The family of 14-3-3 proteins is crucial for various physiological cellular processes such as signaling, cell growth, division, differentiation, and apoptosis. One of the 14-3-3 proteins members, 14-3-3 gamma, is abundantly expressed in brain and had been detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with different neurological disorders. Although 14-3-3 gamma played critical physiological or pathological role in brain, it has not been reported on brain tumorigenesis. To test expression of 14-3-3 gamma in brain tumor, 3 brain tumor cell lines and 4 normal brain tissues, 24 astrocytoma, 14 glioblastoma mutiform, 2 oligodenroglioma, 1 ependymoma were analyzed using RT-PCR, western blotting, immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative PCR. The study found that the expressions of 14-3-3 gamma mRNA in all of tumor three cell lines was greater than normal brain tissue, but the 14-3-3 gamma proteins expressed were lower than normal brain tissue. In brain tumor tissues, higher 14-3-3 gamma mRNA expression was detected in 20 of 24 astrocytoma (83%) and higher 14-3-3 gamma protein expression was detected in 9 of 24 astrocytoma (37%). The expression of 14-3-3 gamma mRNA is higher than normal brain tissue in all 14 glioblastoma multiforme (100%), and the 14-3-3 gamma protein was expressed higher in 9 of 14 glioblastoma multiforme than normal brain tissue (64.3%). Besides, the 14-3-3 gamma protein expressed much higher in glioblastoma multiforme than astrocytoma .The copy number of the 14-3-3 gamma gene was higher in astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme than normal brain tissue. Thus, this study evidenced that the 14-3-3 gamma protein may play a crucial role during tumorigenesis of brain tumors.

Les protéines 14-3-3 sont des protéines adaptatrices qui exercent leurs fonctions biologiques en modulant l’activité de centaines d’autres protéines. De part leur impressionnant interactome, les protéines 14-3-3 sont des acteurs qui influencent de nombreux événements cellulaires et, par conséquent, de maladies associées. La stabilisation ou l’inhibition sélective d’interactions protéine-protéine (IPP) de 14-3-3 sont considérées comme des approches prometteuses pour trouver des thérapies innovantes contre des maladies comme la maladie d’Alzheimer, certains cancers ou la maladie de Parkinson.Notre premier but afin de trouver des petites molécules capables de moduler ces cibles a été d’étudier au niveau moléculaire des IPP de 14-3-3. Dans ce but, nous avons utilisé la Résonance Magnétique Nucléaire (RMN) pour attribuer les déplacements chimiques des atomes du squelette de 14-3-3σ. Nous avons ensuite étudié l’interaction entre 14-3-3 et la protéine Tau phosphorylée. Nous avons découvert que Tau se lie strictement dans la cavité amphipathique de 14-3-3 et peut s’ancrer aux deux monomères du dimère de 14-3-3. Nous avons aussi étudié l’interaction 14-3-3/p53 et avons découvert, en utilisant la RMN, que l’affinité du peptide p53 envers 14-3-3 est liée à des interactions intramoléculaires au niveau du peptide. Nous nous sommes enfin focalisés sur l’optimisation d’expériences RMN visant le criblage et la caractérisation de l’activité des petites molécules qui se lient à 14-3-3 ou à des complexes de 14-3-3 avec des peptides phosphorylés. Nous avons aussi utilisé des peptides phospho-mimétiques pour inhiber l’interaction 14-3-3/Tau. D’autre part, nous avons criblé une bibliothèque de fragments contre 14-3-3σ et trouvé trois hits qui se lient à des régions différentes de la protéine. Des expériences RMN ont ensuite permis de caractériser l’activité de certaines petites molécules actives sur des complexes de 14-3-3 avec, par exemple des peptides de p53 ou p65, et nous avons aussi démontré la capacité de certains de ces composés à stabiliser les complexes. / 14-3-3 proteins are adapter proteins that exert their biological functions by modulating the activity of hundreds of proteins. This remarkable interactome makes 14-3-3 proteins influent actors in many cellular events and, by consequence, in several pathologies. The selective stabilization or inhibition of 14-3-3 protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are therefore seen as promising approaches for finding innovative therapies for a number of conditions like Alzheimer’s, cancer or Parkinson. Our first objective towards finding small molecule modulators of these targets was to obtain the molecular detail of 14-3-3 PPIs. To this end, using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), we assigned the backbone chemical shifts of 14-3-3σ. We then studied the 14-3-3/phosphorylated Tau interaction and found that Tau binds strictly within the amphipathic binding grove of 14-3-3 and can anchor in both monomers of the 14-3-3 dimer. We also studied the 14-3-3/p53 interaction and showed by NMR, that intramolecular interactions within the peptide define a conformation that drives the affinity towards 14-3-3. 2019We then focused on the optimization of NMR assays for screening and characterization of the effect of small-molecules binding to 14-3-3 or 14-3-3 complexes with target’s phosphopeptides. We used, for example, phospho-mimetic peptides to inhibit the Tau/14-3-3 interaction. In a different strategy, we screened a fragment library against 14-3-3σ and found three hits binding to different regions of the protein. Using our NMR assays we further characterized small molecules binding 14-3-3 complexes with, for example, p53 and p65 peptides and demonstrated the stabilization capacity of some compounds.

