Basile Tarchini, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Investigating inner ear development, focusing on the role of cytoskeleton polarization in sensory function and hearing loss, with a goal to inform therapies for sensory cell regeneration.
Fundamental to our interaction with the world, hearing and balance require 'hair cells' in the inner ear to transduce sound, gravity or head movements into electrical impulses relayed to the brain. Our research aims to unravel the developmental mechanisms that give hair cells their characteristic shape to enable perception. Sensory ability arises through a morphogenetic process whereby intricate cytoskeleton polarization produces and orients the stereocilia bundle, the cell compartment where transduction occurs. How multiple levels of polarity are implemented and interconnected during hair cell differentiation remains largely unknown. Understanding morphogenesis in molecular detail will aid the comprehension and potential treatment of hereditary hearing loss. Furthermore, studying cytoskeleton polarization will inform emerging therapies aimed at regenerating hair cells lost to injury or disease during life, where new bundles must be developed de novo.
Education and experience
Education
2007-2010
Postdoctoral fellow
Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Adv: Michel Cayouette
2005-2006
Postdoctoral fellow
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Adv: Denis Duboule
2004
Ph.D., biology
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Adv: Denis Duboule
1998
B.Sc., biology
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Experience
2015-
Assistant professor
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
2011-2014
Research associate
Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
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Research HighlightOctober 19, 2022Examining the exquisite arrangement of stereocilia in the ear
New study examines the molecular machinery that makes the precise construction and arrangement of stereocillia in the ear possible. -
Research HighlightDecember 10, 2019Understanding how we achieve balance
A research team led by JAX Assistant Professor Basile Tarchini investigates the genetic basis of vestibular organization to understand better what causes dizziness. -
Research HighlightFebruary 28, 2019Two proteins essential for layered sterocilia elongation in the inner-ear
A research team led by Basile Tarchini has found two new proteins that are essential to the correct elongation of stereocilia, tiny hair-like cellular protrusions in the inner ear. -
Press ReleaseDecember 12, 2017Protein Daple coordinates inner-ear single-cell and organ-wide directionality
JAX, Rockefeller research team shows mice lacking Daple show developmental defects in hair cells and bundles.
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Research HighlightMay 17, 2021Building the mirror-image arrangement of sensory hair cells
Coordinated, proper hair cell orientation is vital for both hearing and motion detection, because each cell only detects motion in one direction. But how is that achieved? Basile Tarchini reveals the complex molecular cascade that yields proper hair cell arrangement in a new paper in Nature Communications. -
Research HighlightApril 11, 2019
Mechanisms of sound perception
A new paper in PNAS offers new insights into the proteins that influence our ability to perceive sound direction and intensity. -
Search MagazineMay 21, 2018
Tuning in to the inner ear
Basile Tarchini, Ph.D., is working to understand the basic mechanisms underlying hair cell development, with the goal of restoring hearing following injury. -
Press ReleaseDecember 12, 2016$1.9 M federal research grant awarded to JAX researcher Basile Tarchini for inner-ear development studies
Grant funding will support Basile Tarchini’s studies into how defects in the architecture of sensory cells perceiving sounds cause hereditary hearing deficits.