The goal of his research program is to better understand the impact that long noncoding RNAs have on development and diseases to reveal novel RNA-based mechanisms that could be leveraged towards the development of RNA-based therapies and their use in the clinic. His laboratory combines functional genomics, proteomics and CRISPR-based genome editing techniques to perturb lncRNA functions and characterize their role at a cellular and physiological level. His program also aims to understand the molecular grammar that underlies lncRNA function and uncover novel noncoding RNA-based mechanisms to develop novel molecular tools and RNA-based therapies. For this, his team uses a combination of biochemistry, high-throughput, and computational approaches to identify RNA-interacting macromolecules and RNA domains that mediate their function. 

Dr Martin Sauvageau obtained a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from the Université de Montréal and a PhD from McGill University (at IRIC) on the epigenetic regulation of leukemic stem cells. He then moved to Boston to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University and the Broad Institute and was a senior research associate at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Since October 2017, he is an Assistant Professor and Director of the RNA and Noncoding Disease Mechanisms Laboratory at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM). Dr Sauvageau’s projects are funded by CIHR, NSERC, FRQS, CFI, MEI and the IRCM Foundation. 

Lewandowski JP, Dumbovic G, Watson AR, Hwang T, Jacobs-Palmer E, Chang N, Much C, Turner K, Kirby C, Rubinstein ND, Groff AF, Liapis SC, Gerhardinger C, Pandolfi PP, Clohessy JG, Hoekstra HE, Sauvageau M† , Rinn JL† . The Tug1 lncRNA locus is essential for male fertility and harbors a cis repressive element. Genome Biology, 21: 237-271. (2020) PMID:32894169. DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02081-5

Sauvageau M. Diverging RNPs: Toward Understanding lncRNA-Protein Interactions and Functions. The Biology of mRNA: Structure and Function. Adv Exp Med Biol, Springer Nature, 1203, 285-312 (2019).

Bester AC, Lee JD, Chavez A, Lee YR, Nachmani D Vora S, Victor J, Sauvageau M, Rinn JL, Provero P, Church GM, Clohessy JG, Pandolfi PP. An Integrated Genome Wide CRISPRa Approach to Study Drug Resistance Uncovers Coding and Noncoding Networks. Cell, 173: 649-664.e20. (2018) PMID: 29677511. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.052

Groff AF, Sanchez-Gomez DB, Soruco ML, Gerhardinger C, Barutcu R, Li E, Elcavage L, Plana O, Sanchez LV, Lee JC, Sauvageau M, Rinn JL. In vivo characterization of linc-p21 reveals functional cisregulatory DNA elements. Cell Reports, 16: 2178-2186. (2016) PMC5014909. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.07.050

*Goff LA, *Groff AF, *Sauvageau M, Trayes-Gibson Z, Sanchez-Gomez DB, Morse M, Martin R, Elcavage, LE, Liapis SC, Gonzalez-Celerio M, Plana O, Li E, Lai V, Frendewey D, Valenzuela DM, Yancopoulos GD, Gerhardinger C, Tomassy GS, Arlotta P, Rinn JL. Spatiotemporal expression and transcriptional perturbations by long noncoding RNAs in the mammalian brain. PNAS, 112: 86556862. (2015) PMC4460505. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1411263112

Bordeleau ME, Aucagne R, Chagraoui J, Girard S, Mayotte N, Bonneil E, Thibault P, Pabst C, Bergeron A, Barabe F, Hebert J, Sauvageau M, Boutonnet C, Meloche S, Sauvageau G. UBAP2L is a novel BMI1-interacting protein essential for hematopoietic stem cell activity. Blood, 124: 2362-2369. (2014) PMC4192749. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2014-01-548651

Hacisuleyman E, Goff LA, Trapnell C, Sun L, Williams A, Henao-Mejia J, McClanahan P, Hendrickson DG, Sauvageau M, Kelley DR, Morse M, Engreitz J, Guttman M, Lander ES, Lodish HF, Flavell R, Raj A, Rinn JL. Topological organization of multichromosomal regions by the long noncoding RNA Firre. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 21: 198-206. (2014) PMC3950333. DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2764

Sauvageau M, Goff LA, Lodato S, Bonev B, Groff AF, Gerhardinger C, Sanchez-Gomez DB, Hacisuleyman E, Li E, Spence M, Liapis SC, Mallard W, Morse M, Swerdel MR, D’Ecclessis MF, Moore JC, Lai V, Gong, G, Yancopoulos GD, Frendewey D, Hart RP, Valenzuela DM, Arlotta P, Rinn JL. Multiple knockout mouse models reveal lincRNAs are required for life and brain development. eLife, 2: e01749. (2013) PMC3874104. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.01749

