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On January 23 and 24, 2025, UNamur experts were present at the SETT (School Education Transformation Technology) trade show for its sixth edition. A must-attend event for digital education in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, dedicated to principals, teachers and technical-pedagogical advisors.

Since September 2023, Marc Hennequart, Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at UNamur, has been conducting groundbreaking research into pancreatic cancer. His team, based at the Faculty of Medicine and the Institut Narilis, studies the early stages of oncogenesis (the process of transforming a normal cell into a cancerous one) to better understand the metabolic changes behind this particularly aggressive cancer.

The Lab of Environmental Change and Community Ecology (LEEE) is directed by Professor Frédéric De Laender. It is one of 4 laboratories belonging to the Environmental and Evolutionary Biology Research Unit (URBE) within the Biology Department. The LEEE is also a member of the Institute of Life, Earth and Environment (ILEE).

Space has become a major economic and strategic issue. As a member of the European UNIVERSEH Alliance, UNamur explores this space theme in its various departments, from physics to geology, via mathematics, computer science or philosophy. Without forgetting to address the general public, who still dream of the stars...

Anthony Simonofski and Olivier Sartenaer, have been elected to join the prestigious Collégium de l'Académie royale de Belgique. Bringing together young researchers (under 40) from Wallonia-Brussels who have particularly distinguished themselves in their careers, the Collégium's objectives include promoting the arts and research.

In October 2024, Guillaume Berionni, a researcher in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Namur, received the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) triennial prize from its President, Professor Anne-Sophie Duwez. A fine reward for his research team in organometallic reactivity and catalysis (RCO), but also for our institution and its Department of Chemistry.

In practice Who are open courses for?Open courses are open to all, although they are primarily aimed at secondary school students to help them take that first step in exploring higher education.What is the schedule for open courses?Courses are open from February 27 to Wednesday, March 5, 2025, from 08:30 to 16:30.To find out the precise timetable and location of each course, please visit the Info études service (Rue de Bruxelles, 85 5000 Namur), 15 minutes before the start of the course.The provisional program is available 15 days before the start of open courses.How to meet a guidance counselorYou have the opportunity to meet a guidance counselor at the guidance workshop scheduled for Tuesday, March 4, 2025, from 1:30 to 4:00 pm.The aim of this workshop is to help you think about the guidance process, gain a better understanding of the higher education landscape and define the main markers in the process of clarifying your project (educational and professional).Our advisor is also available by appointment for a one-to-one meeting throughout the week of open courses and outside of it.Do you have to register to take part?Access to open courses is without prior registration.To participate in the orientation workshop, however, online registration is mandatory and will be available some ten days before the start of the open courses.Who organizes the open courses?Open courses are organized by Info études, the service that provides information on all matters relating to choice of studies, prerequisites, reorientation, gateways, course curricula, job opportunities, additional training, recognition of prior learning... or any general questions about university life in Namur. Find out more about open courses

Save the date! The next UNamur Open House will take place on Saturday, March 29, 2025, from 1pm to 5pm.Save this date in your diary already!!On the programInspiring encounters: chat with our professors, assistants and students.Immersive tours: explore our auditoriums, classrooms and laboratories.Valuable information: get answers to all your questions about our programs and the specifics of studying in Namur.Practical resources: discover all the services available to support you before, during and after your studies.Stay tuned!The detailed afternoon program will be available some ten days before the event.Can't join us? No worries! A second open house is scheduled for Saturday, June 28, 2025, from 1pm to 5pm. Find out more about the open house

Save the date! On Saturday June 28, 2025, from 1pm to 5pm, UNamur once again opens its doors to you before the summer vacations.At the programProfessors, assistants, students and staff members look forward to welcoming you to answer all your questions about your future studies;share with you their experience of university life and its many opportunities for fulfillment;guide you through your final practical steps: registration, preparatory courses, finding accommodation, financial aid and more.Forthcoming informationThe afternoon's detailed program will be available some ten days before the event. Find out more about the open house

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science proclaimed on February 11 by the United Nations General Assembly, and as part of the European alliance European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH) focusing on the theme of space, discover the testimonies of four women scientists from UNamur working on astronomical themes.

