Une résistance aux agents anticancéreux utilisés dans le traitement du cancer du sein est souvent associée à un échec de traitement. Des variations dans le devenir des agents anticancéreux dans l’organisme, sont des facteurs pouvant expliquer des phénomènes de résistance. Notre but était d’évaluer l’impact des isoenzymes du CYP450s, dans le métabolisme local des agents anticancéreux. Notre premier objectif était de valider un gène rapporteur pour nos analyses de PCR en temps réel. Pour ce faire, nous avons criblé l’expression de 6 gènes rapporteurs dans 23 lignées cellulaires. NUP-214 a été démontré comme étant le gène rapporteur le plus stable avec un écart-type de seulement 0.55 Ct. Notre deuxième objectif était de déterminer le niveau d’expression des ARNm de 19 isoformes du CYP450 dans plusieurs lignées cellulaires du cancer du sein. Les ARNm des CYP450s ont démontré une très grande variabilité entre les lignées cellulaires. Les isoformes CYP1B1 et CYP2J2 démontrent l’expression la plus importante pour la majorité des lignées. Notre troisième objectif était d’évaluer la corrélation entre l’expression des isoformes des CYP450s et leur activité métabolique en utilisant les substrats spécifiques du CYP1B1 et 2J2, 7-éthoxyrésorufine et ébastine, respectivement. Une forte corrélation (r2=0.99) fut observée entre l’activité métabolique vis-à-vis l’ébastine et l’expression du CYP2J2. De même, le métabolisme du 7-éthoxyrésorufine était fortement corrélé (r2=0.98) avec l’expression du CYP1B1. En résumé, ces résultats suggèrent que le métabolisme local des agents anticancéreux pourrait significativement moduler le devenir des agents anticancéreux dans l’organisme, et pourrait être ainsi, une source de résistance. / Several types of cancer cells have shown an innate or accute resistance to anti-cancer agents which in turn causes a failure in treatment. This resistance has been suggested to be caused by the expression of membrane transporters in cancer cells, as well as inter-individual variability in metabolism. Our interest was to evaluate the implication of CYP450 enzymes in the local metabolism of cancer cells. Our first objective was to screen the expression level of six housekeeping genes (HKG) using 23 different cell lines to determine which gene was the most stable. We found that NUP-214 was the most stable HKG across the panel of cell lines tested, with a standard deviation of only 0.55 Ct. Our second objective was to determine the expression level of 19 CYP450 mRNA isoforms in various breast cancer cell lines by RT-PCR. The CYP450 mRNAs showed a large variability between the different cell lines analyzed, where CYP1B1 and 2J2 were strongly expressed in most cell lines. Our third objective was to determine if measurable metabolic activity was present and correlates with mRNA expression in these same breast cancer cell lines using the specific substrates 7-ethoxyresorufin and ebastine for CYP1B1 and 2J2 activities, respectively. The metabolism of 7-ethoxyresorufin showed an excellent correlation of 0.98 with CYP1B1 expression while ebastine demonstrates a strong correlation (r2=0.99) with 2J2 expression. Overall, these results suggest that local metabolism of anti-cancer agents could significantly affect drug disposition and be a source of chemoresistance.

Les thérapies anticancéreuses ont connu ces dernières années un développement important ayant pour conséquence une amélioration dans la qualité de vie des patients. Cependant la survenue de résistances et la part significative de cancer sans traitement efficace nous oblige à envisager le développement de nouvelles stratégies anticancéreuses. Nous avons développé une nouvelle technique basée sur le principe du gène suicide en utilisant le gène du cytochrome P450 2B6 associé au cyclophosphamide (CPA). Cette technique qui consiste au transfert d'un gène métabolisant une prodrogue anticancéreuse dans la tumeur permet une sensibilisation des tumeurs à cette prodrogue. Le premier objectif de ce travail a consisté à améliorer le métabolisme de la prodrogue en construisant un gène muté du CYP2B6 en fusion avec la réductase, partenaire indispensable du CYP. Dans un deuxième temps nous avons transféré le gène CYP2B6TM-RED dans des cellules tumorales qui sont devenues sensibles au CPA entrainant une éradication des tumeurs. Ces résultats ont été confirmés in vivo sur des modèles de souris immunocompétentes. Nous avons, en plus de l'effet cytotoxique, mis en évidence un important effet bystander et le développement d'une immunité antitumorale spécifique. Ceci nous laisse penser que cette méthode peut permettre de protéger contre les récidives et les métastases. Les bons résultats obtenus dans le développement de cette nouvelle stratégie anticancéreuse, nous laissent espérer d'un futur passage en clinique. Pour cela de nouveaux modèles animaux devront être mis au point pour optimiser le transfert du transgène dans les tumeurs.

