The 2021 Bettencourt Prize for Young Researchers went to Dorian Ziegler, a post-doctoral fellow in cell biology, for his work on the CDK4 protein’s role in cancer cell division and adaptation.

The CDK4 protein and cell division

Cell division is a fundamental process that allows a "mother" cell to create two independent "daughter" cells. When the process is disrupted, pathological conditions can occur, such as cancer, where cell division is uncontrolled and aberrantly accelerated. The CDK4 protein plays a key role in regulating cell division. It is very common in a type of breast cancer called triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). This aggressive type of cancer accounts for 15-20% of breast cancer cases worldwide and is hard to treat due to a lack of specific therapies.

Cancer cells must adapt their metabolism, a set of internal chemical reactions, to an increased demand for growth and cell division. Mitochondria, multitasking organelles responsible for producing energy and regulating the amount of calcium in the cell, play a major role in the adaptation process. CDK4 also seems to be crucial in controlling the metabolism and division of cancer cells: when it is removed, mitochondrial activity changes and cell division stops.

Mitochondria and the growth of cancer cells

During his post-doctoral fellowship in Professor Lluis Fajas Coll’s laboratory at the Center for Integrative Genomics in Lausanne, Dr. Ziegler will explore how CDK4 is able to act on very specific areas of mitochondria, called MERCs, to control cancer cell metabolism and division.

The project will help him figure out how CDK4 speeds up cancer cell division and modulates metabolism to allow adaptation and survival, thus opening up new therapeutic avenues.

Dorian Ziegler in a few words

After a preparatory class for the Grandes Ecoles at the Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris, in 2012 Dorian Ziegler graduated from the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon with bachelor's and master's degrees in molecular and cellular biology.

For his PhD under the supervision of Dr. David Bernard and Dr. Nadine Martin at the Cancer Research Center in Lyon, he studied the regulation mechanisms of cellular senescence. During senescence, cell division stops. The buildup of senescent cells during aging facilitates the onset of age-related diseases, such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, and the recurrence of cancer. Dr. Ziegler's work has led to a better understanding of how MERCs and cholesterol synthesis contribute to senescence. Understanding the mechanisms controlling cell senescence is a major challenge for cancer and aging research. Dr. Ziegler is passionate about teaching. In 2015, he received the agrégation in Life, Earth and Universe Sciences (SV-STU) from the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon. While working on his PhD, he taught at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

In 2019, he was an Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region finalist in the science popularization competition "My Thesis en 180 Seconds".

Bettencourt Prize for Young Researchers

Created in 1990, the Bettencourt Prize for Young Researchers is one of the first initiatives of the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller. Until 2021, this prize was awarded each year to 14 young doctors of science or doctors of medicine, to enable them to carry out their post-doctoral stay in the best foreign laboratories. 349 young researchers were distinguished. The prize endowment was €25,000.

All the award-winners