The chaperone proteins designated 14-3-3 are expressed in all eukaryotic cells; they help to regulate signal transduction pathways controlling proliferation, differentiation, and survival. They associated directly or indirectly with proliferative signal-transducing proteins such as PKC, MEK kinases, PI3-kinase and Raf. In human, there are seven isotypes of 14-3-3 genes: £]¡]beta¡^¡B£^¡]gamma¡^¡B£`¡]epsilon¡^¡B£b¡]eta¡^¡B£m¡]sigma¡^¡B£n/£c¡]tau/theta¡^ and£a¡]zeta¡^, some of which would be pseudogenes, and yeast and plant each have two and fifteen genes. Althought these genes are diverse, all 14-3-3 isotypes share many conservation domains in amino acid sequences. The previous studies have suggested that 14-3-3 sigma is most directly linked to cancer because it is thought to function as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting cell-cycle progression. In tumor formation, inactivation of 14-3-3 sigma occurs with high frequency. More importantly, expression of 14-3-3 sigma is silenced in most breast cancer cells. The 14-3-3 sigma protein is associated with cyclin E-CDK2 complex as well as cyclin B-CDC2 complex and mediated their inactivation by cytoplasmic localization and causing cell-cycle arrest in G2 and G1. However, the roles of other 14-3-3 isotypes in the formation of breast cancer are controversial in published reference. The aim of this study was to determine the differential expressions of 14-3-3 gamma in non-tumor tissues and corresponding tumor tissues. Amplification and overexpression of 14-3-3 gamma in DNA, RNA, and protein of breast tumor tissues were found by experiments of RT-PCR, Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry and Real-time PCR. However, the role of 14-3-3 gamma in the formation of breast cancer requires further study.

No description available.

The goal of this diploma thesis was to find optimal conditions for expression of ASK1 kinase in prokaryotic expression system and to optimize purification protocol which enables preparing of milligram amounts of stable and soluble protein. Different conditions of expression were tested in E. coli cells including temperature of expression, cultivation medium or the length of induction. Different methods of purification were tested during the development of the purification protocol. The final protocol is based on chelate chromatography followed by gel permeation chromatography. The result of the diploma thesis is a protocol that allows preparing 1 mg of pure ASK1 kinase from 1 liter of medium.

Calmodulin kinase cascade is a signaling pathway which is involved in the response to the increasing intracellular calcium levels. Ca2+ is a ubiquitous second messenger which promotes wide-range of cellular signaling events. Many of these signaling pathways start with the binding of Ca2+ to its primary intracellular receptor calmodulin. Calmodulin in turn binds to its downstream targets in the Ca2+ /calmodulin signaling cascade. One of the most important enzymes of this cascade is a Ca2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2). CaMKK2 is a serine/threonine protein kinase which regulates for example gene transcription or energy homeostasis by phosphorylation of its downstream targets. Catalytic domain (which provides kinase activity) is located in the middle part of the protein and possesses structure typical for kinases. CaMKK2 consists of 588 amino acids but the secondary structure is known only for the region of the kinase domain (298 residues). The rest of the protein is assumed to be unstructured as long as CaMKK2 is not bound to any interaction partner. The aim of this study was to prepare several constructs of human isoform of CaMKK2 for the further structural and activity studies. It is believed that CaMKK2 is regulated by site-specific phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of some...

Through binding interactions with more than 300 binding partners, 14-3-3 proteins regulate large amount of biologically relevant processes, such as apoptosis, cell cycle progression, signal transduction or metabolic pathways. The research discussed in this dissertation thesis was focussed on investigating the role of 14-3-3 proteins in the regulation of two selected protein kinases ASK1 and CaMKK2. The main goal was to elucidate the mechanisms by which phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding regulate functions of these protein kinases using various biochemical and biophysical methods, such as site-directed mutagenesis, enzyme activity measurements, analytical ultracentrifugation, small-angle X-ray scattering, chemical crosslinking, nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence spectroscopy. A structural model of the complex between the catalytic domain of protein kinase ASK1 with 14-3-3ζ, which was calculated using the small-angle X-ray scattering and chemical crosslinking data, suggested that this complex is conformationally heterogeneous in solution. This structural model together with data from time-resolved fluorescence and nuclear magnetic resonance suggested that the 14-3-3ζ protein interacts with the catalytic domain of ASK1 in the close vicinity of its active site, thus indicating that the complex...