Lenvatinib is an oral anticancer drug that belongs to a group of tyrosine kinases, which block signal pathway receptors for development and proliferation of various cancer diseases. Lenvatinib was approved in 2015 for a treatment of progressive, locally spread or metastatic, differentiated thyroid cancer refractory to radioiodine treatment. This thesis presents findings about the metabolism of lenvatinib and identification of enzymes responsible for biotransformation of this drug. Utilizing human and rat hepatic microsomes as well as recombinant cytochromes P450 (CYPs) expressed in SupersomesTM , the metabolism of lenvatinib was studied. Used rat microsomal systems were isolated from the liver of uninduced rats and from the liver of rats in which expression of individual CYPs was induced by CYP inducers. The lenvatinib metabolites were separated by HPLC and identified by mass spectroscopy. Using rat microsomal systems, O-desmethyllenvatinib and lenvatinib N-oxide were produced. The highest amount of these lenvatinib metabolites was produced by microsomes of rats pretreated with pregnenolone carbonitrile that is an inducer of CYP3A. Human hepatic microsomes oxidize lenvatinib to O-desmethyllenvatinib and N-descyklopropyllenvatinib. In the case of rat recombinant CYPs, O-desmethyllenvatinib was...

Magister Scientiae - MSc / The main thesis hub was on development of two electrochemical biosensors for the determination of 17β-estradiol-estradiol: an estrogenic endocrine disrupting compound. Endocronology have significantly shown that the endocrine disruptors contribute tremendously to health problems encountered by living species today, problems such as breast cancer, reproductive abnormalities, a decline in male population most significant to aquatic vertebrates, reduced fertility and other infinite abnormalities recurring in the reproductive system of mostly male species. The first biosensor developed for the detection of 17β-estradiol-estradiol endocrine disrupting compound; consisted of an electro-active polymeric 3-mercaptoprorionic acid capped zinc selenide quantum dots cross linked to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme as a bio-recognition element. The second biosensor developed was comprised of cysteamine self assembled to gold electrode, with 3-mercaptopropionic acid capped zinc selenide quantum dots cross linked to cytochrome P450-3A4 (CYP3A4) enzyme in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3- dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride and succinimide. / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Chemistry) / Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) that usually affects the lungs leading to severe coughing, fever and chest pains. It was estimated that over 9.6 million people worldwide developed TB and 1.5 million died from the infectious disease of which 12 % were co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the year 2015. In 2016 the statistics increased to a total of 1.7 million people reportedly died from TB with an estimated 10.4 million new cases of TB diagnosed worldwide. The development of the efficient point-of-care systems that are ultra-sensitive, cheap and readily available is essential in order to address and control the spread of the tuberculosis (TB) disease and multidrugresistant tuberculosis.

Inspired by natural catalytic systems, metalloporphyrins and Salen complexes have been used as catalysts for the oxidation of xenobiotics in the presence of several oxygen donors, both in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. These catalysts have been highly efficient and selective in the reactions of different substrates, such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides. In this context, the work developed in this dissertation presents the oxidation studies of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicide using ferroporphyrins and Jacobsen catalyst as catalysts of these reactions with several oxygen donors. The results shows that the metalloporphyrin and the complex employed in this study are efficient catalysts for oxidation of 2,4-D in the presence of oxygen donors iodosilbenzene (PhIO), metachloroperbenzoic acid (m-CPBA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) both in homogeneous and heterogeneous. The reactions with the unsupported catalysts achieved higher yields than those obtained with the supported catalysts, which is possibly related to the difficulties of access to the catalytic center imposed by the support. The conversion of 2,4-D reached more than 50% in some systems, and, in general, oxidation reactions with the three oxygen donors were selective promoting the formation of hydroquinone (reactions with PhIO and H2O2) and 3,5- dichlorocatechol (reactions with m-CPBA). One of the products identified in the reactions is a metabolite of 2,4-D produced in vivo systems, indicating that the catalysts used in this study can be considered good models of cytochrome P450 in the oxidation of 2,4-D. / Inspirados em sistemas catalíticos naturais, metaloporfirinas e complexos salen têm sido utilizados como catalisadores para a oxidação de xenobióticos na presença de diversos doadores de oxigênio, tanto em catálise homogênea quanto heterogênea. Esses catalisadores têm se mostrado altamente eficientes e seletivos nas reações de diferentes