PhD Defense | Charlotte Segers | Investigating microbial therapies to combat gut microbiome dysbiosis during pelvic irradiation | UAntwerpen
Name: Charlotte Segers
Date: January 10, 2022 - 17h15 CET
This live event will be streamed via MS Teams
Investigating microbial therapies to combat gut microbiome dysbiosis during pelvic irradiation
This multi-disciplinary PhD work contributed to a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of pelvic irradiation-induced mucositis and dysbiosis in a mouse model, and the role of potentially radioprotective food supplements Limnospira indica PCC 8005 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG herein. We developed a mouse model for pelvic irradiation in which intestinal mucositis was described to precede dysbiosis. Using our newly implemented in vivo irradiation-gut-microbiome platform, we could show that L. rhamnosus GG was capable of exerting radioprotection through immunomodulation as well as microbe-microbe interactions. This creates opportunities to further explore the promising potential of L. rhamnosus GG as a probiotic treatment strategy for pelvic irradiation-induced mucositis and dysbiosis. For this reason, our research opens new doors to improve patients’ quality of life suffering from pelvic radiotherapy-induced side effects.
Promotor:
-
Sarah Lebeer (UAntwerpen)
SCK CEN mentors:
-
Felice Mastroleo (SCK CEN)
-
Mieke Verslegers (SCK CEN)
Click here for a list of obtained PhD degrees.