Date: 18 November 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Venue: Seminar Room 301, 3/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road 
Host: Professor Martin Cheung

Eric Théveneau is an experimental cell and developmental biologist. ET studied biology at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. He obtained a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology, in 2006, for investigating the transcriptional regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in chick cephalic neural crest cells. He undertook his postdoctoral training at the University College London, London, UK (2007-2013). There, he studied mechanisms of cell cooperation during collective cell migration. His research highlighted the ability of mesenchymal cells to undergo collective migration, a work for which he received the Wellcome Trust Value in People Award. ET is currently a CNRS Research Director and group leader at the Center for Integrative Biology (CNRS; Toulouse, France). His research focuses on the control of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity and cell migration using experimental strategies in avian and amphibian models and computational modeling.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are secreted enzymes well known for their ability to remodel extracellular matrix. However, over the past two decades it became clear that MMPs can do so much more. First, more than two thirds of their known substrates are not matrix components. In addition, MMPs are not restricted to the extracellular space. They can escape the secretion pathway to localize in the cytosol, the mitochondria or the nucleus. Moreover, MMPs can have non-catalytic activities. In our group we are using Xenopus and chicken embryos to study the function of MMP14 and MMP28 during epithelial-mesenchymal transition and migration of neural crest cells. I will present a summary of published and unpublished data highlighting new functions of these two enzymes.

All are welcome.