Across the ~3 billion basepair that encodes human DNA, only 1-2% actually code for proteins, and the rest is often described as the dark matter of the genome. These non-coding regions contain regulatory sequences essential for the proper transcription and maturation of coding messenger RNAs, but also give rise to non-coding RNAs involved in housekeeping cellular functions (rRNA, tRNA, snoRNA, snRNA) and gene expression regulation (miRNA, piRNA, lncRNA, etc).
Through his BSc in ‘Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’ from Université de Toulouse (France), MSc in ‘Biochemistry and Genetics of RNA’ from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France), PhD in ‘Genomics’ from Institut Curie and Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (Paris, France), and postdoctoral position focusing on long-read single-cell RNA-seq, Julien has spent over 15 years studying and working on RNA, from molecular biology to transcriptomic. He’s studied the way RNA is expressed first in cancer, then in brain, and now in brain cancer.
During his MSc and PhD, Julien focused on the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) and their particular relevance to cancer, especially in the process of metastasis through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). There, he showed how lncRNA HOTAIR promotes EMT by regulating histone demethylase LSD1 distribution across regulatory regions of the genome.
In 2020, Julien joined the laboratory of Dr Hagen Tilgner as a Postdoctoral Associate to focus on RNA isoforms at single-cell resolution. There, he developed several methods for the study of full-length RNA isoforms and noncoding RNAs betwen cell types and cell states in brain development and neurodegenerative diseases. In 2026, Julien now joined the laboratory of Dr Howard Fine to join his previous interests in cancer and neuroscience, and bring new transcriptome expertise to the lab.