Activating mutations of genes coding for two different tyrosine kinase receptor, either RET or NTRK1 (also named TRKA), as well as of RAS or BRAF gene are associated with human thyroid papillary carcinoma (PTC). RET or NTRK1 protooncogene encodes a cell-surface transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor with nerve growth factor as its lignand. Oncogenic potential of these two genes in thyrocytes results from replacement of their 5' portion by regulatory parts of other genes, leading to constitutive activation of their tyrosine kinase activity. The four reported oncogenic rearrangements of NTRK1 (TRK) are the consequences of fusion of its tyrosine kinase domain with one of the three genes (TPM3 gene, TPR gene, TFG gene). In our previous study, a PTC sample was found to express the NTRK1 tyrosine kinase domain without harboring NTRK1 rearrangement. We, therefore, assumed that there might have a novel NTRK1 rearrangement in this sample. 5¡¦RACE strategy was employed to clone the unknown 5¡¦end. Sequence of the cloned DNA fragment demonstrated that it is an aberrant transcription product containing an unspliced intron 9. In addition, the variant of NTRK1 wild type termed TRKA¢¹, which lacks exon 9, was also detected in this particular specimen. We conclude that amplification of TK domain of NTRK1 may serve as a rapid screening method for the presence of NTRK1-related transcript in PTCs. Mutations of the BRAF protein serine/threonine kinase gene have recently been identified in a variety of human cancers, especially in melanoma and papillary thyroid carcinomas. Among benign and malignant thyroid tumors, BRAF V599E mutations were reported to be restricted to papillary carcinomas. In this study, we analyzed mutations of BRAF in conjunction with our previous studies on RAS, RET rearrangement and NTRK1 rearrangement in PTCs to investigate genetic alterations in the RAS/RAF/MEK/MAPK kinase pathway. BRAF V599E mutations were detected in 49 of 105 (47%) PTCs but not in other type of thyroid tumor. There was no overlap between papillary carcinomas harboring RET rearrangement, NTRK1 rearrangement and BRAF mutations. Correlation between BRAF mutations and various clinicopathological parameters in 101 papillary carcinomas did not reveal any association with age, sex, tumor size, cervical lymph node metastasis, extrathyroidal extension, distant metastases and clinical stage. We conclude that BRAF mutations are restricted to papillary carcinomas in thyroid tumor. The overall frequencies in our study are in line with data previously reported. In Taiwan, BRAF mutation is the most prevalent oncogene in papillary thyroid carcinomas so far identified.

Dans cette thèse, j'ai étudié le rôle des sRNAs dérivés de l'hôte et du virus lors de l'infection du colza (Brassica napus, Canola) par la souche UK1 du virus de la mosaïque du navet (TuMV-UK1). En utilisant un dérivé de TuMV fusionné avec un gène codant pour la protéine fluorescente verte (TuMV-GFP), deux cultivars de colza (‘Drakkar’ et ‘Tanto’) qui diffèrent par leur susceptibilité à ce virus ont été identifiés. Le profil transcriptionnel des foyers d'infection locale, dans les feuilles de Drakkar et de Tanto, par séquençage nouvelle génération (NGS) a révélé de nombreux gènes exprimés de manière différentielle. Les mêmes échantillons d'ARN provenant de feuilles de Drakkar et de Tanto, traitées par des virus ou utilisées en contrôle, ont également servi à établir le profil NGS des sRNAs (sRNAseq) et de leurs cibles potentielles d'ARN (PAREseq). Les analyses bioinformatiques et leur validation in vivo, ont permis d’identifier les événements de clivage de transcrits impliquant des micro ARN (miRNA) connus et encore inconnus. Fait important, les résultats indiquent que TuMV détourne la voie du RNA silencing de l’hôte avec des siRNAs issus de son propre génome (vsiRNA) pour cibler les gènes de l’hôtes. Le virus déclenche également le ciblage à grande échelle des ARN messagers (ARNm) de l’hôte par l’activation de la production de siRNAs secondaires en phase, à partir de locus PHAS. À leur tour, les vsiRNAs et les siRNAs dérivés de l'hôte (hsRNAs) ciblent et clivent l'ARN viral par le complexe RISC. Ces observations éclairent le rôle des siRNAs dérivés de l'hôte et du virus dans la coordination de l'infection virale. Un autre chapitre de cette thèse est consacré à l'analyse des maladies induites par des virus en utilisant comme modèle de plante Arabidopsis, infectée par un tobamovirus, le virus de la mosaïque du colza (ORMV). De plus, ces observations ont permis de proposer un modèle dans lequel cette guérison dépend d’un adressage important de vsiRNAs secondaires antiviraux depuis leur source de production jusqu’à leurs tissus