DESCRIPTION OF LAB RESEARCH WORK
Guillaume Thibault lab applies genomics, proteomics, and advanced imaging biology techniques to better understand the role of the UPR in the context of lipid bilayer stress (LBS)-induced metabolic diseases and why the UPR ultimately fails to protect the cell. Thibault’s group has shown that the UPR can address a wide range of dysfunctions through differential target gene expression depending on the stress. The Thibault laboratory also first described a remodelling of the protein homeostasis network in response to LBS which they named the membrane stress response (MSR). Among the MSR, they demonstrated that the UPR is essential for cell survival and to maintain protein biogenesis, quality control, and membrane integrity. A major focus of the lab is to better understand the cell stress responses leading to adaptation or death from LBS-induced stress and what causes a cell to go one way or the other.