substratos, tais como fármacos e pesticidas. Dentro desse contexto, o trabalho desenvolvido nessa dissertação apresenta os estudos da oxidação do herbicida ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D) utilizando ferroporfirinas e catalisador de Jacobsen como catalisadores dessas reações com diversos doadores de oxigênio. Os resultados mostram que a metaloporfirina e o complexo salen empregados nesse estudo são eficientes catalisadores para a oxidação do 2,4-D na presença dos doadores de oxigênio iodosilbenzeno (PhIO), ácido metacloroperbenzóico (m-CPBA) e peróxido de hidrogênio (H2O2), tanto em meio homogêneo como heterogêneo. As reações com os catalisadores não suportados alcançaram rendimentos mais altos do que os obtidos com os catalisadores suportados, o que está possivelmente relacionado as dificuldades de acesso ao centro catalítico imposta pelo suporte. A conversão de 2,4-D atingiu mais de 50% em alguns sistemas, e, em geral, as reações de oxidação com os três doadores de oxigênio foram seletivas promovendo a formação de hidroquinona (reações com PhIO e H2O2) e 3,5-diclorocatecol (reações com m-CPBA). Um dos produtos identificados nas reações é um metabólito do 2,4-D produzido sistemas in vivo, indicando que os catalisadores utilizados nesse estudo podem ser considerados bons modelos do citocromo P450 na oxidação do 2,4-D.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Breast cancer is regarded as the most common cancer in South Africa and its rate of occurrence is increasing. About one in every 31 South African women are at the risk of developing breast cancer and early diagnosis and treatment guarantee 90% survival rate. Tamoxifen is the drugs of choice for the treatment of all stages of breast cancer. The drug binds with estrogen receptor (ER) to minimize the transcription of estrogen dependent genes. However, nearly 50% of ER-positive breast cancer patients either become resistant or fail to respond to tamoxifen resulting in a serious clinical challenge in breast cancer management. The Grand Health Challenges of South Africa includes the development of cost effective diagnostic systems suitable for early detection of diseases and drug resistivity for timely invention and better patient management. / 2020-08-31

Les plantes produisent une remarquable diversité de métabolites pour faire face aux contraintes d’un environnement en constante fluctuation. Cependant la manière dont les plantes ont atteint un tel degré de complexité métabolique et les forces responsables de cette diversité chimique reste largement incomprise. On considère généralement que le mécanisme de duplication des gènes contribue pour une grande part à l’évolution naturelle. En absence de transfert horizontal, les gènes d’évolution récente se cantonnent généralement chez quelques espèces et sont soumis à une évolution rapide, alors que les gènes conservés et plus anciens ont une distribution beaucoup plus large et sont porteurs de fonctions essentielles. Il est donc intéressant d’étudier l’adaptation des plantes en analysant parallèlement les gènes qui présentent soit une large distribution taxonomique, soit une distribution plus restreinte, de type lignée-spécifique. Les cytochromes P450 (CYP) constituent l’une des plus vastes familles de protéines chez les plantes, présentant des phylogénies très conservées ou très branchées qui illustrent la plasticité métabolique et la diversité chimique. Pour illustrer l’évolution des fonctions des cytochromes P450 dans le métabolisme végétal, nous avons sélectionné trois gènes, l’un très conservé au cours de l’évolution, CYP715A1 et les deux autres, CYP98A8 et CYP98A9, très récemment spécialisés de manière lignée spécifique chez les Brassicaceae. Les gènes appartenant à la famille CYP715 ont évolué avant la divergence entre gymnospermes et angiospermes, et sont le plus souvent présent en copie unique dans les génomes végétaux. Ceci suggère que leur fonction est essentielle et très conservée chez les plantes à graines (spermaphytes). Sur la base d’une analyse transcriptionnelle et de l’expression du gène GUS sous le contrôle du promoteur de CYP715A1, il est apparu que ce gène est spécifiquement exprimé au cours du développement floral, dans les cellules tapétales des jeunes boutons floraux ainsi que dans les filaments lors de l’anthèse. CYP715A1 est également fortement induit dans les cellules du péricycle de la zone d’élongation racinaire en réponse au stress salin. L’induction par le sel nécessite une région promotrice située entre 2 et 3 kb en amont de la région codante (i.e ; codon START), ce qui suggère la présence d’un facteur cis à cet endroit. Afin de déterminer la fonction de CYP715A1 chez Arabidopsis thaliana, j’ai identifié deux mutants d’insertion de T-DNA par génotypage et complémenté ces mutants avec le gène natif. La perte de fonction de CYP715A1 n’a pas d’impact sur la croissance et la fertilité de la plante en conditions de laboratoire. Cependant, une analyse par microscopie électronique en transmission montre un phénotype d’intine ondulée. La perte de fonction du gène CYP715A1 a également entraîné une réduction de la taille des pétales et un défaut d’anthèse. [...] / Plants produce a remarkable diversity of secondary metabolites to face continually challenging and fluctuating environmental constraints. However, how plants have reached such