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play a crucial role in almost all biological processes. Many proteins require a number of dynamic interactions with other proteins and/or biomolecules to function. Proteomic studies have suggested that human protein-protein interactome consists of several hundred thousands of protein complexes. A detailed insight into these PPIs is essential for a complete understanding of the processes mediated by these protein complexes. Because many PPIs are involved in disease-related signaling pathways, such PPIs are important targets for pharmaceutical interventions, especially in situations where a more conventional target (e.g. the active site of an enzyme, the binding site of a receptor) cannot be used. This doctoral thesis focuses on 14-3-3 proteins, a family of eukaryotic adaptor and scaffolding proteins involved in the regulation of many signaling pathways. The 14-3-3 proteins function as interaction hubs and critical regulators of many enzymes, receptors and structural proteins. The main aim was to structurally characterize selected 14-3-3 protein complexes and investigate their stabilization by small molecule compounds. Using combination of protein crystallography, differential scanning fluorimetry, fluorescence polarization and analytical ultracentrifugation, the...

Plusieurs études ont suggéré une implication des glycogène synthase kinases 3 (GSK3) dans la carcinogenèse, notamment du pancréas. Des études ont rapporté des résultats contradictoires quant à l’impact des GSK3 sur la survie cellulaire. Au niveau du pancréas, il a été observé que l’inhibition des GSK3 inhibe la croissance entre autres via la régulation de la voie JNK ou NFkB. Les inhibiteurs des GSK3 sont présentement à l’étude comme traitement de différentes pathologies, notamment pour le cancer pancréatique. Une meilleure compréhension des voies de signalisation régulées par les GSK3 sera donc nécessaire. Nous avons entrepris ces travaux afin de mieux comprendre les mécanismes impliqués dans la régulation de la survie des cellules pancréatiques tumorales par les GSK3. Nous avons démontré que l’inhibition des GSK3 induit l’apoptose et l’autophagie dans les cellules pancréatiques tumorales humaines. L’inhibition des GSK3 stimule l’autophagie autant dans les cellules pancréatiques tumorales que non tumorales, alors que l’apoptose est induite spécifiquement dans les cellules tumorales. Contrairement à l’apoptose, l’autophagie est induite indépendamment de la voie JNK-cJUN suite à l’inhibition des GSK3. Nos résultats démontrent que l’inhibition des GSK3 mène à l’inactivation de la voie mTORC1 qui pourrait contribuer à l’induction de l’autophagie. D’autre part, nos travaux ont démontré pour la première fois que les GSK3 régulent le facteur de transcription EB (TFEB) dans les cellules pancréatiques tumorales. En effet, l’inhibition des GSK3 entraîne la déphosphorylation de TFEB, notamment sur la Ser211, la dissociation des 14-3- 3 et sa translocation nucléaire. Nos résultats suggèrent que la régulation de TFEB par les GSK3 impliquerait des Ser/Thr phosphatases et pourrait être indépendante de l’activité mTORC1. L’inhibition de l’autophagie ou la déplétion de l’expression de TFEB sensibilise les cellules pancréatiques tumorales à l’apoptose induite suite à l’inhibition des GSK3 suggérant un rôle pro-survie de l’autophagie et de TFEB dans ces cellules. Enfin, l’inhibition des GSK3 semble mener à l’inhibition de la glycolyse qui contribuerait à l’induction de l’apoptose. En résumé, nos résultats démontrent que l’inhibition des GSK3 induit à la fois des signaux pro-apoptotiques et pro-survie suggérant que l’équilibre entre ces signaux dicterait l’impact des GSK3 sur la survie des cellules pancréatiques tumorales humaines.

The aim of this diploma thesis was to study the role of posttranslational modifications of phosducin and their role in the interaction with the 14-3-3 protein as well as the influence of the complex formation on these modifications. Phosducin is a 33kDa protein commonly present in photoreceptor cells of the retina as well as other tissues. Despite many experiments, its physiological functions are still elusive. It has been speculated that fosducin plays an important regulatory role in visual phototransduction pathway, regulation of blood pressure and expression of G-proteins. The phosducin function is regulated through binding to the 14-3-3 protein, a regulatory protein involved in many biochemical processes. Phosducins binding to 14-3-3 protein requires phosphorylation of two serine residues Ser-54 and Ser-73 within the N-terminal domain of phosducin. However, the role of the 14-3-3 protein binding in the regulation of phosducin function is still unclear. In this diploma thesis proteins 14-3-3ζ∆C and phosducin (mutation Q52K) were successfully expressed and purified. The effect of the complex formation on phosducin posttranslational modifications was investigated using limited proteolysis and dephosphorylation. These experiments revealed that the complex formation significantly slowed down both...