Cellot S, Hope KJ, Chagraoui J, Sauvageau M, Deneault E, MacRae T, Mayotte N, Wilhelm BT, Landry JR, Ting SB, Krosl J, Humphries K, Thompson A, Sauvageau G. RNAi screen identifies Jarid1b as a major regulator of mouse HSC activity. Blood, 122: 1545-1555. (2013) PMC5289888. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2013-04-496281

Sun L, Goff LA, Trapnell C, Alexander R, Lo KA, Hacisuleyman E, Sauvageau M, Tazon-Vega B, Kelley DR, Hendrickson DG, Yuan B, Kellis M, Lodish HF, Rinn JL. Long Noncoding RNAs Regulate Adipogenesis. PNAS, 110: 3387-3392. (2013) PMC3587215. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1222643110

Trapnell C, Hendrickson DG, Sauvageau M, Goff LA, Rinn JL, Pachter L. Differential analysis of gene regulation at transcript resolution with RNA-Seq. Nature Biotechnology, 31: 46-53. (2013) PMC3869392. DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2450

*Trost M, *Sauvageau M, Herault O, Deleris P, Pomiès C, Chagraoui J, Mayotte N, Meloche S, Sauvageau G, Thibault P. Posttranslational regulation of self-renewal capacity: insights from proteome and phosphoproteome analyses of stem cell leukemia. Blood, 120: e17-27. (2012) PMC5289887. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2011-12-397844

Hérault O, Hope KJ, Deneault E, Mayotte N, Chagraoui J, Wilhelm BT, Cellot S, Sauvageau M, Andrade-Navarro MA, Sauvageau G. A role for Gpx3 in activity of normal and leukemic stem cells. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 209: 895-901. (2012) PMC3348115. DOI: 10.1084/jem.20102386

Simon C, Chagraoui J, Krosl J, Gendron P, Wilhelm B, Rondeau C, Lemieux S, Boucher G, Chagnon P, Drouin S, Lambert R, Bilodeau A, Lavallée S, Sauvageau M, Hébert J, Sauvageau G. A key role for EZH2 and associated genes in mouse and human adult T cell acute leukemia. Genes & Development, 26 : 651-656. (2012) PMC3323876. DOI: 10.1101/gad.186411.111

Sauvageau M, Sauvageau G. Polycomb Group proteins: Multi-faceted regulators of adult stem cells and cancer. Cell Stem Cell, 7: 299-313. (2010) PMC4959883. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2010.08.002

Deneault E, Cellot S, Faubert A, Laverdure JP, Fréchette M, Chagraoui J, Sauvageau M, Ting SB, Sauvageau G. A functional screen to identify novel effectors of hematopoietic stem cell activity. Cell, 137: 369-379. (2009) PMID: 19379700. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.03.026

Sauvageau M, Sauvageau G. Polycomb Group genes: Keeping stem cell activity in balance. PLoS Biology, 6: e113. (2008) PMC2689701. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060113

Sauvageau M, Miller M, Lemieux S, Lessard J, Hebert J, Sauvageau G. Quantitative expression profiling guided by common retroviral insertion sites reveals novel and cell type-specific cancer genes in leukemia. Blood, 111: 790-799. (2008) PMC5289889. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2007-07-098236

Hazourli S, Chagnon P, Sauvageau M, Fetni R, Busque L, Hebert J. Overexpression of PRDM16 in the presence and absence of the RUNX1/PRDM16 fusion gene in myeloid leukemias. Genes Chromosomes Cancer, 45: 1072-1076. (2006) PMID: 16900497. DOI: 10.1002/gcc.20370

Chagraoui J, Niessen SL, Lessard J, Girard S, Coulombe P, Sauvageau M, Meloche S, Sauvageau G. E4F1: a novel candidate factor for mediating BMI1 function in primitive hematopoietic cells. Genes & Development, 20: 2110-2120. (2006) PMC1536061. DOI: 10.1101/gad.1453406

Bijl J, Sauvageau M, Thompson A, Sauvageau G. High incidence of proviral integrations in the HoxA locus in a new model of E2a-PBX1-induced B-cell leukemia. Genes & Development, 19: 224-233. (2005) PMC545883. DOI: 10.1101/gad.1268505