[The « Osler ¼ group : a new opportunity to think about « becoming a physician ¼]. / Le groupe « Osler ¼ : une nouvelle opportunité pour réfléchir sur le « devenir médecin ¼.

Issues of professionalism and professional identity formation, particularly amongst young doctors, have been the object of increasing attention. This is explained in part by the evolution of the hospital environment (specialization, shorter stays), as well as by the prevalence of physician burnout and suicide. In this context, the CHUV implemented a pilot project within the department of internal medicine aiming to support its residents in the construction of their professional identity. The Osler group convened 10 residents led by an attending physician and a senior resident from the internal medicine department as well as an attending physician of the liaison psychiatry department. The experience has been a success, with residents describing clear benefits of the group.

Les enjeux de professionnalisme et d'identité professionnelle chez les médecins font l'objet d'un intérêt croissant, en raison des évolutions du milieu hospitalier (spécialisation, raccourcissement de la durée de séjour) ainsi que de phénomènes comme le burn-out ou le suicide. C'est dans ce contexte que le CHUV a mis en place un projet pilote dans le Service de médecine interne (SMI) pour soutenir les médecins assistants dans la construction de leur identité professionnelle, valoriser la transmission de l'expérience clinique et leur offrir un espace de parole et d'échange. Le groupe « Osler ¼ a ainsi réuni dix assistants pour des rencontres animées par un médecin cadre et une cheffe de clinique du SMI, ainsi qu'un médecin cadre du Service de psychiatrie de liaison. L'expérience a été un succès, les assistants exprimant clairement les bienfaits du groupe, notamment quant à leur rapport au métier.

Capturing epidermal stemness for regenerative medicine.

The skin is privileged because several skin-derived stem cells (epithelial stem cells from epidermis and its appendages, mesenchymal stem cells from dermis and subcutis, melanocyte stem cells) can be efficiently captured for therapeutic use. Main indications remain the permanent coverage of extensive third degree burns and healing of chronic cutaneous wounds, but recent advances in gene therapy technology open the door to the treatment of disabling inherited skin diseases with genetically corrected keratinocyte stem cells. Therapeutic skin stem cells that were initially cultured in research or hospital laboratories must be produced according strict regulatory guidelines, which ensure patients and medical teams that the medicinal cell products are safe, of constant quality and manufactured according to state-of-the art technology. Nonetheless, it does not warrant clinical efficacy and permanent engraftment of autologous stem cells remains variable. There are many challenges ahead to improve efficacy among which to keep telomere-dependent senescence and telomere-independent senescence (clonal conversion) to a minimum in cell culture and to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms implicated in engraftment. Finally, medicinal stem cells are expansive to produce and reimbursement of costs by health insurances is a major concern in many countries.

Dual Role of the Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome in Regulating Stemness and Differentiation in Human Primary Keratinocytes.

Cdc20 and Cdh1 activate the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome, a master cell cycle regulator. Although cell cycle modifications occur during differentiation of stem cells, a role for the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome on stem cell fate has not been established in embryonic or adult human tissues. We found that differentiated human primary keratinocytes from the skin express extremely low levels of Cdc20 compared with human primary keratinocyte stem cells (holoclones). In agreement with this, staining of human skin biopsies showed that Cdc20 is expressed in occasional cells from the basal and epibasal layers of the epidermis and is absent from the differentiated layers. Conversely, Cdh1 is preferentially expressed in differentiated cells. Interestingly, partial silencing of Cdc20 enhanced differentiation, indicating that loss of Cdc20 might be a cause rather than a consequence of terminal differentiation. By contrast, Cdh1 silencing induced the opposite cellular phenotype, which was characterized by an increase in stemness, cellular proliferation, and loss of differentiation markers. These data pinpoint the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome as a key regulator of adult stem cell fate. They also demonstrate the critical and opposing roles of Cdc20 and Cdh1 in controlling the balance between human primary keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation, and therefore in regulating skin homeostasis.

A single epidermal stem cell strategy for safe ex vivo gene therapy.

There is a widespread agreement from patient and professional organisations alike that the safety of stem cell therapeutics is of paramount importance, particularly for ex vivo autologous gene therapy. Yet current technology makes it difficult to thoroughly evaluate the behaviour of genetically corrected stem cells before they are transplanted. To address this, we have developed a strategy that permits transplantation of a clonal population of genetically corrected autologous stem cells that meet stringent selection criteria and the principle of precaution. As a proof of concept, we have stably transduced epidermal stem cells (holoclones) obtained from a patient suffering from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Holoclones were infected with self-inactivating retroviruses bearing a COL7A1 cDNA and cloned before the progeny of individual stem cells were characterised using a number of criteria. Clonal analysis revealed a great deal of heterogeneity among transduced stem cells in their capacity to produce functional type VII collagen (COLVII). Selected transduced stem cells transplanted onto immunodeficient mice regenerated a non-blistering epidermis for months and produced a functional COLVII. Safety was assessed by determining the sites of proviral integration, rearrangements and hit genes and by whole-genome sequencing. The progeny of the selected stem cells also had a diploid karyotype, was not tumorigenic and did not disseminate after long-term transplantation onto immunodeficient mice. In conclusion, a clonal strategy is a powerful and efficient means of by-passing the heterogeneity of a transduced stem cell population. It guarantees a safe and homogenous medicinal product, fulfilling the principle of precaution and the requirements of regulatory affairs. Furthermore, a clonal strategy makes it possible to envision exciting gene-editing technologies like zinc finger nucleases, TALENs and homologous recombination for next-generation gene therapy.

A lower fistula rate in hypospadias surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether specific steps taken after a critical quality control of our results in hypospadias surgery lead to a decrease in fistula rate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data. Between 1994 and 2001, our series of 85 tubularized plate urethroplasties (modified Duplay or Duplay-Snodgrass procedure) had a fistula rate of 25.9%. In 2001, we modified our approach by systematically padding the urethral suture with a layer of vascularized subcutaneous preputial tissue, as described by Snodgrass. Scrotal hypospadias were excluded. Surgical outcome was assessed at 1 and 12 months. In both groups, all repairs were performed by or under direct supervision of the senior author (BJM). RESULTS: After 2001, 57 hypospadias repairs were performed in 57 patients aged 8 months to 14 years (median 1.4 years). Fistula occurred in two cases, one of which closed spontaneously within 6 months. Our fistula rate had dropped to 3.5%, with a minimum follow up of 12 months. CONCLUSION: Covering the urethral suture with a padding flap of vascularized preputial tissue helps avoid fistula formation. Technique modification after critical appraisal of our own series led to a much better outcome in this demanding surgery.