Researcher

Title

• Associate professor, School of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal (2021)
• Head Deputy of the Musculoskeletal Health, Rehabilitation and Medical Technologies Research Axis, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre (2023)

• Postdoctoral fellow in regenerative medicine, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada (2013-2016)
• PhD in physiology-endocrinology, CHUQ Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec city, QC, Canada (2007-2013)
• MSc in physiology-endocrinology, CHUQ Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec city, QC, Canada (2005-2007)
• BSc in physiotherapy, Université Laval, Quebec city, QC, Canada (2002-2005)

Pr. Dumont's research program is divided into 4 axes: 1) characterizing the intrinsic mechanisms regulating the cell fate decision of muscle stem cells during myogenesis, 2) characterizing the interactions between muscle stem cells and their microenvironment (e.g., macrophages, fibro-adipogenic progenitors, vascular cells, fibrosis, hyperoxia) in muscle regeneration and diseases, 3) characterizing the impact of genetic myopathies (e.g., Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Myotonic Dystrophy type 1) and acquired myopathies (e.g., prematurity) on muscle stem cell function, and 4) investigating new therapeutic avenues targeting defective muscle stem cells in various muscular dystrophies. His work led to the discovery of new rare myopathies, to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of muscular diseases and to the identification of new promising therapeutic approaches.

• Muscle regeneration
• Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
• Myotonic Dystrophy type 1
• Muscle stem cells
• Fibrosis
• Fibroadipogenic progenitors (mesenchymal stromal cells)
• Cellular senescence
• Bioactive lipids
• Inflammation
• Cell fate decision (self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation)

Career Summary

Pr. Nicolas Dumont obtained his PhD at the Université Laval where he studied the regulatory network between inflammatory cells and skeletal muscles. He did his post-doctoral training at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Dr. Michael Rudnicki’s lab, where he studied muscle stem cell defects in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Pr. Dumont became an assistant professor at the Université de Montréal in 2016 (associate professor in 2021) and he established his lab at the CHU Sainte-Justine research center. His research program aims to determine how muscle stem cell function is affected in different muscular disorders with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic avenues. Pr. Dumont holds a FRQS Junior-2 award, and his lab is funded by grants from the CIHR, NSERC, ThéCell network, Stem Cell Network, AFM-Telethon, Muscular Dystrophy Canada, and others.  

Laboratory

Muscle Stem Cell Lab (MuSCL)
 

Awards and Distinctions

• 2023: Early Career biomedical researcher of the year award of the Neuromuscular Diseases for Canada Network (NMD4C). 
• 2022: Winner of the Cell I See contest of the Stem Cell Network and “le savoir par l’image” contest of  CERMO-FC. 
• 2022: Article Soulez M et al J Cell Physiol 2022 chosen for the cover page of the journal
• 2022: Article Mashichian O et al EMBO J 2022 chosen for the cover page of the journal
• 2021: Publication of the year award from the TheCell network and honorable mention from the NMD4C network for the manuscript Dort J et al Nature Communications.
• 2019: Award for best presentation from early career researcher. Annual conference of the REPAR network
• 2016: Article Lukjanenko et al, Nature Med 2016 highlighted in a News and Views
• 2016: Article Dufresne SS, Dumont NA et al 2016 (co-first author) chosen by the Am J Physiol – Cell  as paper of the month (APS Select certificate)
• 2015: Article Dumont NA et al, Nature Med 2015 highlighted in a News and Views
• 2014: Article Price FD et al, Nature Med 2014 highlighted in a News and Views

