Thesis, COLLÉGIALITÉ

Abstract

Stem cells have for all time, and in the general consciousness, held out the promise of cell regeneration, treatment of genetic diseases, grafts of new functional tissues, etc. A global solution to very diverse pathologies, as the potential of these cells seems unlimited. Today, these very special cells have indeed allowed significant advances in clinical and translational medicine, on a small scale. It is therefore fundamental research that has finally been able to take advantage of the almost unlimited differentiation potential of these cells, making it possible to characterize pathological or cellular processes that were previously unanswered, while waiting for a new model. In this context, this thesis will focus on the reprogramming of somatic blood cells from patients into induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and their differentiation into cardiac contractile cells. The objectives are multiple: The development and optimization of a protocol for the reprogramming of blood cells into pluripotent cells and their subsequent differentiation into cardiomyocytes. The characterization of cells at key stages of their development: from stem cells to cardiomyocytes. And finally, in the short term, the electrophysiological analysis of the induced cardiomyocytes to characterize the impact of specific inherited genetic mutations carried by patients with a ventricular arrhythmia phenotype.