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Imed Gallouzi

Professor, Bioscience | Chair, Center of Excellence for Smart Health

Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division

gallouzi.imed@kaust.edu.sa


Affiliations

Education Profile

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University, 1998-2001
  • Ph.D., Université Montpellier II, France, 1998
  • DEA, Université Montpellier II, France, 1993
  • Maitrise in Physiology and Pharmacology, Université Montpellier II, France, 1992

Research Interests

Professor Gallouzi’s research focuses on delineating the role of posttranscriptional regulatory events (processes that control gene expression at the mRNA level) in physiological and pathological processes. He was the co-discoverer of the cytoplasmic RNA granules known as stress granules and their importance in cell stress response and in some pathologies. His work on mRNA binding proteins (RBP) has led to the discovery that RBPs play an important role in muscle fiber formation and the onset of pathological conditions such as muscle wasting, cancer and aging-related diseases. His group has identified several factors/pathways and the mode of action by which they promote cancer-induced muscle wasting. These observations opened the door to consider novel therapeutic avenues to treat this deadly syndrome. Recently, Prof. Gallouzi by studying the role of RNA granules and some RBPs in senescence (one of the main features of aged cells), he uncovered their role in controlling the behavior of senescent cells, making them potential targets to control the deleterious effects of aging cells.

Selected Publications

  • Sadek, J*., Hall, D., Colalillo B., Di Marco, S., and Gallouzi, I.E. “Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of iNOS prevents cachexia-mediated muscle wasting and its associated metabolism defects”. EMBO Mol Med. Jul 7;13(7):e13591. doi: 10.15252/emmm.202013591. Epub 2021 Jun 7. (2021).
  • Omer, A*., Liliana, C.B.M., Lian, X.J., Di Marco, S., Beausejour, C., and Gallouzi, I.E. “The stress granule protein G3BP1 controls the senescence associated secretome and its impact on cancer progression” Nat. Commun. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18734-9. (2020).
  • Sanchez, B.*, Tremblay, A.M., Hall, D., Kovacs, E., Ma, J., Mubaid, S., Hallauer, P., Phillips, B.L., Vest, K.E., Corbett, A.H., Kontoyiannios, D., Hastings, K., Di Marco, S., Gallouzi, I.E. “Depletion of HuR in murine skeletal muscle enhances exercise endurance and prevents cancer-induced muscle atrophy”. Nat Commun, doi :10.1038/s41467-019-12186-6 (2019).
  • Mubaid, S.*, Ma, J.F.*, Omer, A., Ashour, K., Lian X.J., Sanchez, B., Robinson, S., Cammas, A., Dormoy-Raclet, V., Di Marco S., Chittur, S.V., Tenenbaum, S., and Gallouzi, I.E. “ HuR counteracts miR-330 to promote STAT3 translation during inflammation-induced muscle wasting.” PNAS, Aug 27;116(35):17261-17270. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1905172116 (2019).
  • Di Marco, S., Cammas, A., Lian, X., Kovacs, E., Hall, D.H., Ma, J., Mazroui, R., Pelletier, J., Gallouzi, I.E. “Pateamine A, a natural inhibitor of general translation, prevents the onset of cachexia-induced muscle wasting.” Nat. Commun. June12;3:896. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1899 (2012).
  • *Mazroui, R., Di Marco, S., Clair E, von Roretz C, Tenenbaum SA, Keene JD, Saleh M, Gallouzi I.E.“Caspase-mediated cleavage of HuR in the cytoplasm contributes to pp32/PHAP-I regulation of apoptosis”. J Cell Biol.; Jan 14; 180(1):113-27 (2008).
  • Gallouzi I.E., and Steitz, J.A., " Delineation of mRNA Export Pathways by the Use of Cell permeable Peptides" Science 294 (5548): 1895-1901 (2001).