Presentations

• Dumont NA. Clearance of defective muscle stem cells by senolytics restores myogenesis in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (2022). FASEB conference. New Orleans, USA
• Dumont NA. Senolytics target defective muscle stem cells and restore myogenesis in myotonic dystrophy type 1. 13th International Myotonic dystrophy conference (2022). Osaka, Japon (hybrid)
• Dumont NA. Targeting muscle stem cells with bioactive lipids for the treatment of muscular dystrophies. 4th international conference on stem cells, development and cancer (2022). Lyon, France
• Dumont NA. Targeting muscle stem cells for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Till & McCulloch meeting (2021). Canada
• Dumont NA. Novel strategies targeting muscle stem cells to mitigate Duchenne muscular Dystrophy. NeuroMyogene Institute research seminar (2019). Lyon, France

Publications

• Deprez A, Orfi Z, Rieger L, Dumont NA*. Abnormal muscle stem cell function and myogenesis in acquired myopathies. Bioscience reports. 2023 Jan 31;43(1):BSR20220284 
• Senechal C, Fujita R, Jamet S, Maiga A, Dort J, Orfi Z, Dumont NA, Bouvier M, Crist C*. The adhesion G protein-coupled receptor Gpr116 is essential to maintain the skeletal muscle stem cell pool. Cell Reports 2022 Nov 15;41(7) :111645. 
• Conte TC, Bishop GD, Orfi Z, Moktari I, Deprez A, Cote I, Molina T, Kim T, Tellier L, Roussel MP, Maggiorani D, Benabdallah B, Leclerc S, Feulner L, Pellerito O, Andelfinger G, Mathieu J, Gagnon C, Beausejour C, McGraw S, Duchesne E*, Dumont NA*. Clearance of defective muscle stem cells by senolytics reduces SASP and restore myogenesis in myotonic dystrophy type 1. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.22.497227v1
• Fabre P, Molina T, Orfi Z, Dumont NA*. Assessment of muscle function following transplantation of iPSC-derived myoblasts. Current Protocols. 2022 Jan;2(1):e356.
• Deprez A, Orfi Z, Radu A, He Y, Dartora DR, Dort J, Dumont NA* (co-last author), Nuyt AM* Transient Neonatal Hyperoxia induces long-lasting impact on skeletal muscle growth. Clinical Science. 2021 Nov 26;135(22) : 2589-2605.
• Dort J, Orfi Z, Fabre P, Molina T, Conte TA, Greffard K, Pellerito O, Bilodeau JF, Dumont NA*. Resolvin-D2 targets myogenic cells and improves muscle regeneration in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Nature Communications. 2021 Oct 29;12(1):6264.
• Molina T, Fabre P, Dumont NA*. Fibroadipogenic progenitors in skeletal muscle homeostasis, regeneration, and diseases. Open Biology. 2021 Dec;11(12):210110
• Feichtinger RG, Mucha BE, Hengel H, Orfi Z, Makowski C, Dort J, D’Anjou G, Nguyen TTM, Buchert R, Juenger H, Freisinger P, Baumeister S, Schoser B, Ahting U, Keimer R, Nguyen CT, Fabre P,  Gauthier J, Miguet M, Lopes F, AlHakeem A, AlHashem A, Tabarki B, Kandaswamy KK, Bauer P, Steinbacher P, Prokisch H, Sturm M, Strom TM, Ellezam B, Mayr JA, Schöls L, Michaud JL, Campeau PM, Haack TB, Dumont NA* (2019). Recessive mutations in the transcription factor PAX7 are a new genetic cause of Myopathy. Genetics in Medicine. Nov;21(11):2521-31.
• Wang YX, Feige P, Brun CE, Hekmatnejad B, Dumont NA, Renaud JM, Faulkes S, Guindon D, Rudnicki MA*. (2018). EGF stimulates asymmetric division in muscle stem cells and enhances regeneration of dystrophin-deficient muscle. Cell Stem Cell 2019 Mar 7;24(3):419-432.
• Dumont NA, Wang YX, Von Maltzahn J, Pasut A, Bentzinger CF, Brun CE, Rudnicki MA*. (2015) Dystrophin expression in muscle stem cells regulates their polarity and asymmetric division. Nature Med. 21(12): 1455-63.