de destination, et l'établissement d'un apport en vsiRNAs capable de bloquer l'activité VSR impliquée dans la formation des feuilles symptomatiques. / In this thesis, I investigated the role of host- and virus-derived sRNAs during infection of Rapeseed (Brassica napus, Canola) by the UK1 strain of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV-UK1). By using a TuMV derivative tagged with a gene encoding green fluorescent protein (TuMV-GFP), two rapeseed cultivars (‘Drakkar’ and ‘Tanto’) that differ in susceptibility to this virus were identified. Transcriptional profiling of local infection foci in Drakkar and Tanto leaves by next generation sequencing (NGS) revealed numerous differentially expressed genes. The same RNA samples from mock- and virus- treated Drakkar and Tanto leaves were also used for the global NGS profiling of sRNAs (sRNAseq) and their potential RNA targets (PAREseq). The bioinformatic analysis and their in vivo validation led to the identification of transcript cleavage events involving known and yet unknown miRNAs. Importantly, the results indicate that TuMV hijacks the host RNA silencing pathway with siRNAs derived from its own genome (vsiRNAs) to target host genes. The virus also triggers the widespread targeting of host messenger RNAs (mRNAs) through activation of phased, secondary siRNA production from PHAS loci. In turn, both vsiRNAs and host-derived siRNAs (hsRNAs) target and cleave the viral RNA by the RISC-mediated pathway. These observations illuminate the role of host and virus-derived sRNAs in the coordination of virus infection. Another chapter of this thesis is dedicated to the analysis of virus-induced diseases by using Arabidopsis plants infected with the Oilseed rape mosaic tobamovirus (ORMV) as a model. Initially, the infected plants develop leaves with strong disease symptoms. However, at a later stage, disease-free, “recovered” leaves start to appear. Analysis of symptoms recovery led to the identification of a mechanism in which the VSR and virus derived-siRNAs play a central role. I used Arabidopsis mutants impaired in transcriptional and post-transcriptional silencing pathways (TGS and PTGS respectively) and a plant line carrying a promoter-driven GFP transgene silenced by PTGS (Arabidopsis line 8z2). Using various techniques able to monitor virus infection, small and long viral RNA molecules, VSR activity, as well as phloem-mediated transport with in these lines, this study led to the identification of genes required for disease symptoms and disease symptom recovery. Moreover, the observations allowed to propose a model in which symptoms recovery occurs upon robust delivery of antiviral secondary vsiRNAs from source to sink tissues, and establishment of a vsiRNA dosage able to block the VSR activity involved in the formation of disease symptoms.

FREIRE, José Ednésio da Cruz. Análise in silico da sequência deduzida de Mo-CBP3, uma proteína ligante à quitina de Moringa oleifera LAM. 2013. 116 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Bioquímica) - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza-CE, 2013. / Submitted by Eric Santiago (erichhcl@gmail.com) on 2016-05-30T12:44:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_jecfreire.pdf: 2576370 bytes, checksum: c3841faa82a44a8e3de82ce42c785dc5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by José Jairo Viana de Sousa (jairo@ufc.br) on 2016-07-11T23:29:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_jecfreire.pdf: 2576370 bytes, checksum: c3841faa82a44a8e3de82ce42c785dc5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-11T23:29:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_jecfreire.pdf: 2576370 bytes, checksum: c3841faa82a44a8e3de82ce42c785dc5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Moringa oleifera is a tree belonging to the Moringaceae family. This plant is native from India where it is named as drumstick tree. In Brazil M. oleifera was introduced in the 1950’s decade and it is known as moringa. Approximately 40% of the fresh weight of these seeds is formed by proteins, some of which were isolated and characterized as flocculants and antinutritional proteins. In addition, the chitin binding proteins have been identified and isolated, especially among which is the Mo-CBP3, a thermostable glycoprotein of apparent molecular mass of around 14.3 kDa, with potent inhibitory activity against phytopathogenic fungi. In order to characterize the deduced sequence of Mo-CBP3, moringa fruits were collected 65 days after anthesis and their seeds subjected to extraction of total RNA. cDNA synthesis was directed by ‘5’ RACE’-PCR. The PCR products were subcloned into appropriate vectors (pGEM-T Easy) and then introduced into