Dr. Najate Ait-Ali Maamri began her career as a technician specializing in genetics and molecular biology on the team of Thierry Léveillard and Dr. José-Alain Sahel at the Institut de la Vision, Paris. She played a leading role in elucidating the role of rod-derived cone viability factor (RdCVF) signaling through the basigin1 receptor in the retina. This work was published in 2015 in Cell reaching 500 citations. Her scientific career was rewarded by the L'Oréal Foundation - UNESCO - For Women in Science award in 2020. She recently joined Dr. José-Alain Sahel’s team in the Ophthalmology Department at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to further decipher the biology and role of RdCVF in vision.
Restoration of Rod-Derived Metabolic and Redox Signaling to Prevent Blindness. Clérin E, Aït-Ali N, Sahel JA, Léveillard T.Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2024 Nov 1;14(11):a041284. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041284.
The Emergence of Rod-Cone Cellular Interaction. Aït-Ali N, Léveillard T.Front Genet. 2022 Aug 9;13:900849. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.900849. eCollection 2022.
The metabolic signaling of the nucleoredoxin-like 2 gene supports brain function. Jaillard C, Ouechtati F, Clérin E, Millet-Puel G, Corsi M, Aït-Ali N, Blond F, Chevy Q, Gales L, Farinelli M, Dalkara D, Sahel JA, Portais JC, Poncer JC, Léveillard T.Redox Biol. 2021 Nov 25;48:102198. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2021.102198.
Cell Signaling with Extracellular Thioredoxin and Thioredoxin-Like Proteins: Insight into Their Mechanisms of Action. Léveillard T, Aït-Ali N.Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2017;2017:8475125. doi: 10.1155/2017/8475125. Epub 2017 Sep 12.
Otx2-Genetically Modified Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Rescue Photoreceptors after Transplantation. Kole C, Klipfel L, Yang Y, Ferracane V, Blond F, Reichman S, Millet-Puel G, Clérin E, Aït-Ali N, Pagan D, Camara H, Delyfer MN, Nandrot EF, Sahel JA, Goureau O, Léveillard T.Mol Ther. 2018 Jan 3;26(1):219-237. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2017.09.007. Epub 2017 Sep 8.
Rod and cone photoreceptor interaction: the metabolic and redox signaling of the nucleoredoxin-like 1gene. In retinitis pigmentosa (RP), rods' death leads to night vision loss, followed by the dysfunction and death of cones and eventually blindness. The loss of rods triggers the loss of expression of rod-derived cone viability factor (RdCVF), one of the products of the nucleoredoxin-like1 gene (NXNL1) following intron retention. In the retina, RdCVF, secreted by rods, binds to basigin-1 and activates the glucose transporter, GLUT1, which leads to an increase in glucose entry into the cones where it is metabolized by aerobic glycolysis to sustain daily renewal of cone outer segments. Glucose entry through RdCVF expression also supports the redox power of the thioredoxin enzyme RdCVFL, the second product of NXNL1 resulting from NXNL1 gene splicing. Dr. José-Alain Sahel and Najate Ait-Ali Maamri's research project involves a better understanding of RdCVF, a key player in the interactions between rod and cone photoreceptors. José-Alain Sahel and Thierry Léveillard initiated this research already in clinical translation. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms could develop new therapeutic avenues to delay or even prevent central vision loss and blindness in RP and potentially other retinal conditions.