Chartrand's laboratory at the Institut du cancer de Montréal, and I loved it. I then continued my studies in the research unit of Dr. Guy Sauvageau, who was working at the IRCM at the time. The laboratory then moved to IRIC, where I completed my doctorate. At that moment, I was studying hematopoietic stem cells and leukemias, and more specifically their epigenetic regulation.
When the time came to choose a laboratory for my postdoctoral fellowship, I was very interested in long non-coding RNAs, which had just been discovered. I therefore applied to the laboratory of Dr. John Rinn, in the Stem Cell Department of the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard University. Because of the limited understanding of these RNAs’ role at that time, other than their inability to produce proteins, Dr. Rinn and I wanted to study non-coding RNAs in in vivo models. We wanted to learn about the problems and developmental defects that could be observed in them, in order to discover whether they had an impact on health and disease development. We identified several lncRNAs that are important for proper brain development, fertility, immunity, survival and lung development. One of these lncRNAs was found to be mutated in a rare and lethal lung disease affecting newborns. This work has shown, in an in vivo context, that several lncRNAs can have a significant impact on development and health.
At the end of my postdoctorate, I held the position of Senior Research Associate at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. As such, I worked on projects about the role of long non-coding RNAs in cancer.
Advances in the field of RNA therapy were becoming increasingly convincing. With a good publication record and several ideas for developing a research program, I felt it was time to start my own laboratory. It wasn't an easy task. I found myself having to choose between a position in London or at the IRCM. Many of the researchers there, including my colleagues Éric Lécuyer, Marlène Oeffinger, Nicole Francis and François Robert, were tackling subjects that were very interesting and motivating to me. Moreover, Montreal's vibrant RNA community was renowned in the field. The best choice for me was to come back to where I had started.
How would you describe the ARN community in Montreal? What makes it different?
In Canada, there is a significant concentration of RNA researchers, with Quebec housing the largest number of them. Quebec has a long history of research in this field, marked by significant discoveries made by esteemed researchers. This wide variety of specializations means that we have a great depth of expertise in the field. Numerous events and meetings are organized to share the knowledge gained.
What, in your opinion, are the great qualities of the IRCM, that make it stand out as a cutting-edge research environment?
I really appreciate the flexibility we have at the IRCM. We can develop projects quickly and efficiently. We have all the technology parks and different fields of expertise at hand in a single location, which foster collaborations and the exchange of relevant experiences among dynamic colleagues. For someone like me, who studies a category of RNAs that is still little known, it's ideal to be able to count on the diverse expertise of my colleagues, both in terms of RNA biology and various diseases.
In addition, the IRCM occupies a strong position in the Montreal scientific ecosystem, thanks to its links with other research institutions, such as the Université de Montréal and McGill University.
Which aspect of RNA does your research focus on?
My laboratory focuses on two aspects. On the one hand, the laboratory studies the role of RNA in various cellular processes. More specifically, we are working to better understand the role of non-coding RNAs and their mechanisms of action in different types of disease, such as cancer or certain rare diseases. There is a lot of new biology knowledge yet to be discovered for this type of RNA.
In addition, since the pandemic, our laboratory has been focusing more and more on RNA-based therapies. I am still doing basic research, but I am devoting a little more time and energy to the translational aspect. A lot of this is done by putting our expertise to good use in collaboration with other laboratories.
How do you work in collaboration with other laboratories on RNA therapeutics?
It often starts with a simple, informal meeting over coffee. All we need to do is sit down, share our ideas and understand the biology behind the target as well as the disease under study. We can then explore strategies for intervening at the RNA level. Since all genes are transcribed into RNA, we theoretically have the potential to influence any gene within the genome.
I am very enthusiastic about what is going on around me at the Institute, and about how the Institute is evolving. I think we are on the right track. There are a lot of structuring things going on around us in RNA and precision medicine, and the IRCM has a great role to play in this. I find that to be quite encouraging and exciting.
