Frontiers of Science: Prof. Laurent Groc

Frontiers of Science

12th March at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Spring 2026 program

Prof. Laurent Groc, CNRS - University of Bordeaux, France
Imaging the glutamatergic signaling in brain health and disease

Host: Eleanor Coffey (elecof@utu.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Dr. Groc after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Also, if you would like to meet with Prof. Laurent Groc and discuss with him, please inform ecoffey@abo.fi and indicate your preferred time.

Laurent Groc is research director at the CNRS and Bordeaux University, director of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, and head of the Developmental Brain Physiology and Pathology laboratory. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying cell communication in the healthy and diseased brain. His lab pioneered the exploration of the glutamatergic synapse using superresolution imaging, uncovering in particular how NMDA receptor traffic at the neuronal membrane in physiological and pathological conditions (e.g. autoimmune encephalitis). He received a Ph.D. in Neurosciences in 2000 from Wayne State University (Michigan, USA) and Université de Lyon (France). He then joined the Department of Physiology at the University of Goteborg (Sweden). In 2004, he was appointed CNRS young investigator to decrypt excitatory synapse maturation. He received several awards, including 2020 ERC Synergy Award and 2022 CNRS Silver Medal.

Selected publications

Ferreira JS, Linarès-Loyez J, Bon P, Cognet L, Groc L. Protocol for performing 3D-STORM-based nanoscale organization of NMDA receptors in hippocampal brain tissue. STAR Protoc. 2025 Mar 21;6(1):103639. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2025.103639. Epub 2025 Feb 24. PMID: 39998951; PMCID: PMC11903812.

Bessières B, Dupuis J, Groc L, Bontempi B, Nicole O. Synaptic rearrangement of NMDA receptors controls memory engram formation and malleability in the cortex. Sci Adv. 2024 Aug 30;10(35):eado1148. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ado1148. Epub 2024 Aug 30. PMID: 39213354; PMCID: PMC11364093.

Villéga F, Fernandes A, Jézéquel J, Uyttersprot F, Benac N, Zenagui S, Bastardo L, Gréa H, Bouchet D, Villetelle L, Nicole O, Rogemond V, Honnorat J, Dupuis JP, Groc L. Ketamine alleviates NMDA receptor hypofunction through synaptic trapping. Neuron. 2024 Oct 9;112(19):3311-3328.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.028. Epub 2024 Jul 23. PMID: 39047728.

Jamet Z, Mergaux C, Meras M, Bouchet D, Villega F, Kreye J, Prüss H, Groc L. NMDA receptor autoantibodies primarily impair the extrasynaptic compartment. Brain. 2024 Aug 1;147(8):2745-2760. doi: 10.1093/brain/awae163. PMID: 38758090; PMCID: PMC11292910.

Hunter D, Petit-Pedrol M, Fernandes D, Bénac N, Rodrigues C, Kreye J, Ceanga M, Prüss H, Geis C, Groc L. Converging synaptic and network dysfunctions in distinct autoimmune encephalitis. EMBO Rep. 2024 Mar;25(3):1623-1649. doi: 10.1038/s44319-024-00056-2. Epub 2024 Jan 22. PMID: 38253690; PMCID: PMC10933378.

General information

• Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
• If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/f/0cd08ce7e61b419b88cb/
• Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
• Spring 2026 image credits to Jan Kaslin: Motor neurons (green) and newly produced cells (red) are organized around the central canal (blue cells surrounding channel that crosses the image) in the adult zebrafish spinal cord. Image taken using Leica SP8 confocal microscope.