Escherichia coli cloning host TOP10F'. The recombinant plasmids were purified from transformed bacterial cell and subjected to DNA sequencing. The computational analysis of the deduced protein sequence of Mo-CBP3 showed that this protein has an apparent molecular mass of 12.85 kDa and it is unstable in cytoplasmic conditions. It has derived signal sequences, one for the signal peptide with 30 amino acids, and a sequence at the C-terminus of this protein, related to the anchorage to the plasma membrane as well as the endoplasmic reticulum. Moreover, probable sites of O-glycosylation and phosphorylation were identified. One domain related to the lipid transfer functions, reserve and trypsin inhibitors and alpha-amylase was identified following Mo-CBP3, thereby contributing to the understanding of its potent action against phytopathogenic fungi. / A Moringa oleifera é uma planta pertencente à família Moringaceae. Esta planta é nativa da Índia, sendo lá conhecida como drumstick (baqueta ou bastão de tambor). No Brasil, a M. oleifera foi introduzida na década de 1950, e é conhecida como moringa. Aproximadamente 40% do peso fresco das sementes é composto por proteínas, das quais algumas foram isoladas e caracterizadas como sendo floculantes e proteínas antinutricionais. Em adição, proteínas ligantes à quitina têm sido identificadas e isoladas, destacando-se dentre estas a Mo-CBP3, uma glicoproteína termoestável de massa molecular aparente em torno de 14,3 kDa, com potente atividade inibitória contra fungos fitopatogênicos. A fim caracterizar a sequência deduzida da Mo-CBP3, frutos de moringa foram coletados após 65 dias da antese e suas sementes submetidas à extração de RNA total. A síntese de cDNA foi dirigida por meio da técnica PCR-RACE 5'. Os produtos de PCR foram subclonados em vetores apropriados (pGEM-T Easy) e, em seguida, introduzido em hospedeiro de clonagem Escherichia coli TOP10F'. Os plasmídeos recombinantes foram purificados de células bacterianas transformadas e submetidos ao sequenciamento de DNA. A análise computacional da sequência deduzida da proteína Mo-CBP3 mostrou que esta é uma proteína de massa molecular aparente em torno de 12,85 kDa e, em condições citoplasmáticas apresenta-se instável. Possui sequências sinais deduzidas, sendo uma para peptídeo sinal, com 30 aminoácidos, e uma sequência na região C-terminal relacionada à ancoragem desta proteína à membrana plasmática, bem como ao retículo endoplasmático. Ademais, prováveis sítios de O-glicosilação e de fosforilação foram identificados. Um domínio relacionado às funções de transferência de lipídeos, de reserva e de inibidores de tripsina e de alfa-amilase foi identificado na sequência de Mo-CBP3, contribuindo, desse modo, para o entendimento de sua potente ação contra fungos fitopatogênicos.

Ljungan virus (LV) is a recently identified picornavirus of the genus Parechovirus. LV has been isolated from voles trapped in Sweden and also in the United States. LV infected small rodents may suffer from diabetes type 1 and type 2 like symptoms, myocarditis and encephalitis. LV has been proposed as a human pathogen, with indications of causing diabetes type 1, myocarditis and intrauterine fetal deaths. In this thesis, cell culture adapted LV strains were utilised for development and adaptation of several basic methodological protocols to study the LV biology, e.g. real time PCR, highly specific antibodies and a reverse genetics system. These methods allowed detailed studies of this virus and how it interacts with the host cell. The genomic 5'-end was identified and modelling showed unique secondary structure folding of this region. The LV encodes an aphthovirus-like 2A protein with a DvExNPGP motif. This motif was found to mediate primary cleavage of the LV polyprotein in vitro and is proposed to constitute the carboxy terminus of the structural protein VP1 in LV. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies generated against recombinant structural proteins were used to verify that the LV virion is composed of the structural proteins VP0, VP1 and VP3. Cell culture studies showed that LV replicates to low titer with an absent or delayed cell lysis. LV is proposed to be able to spread by a, for picornaviruses, not previously demonstrated direct cell-to-cell transmission. All results taken together suggest a maintenance strategy of LV including low amounts of the LV genome and persistently infected hosts. Stability studies showed that the LV virion not only maintain activity in acidic and alkaline environments but also exhibit resistance to the commonly used disinfectant Virkon®.The results presented in this thesis show that LV has several unique properties, not previously observed for a picornavirus.