Jury Prof. Benoît MUYLKENS (URVI, Université de Namur), PresidentProf. Carine MICHIELS (URBC, Université de Namur), SecretaryProf. Xavier DE BOLLE (URBC, Université de Namur)Prof. René REZSOHAZY (LIBST, Université catholique de Louvain)Prof. Florian STEINER (Dept. of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Université de Genève)Prof. Germano CECERE (Department of developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur) Summary In animals, germ cells are often distinguished from somatic lineages at the earliest stages of embryogenesis. In some organisms, germ blastomeres appear to enter a state of transcriptional quiescence. For example, in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, transcription is activated in somatic blastomeres as early as the 4-cell stage, whereas it is not initiated in germline blastomeres until the 100-cell stage. This transcriptional repression in germ blastomeres has been attributed to the PIE-1 protein, specifically localized in these cells from the first embryonic division. PIE-1 is thought to inhibit the activity of CDK-9, a cyclin-dependent kinase previously considered essential for the phosphorylation of serine 2 (CTD-Ser2) of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II and for transcription elongation. However, recent studies, showing that embryogenesis proceeds normally in a mutant strain expressing a CTD in which serines 2 is replaced by an alanine (CTD-S2A) and identifying CDK-12 as the main kinase phosphorylating CTD-Ser2, call this model into question.To study the transcriptome of germline blastomeres in the worm C. elegans, an approach combining cell sorting and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was developed. Pilot analyses validated this method on a wild-type strain, enabling its use on a strain in which PIE-1 can be specifically degraded using the Auxin-Inducible Degron (AID) system. This made it possible to examine the effect of PIE-1 depletion on the transcriptome of germline blastomeres revealing that in its absence, germline blastomeres adopt a transcriptional profile close to that of somatic blastomeres, confirming the fundamental role of PIE-1 in preserving germline identity during embryogenesis. In parallel, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe was used to analyze the consequences of PIE-1 expression in a heterologous organism. The results showed that PIE-1 by localizing near transcription termination sites induces further transcription by RNA polymerase II beyond the termination site, leading to transcription of intergenic regions. These observations led to the hypothesis that in C. elegans,within germinal blastomeres, PIE-1 might regulate alternative polyadenylation in 3' untranslated regions, producing longer RNA isoforms susceptible to degradation. In the absence of PIE-1, shorter isoforms could be generated, allowing accumulation of somatic transcripts and potentially degradation of maternal mRNAs via somatic protein translation. Although further investigations are required in C. elegans to validate this hypothesis, it provides an innovative conceptual framework for understanding the role of PIE-1, independent of CTD-Ser2 phosphorylation.

Jury Prof. Marielle BOONEN (UNamur), presidentProf. Henri-François RENARD (UNamur), secretaryProf. Claire HIVROZ (PSL University)Prof. Michel GHISLAIN (UCLouvain)Prof. Pierre VAN DER BRUGGEN (UCLouvain)Prof. Ludger JOHANNES (PSL University)Prof. Pierre MORSOMME (UCLouvain) Summary Clathrin-independent endocytosis (CIE) mediates the cellular uptake of endogenous and exogenous cargoes, including bacterial toxins and viruses. Endophilin A3-mediated endocytosis is a specific CIE mechanism that differs from fast endophilin-mediated endocytosis (FEME), with ALCAM and L1CAM being the first confirmed Endophilin A3-specific cargoes. Here, we report ICAM1 as a new Endophilin A3-dependent endocytic cargo. ALCAM and ICAM1 are important components of immune synapses (IS), which are polarized structures formed between immune cells and target cells, such as cancer cells. These molecules transduce essential co-stimulatory signals to T cells to help their effective activation and proliferation. We find that both ALCAM and ICAM1 serve as cargoes for retromer-dependent retrograde transport to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) in cancer cells. Interestingly, disrupting Endophilin A3-mediated endocytosis or retromer-dependent retrograde transport machinery impairs activation of autologous cytotoxic CD8 T cells, possibly by affecting the polarized redistribution of immune synapse components at the plasma membrane. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that CIE and retrograde transport are key pathways in cancer cells that promote the activation of cytotoxic CD8 T cells.