a high degree of metabolic complexity and what are the evolutionary forces responsible for this chemodiversity still remain largely unclarified. Gene evolution based on gene birth and extinction has been reported to nicely reflect the natural evolution. Without horizontal gene transfer, young genes are often restricted to a few species and have undergone rapid evolution, whereas old genes can be broadly distributed and are always indicative of essential housekeeping functions. It is thus of interest to study plant adaptation with parallel focus on both taxonomically widespread and lineage-specific genes. P450s are one of the largest protein families in plants, featuring both conserved and branched phylogenies. Examples of P450 properties reflecting metabolic versatility, chemodiversity and thus plant adaptation have been reported. To illustrate evolution of P450 functions in plant metabolism, we selected two P450 genes, one evolutionary conserved CYP715A1 and the second a recently specialized lineage-specific gene CYP98A9 in Arabidopsis thaliana.CYP715s evolved before the divergence between gymnosperms and angiosperms and are present in single copy in most sequenced plant genomes, suggesting an essential housekeeping function highly conserved across seed plants. Based on transcriptome analysis and promoter-driven GUS expression, CYP715A1 is selectively expressed in tapetal cells of young buds and filaments of open flowers during flower development. In addition, CYP715A1 is highly induced in the pericycle cells of the root elongation zone upon salt stress. The salt induction relies on the 2-3kb region of CYP715A1 promoter, suggesting some salt-response elements may exist in this area. To characterize the function of CYP715A1 in Arabidopsis, I identified two T-DNA insertion mutants by genotyping and confirmed by complementation with native CYP715A1 gene. Loss of function of CYP715A1 has no impact on plant growth and fertility in laboratory conditions. However, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis has shown constant undulated intine phenotype in two knockout mutants and also the petal growth is significantly inhibited. These two phenotypes nicely match the native expression pattern of CYP715A1. Gene co-expression analysis suggests involvement of CYP715A1 in gibberellin (GA) metabolism under salt treatment. GAs profiling on mutant flowers also indicates reduced accumulation specific GAs. Unfortunately, no significant phenotype either related to root growth or root architecture under salt treatment can be observed. Recombinant expression of the CYP715A1 enzyme in yeast so far does not allow confirming GAmetabolism. However, metabolic profiling of inflorescences in mutants and over-expression lines, together with transcriptome analysis of the loss of function cyp715a1 mutants strongly support a CYP715A1 role in signaling, hormone homeostasis and volatile emission in agreement with the purifying selection leading to gene conservation observed in spermatophytes.[...]

Abstract Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are the major metabolizers of xenobiotics, e.g. drugs, and environmental toxins. Thus, changes in CYP expression have an important impact on drug metabolism and susceptibility to chemical toxicity. In the present study, the transcriptional mechanisms of both constitutive and inducible regulation of the Cyp2a5 gene in mouse liver were investigated. Mouse primary hepatocyte cultures were used as the main model system together with cell and molecular biology methods. The key activation regions of the Cyp2a5 5' promoter were determined using reporter gene assays. Two major transcription activation sites of the Cyp2a5 5' promoter, called the proximal and the distal, were found. Transcription factors hepatocyte nuclear factor-4 (HNF-4) and nuclear factor I were shown to bind to the proximal promoter. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) and upstream stimulatory factor bound to a common palindromic E-box element in the distal promoter region. All three response elements were shown to be essential for constitutive expression of CYP2A5 in murine hepatocytes. ARNT appeared to control Cyp2a5 transcription without a heterodimerization partner suggesting active involvement of the ARNT homodimer in mammalian gene regulation. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) ligands were shown to induce Cyp2a5 transcriptionally by an AHR-dependent mechanism, and established Cyp2a5 as a novel AHR-regulated gene. The AHR response element and the E-box, identified in these studies, were located near to each other and close to a separately defined nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 binding site in the distal region of the Cyp2a5 promoter, suggesting cooperation between these elements. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α was shown to up-regulate Cyp2a5 transcription through coactivation of HNF-4α. This indicates that xenobiotic metabolism can be regulated by modification of co-activation. The present results show that CYP2A5 is regulated by several different cross-regulatory pathways. The regulatory mechanisms involved in the transcription of the Cyp2a5 gene may also control other CYP genes, especially the human ortholog CYP2A6, and may explain some of the individual variations in the metabolism of xenobiotics.

