The Research Unit 'The Enteric Nervous System in Gut and Brain Disorders (TENS)' is a joint research unit (UMR Inserm 1235) member of IMAD and accredited by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the University of Nantes.

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Director : Michel Neunlist

AXIS OF RESEARCH

The World of Tomorrow

Imagine a world where we could recreate our organs. A world where it would be possible to cultivate a liver or an intestine. A world where we could test new molecules directly on human organs. This world exists today thanks to the multiple properties of induced pluripotent stem cells. Our laboratory uses the differentiation capabilities of these pluripotent stem cells to culture human intestinal organoids. The result in image. It may sound futuristic, yet it is already within our reach because science does not wait.

A shiver on our cells

Thanks to the optical coherence tomograph, it is possible on fresh tissues to observe the morphology of the intestinal barrier but also the cells that constitute it with a unique peculiarity, the cellular vibration. Indeed, it is possible to distinguish the epithelial cells of the myenteric plexus, consisting of neurons and glial cells, by their vibratory capacity ...