Abstract Drug metabolism is one of the most important events a drug faces after administration. Traditionally, drug metabolism has only been considered as a major clearance and elimination step in the pharmacokinetics of a drug. However, drug metabolism is also one of the important factors behind safety and toxicity issues in drug discovery and development. Some of the mechanisms behind metabolism-related toxicity we do understand well while others, especially the role of reactive metabolites, need further research. The thesis reviews the role of drug metabolism in the drug discovery and development process from the point of view of metabolism and metabolites. Special emphasis is put on reviewing the metabolism behind human toxicity and safety, and the roles of circulating and reactive metabolites in particular. Ospemifene is a nonsteroidal selective estrogen receptor modulator recently approved for the treatment of vulvar and vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women with moderate to severe dyspareunia. The present study characterized the in vitro and in vivo metabolism and potential drug interactions of ospemifene. The principal human metabolites were identified and the adequacy nonclinical animal exposure was evaluated. The major human cytochrome P450 enzymes involved in the formation of principal metabolites were also identified and the clinical consequences assessed. Finally, the interaction potential of ospemifene as a cytochrome P450 enzyme inducer or inhibitor was investigated. As a result, ospemifene was considered to be safe drug from a metabolic interaction point of view. This study was part of the drug development program of ospemifene and practically all of the in vitro study data were included in the marketing authorization application of ospemifene. Ospemifene was also a case molecule in the development of new methodologies to study drug metabolism and drug-drug interactions. / Tiivistelmä Lääkeainemetabolia on lääkeaineen farmakokinetiikassa tärkeä puhdistuma- ja eliminaatioaskel, jonka rooli on ymmärretty varsin hyvin. Lääkeainemetabolialla on myös merkittävä vaikutus lääkeaineen toksisuuteen ja lääkkeen käytön turvallisuuteen. Osa lääkeainemetaboliaan liittyvistä toksisuusmekanismeista selvitetty hyvin, mutta erityisesti reaktiivisiin metaboliitteihin liittyvä osa vaatii vielä tutkimusta. Tämän työn kirjallisuusosassa katselmoidaan lääkeainemetabolian merkitystä lääkekehitysprosessissa painottaen erityisesti lääkeainemetabolian sekä reaktiivisten ja verenkierrossa kiertävien metaboliatuoteiden vaikutusta toksisuuteen ihmisellä ja merkitystä turvalliseen lääkkeiden käyttöön. Ospemifeeni on uusi ei-steroidinen selektiivinen estrogeenireseptorimodulaattori, joka on hyväksytty yhdynnänaikaisesta kivusta kärsivien postmenopausaalisten naisten vulvan ja vaginan limakalvojen kuivumisen hoitoon. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin ospemifeenin lääkeainemetaboliaa ihmisellä ja koe-eläimillä sekä mahdollisia lääkeinteraktioita. Tutkimuksessa tunnistettiin tärkeimmät metaboliitit ihmisellä ja arvioitiin eläinkokeissa käytettyjen koe-eläinten altistumisen kattavuus niille. Työssä selvitettiin myös tärkeimmät päämetaboliitteja katalysoivat sytokromi P450 -entsyymit ja arvioitiin löydösten kliinistä merkitystä. Lisäksi tutkittiin aiheuttaako ospemifeeni lääkeinteraktioita muille lääkeaineille indusoimalla tai inhiboimalla sytokromi P450 -entsyymejä. Tutkimustulosten perusteella ospemifeenia voidaan pitää lääkeainemetabolian suhteen turvallisena lääkkeenä. Tämä tutkimus oli osa ospemifeenin lääkekehitysohjelmaa ja käytännössä kaikki tutkimustyön in vitro -tietoaineisto oli mukana ospemifeenin myyntilupa-hakemuksissa lääketurvallisuusviranomaisille. Ospemifeenia käytettiin tutkimustyön aikana myös yhtenä esimerkkimolekyylinä kehitettäessä uusia menetelmiä lääkeainemetabolian ja lääkeinteraktioiden tutkimiseen.