No description available.

Smac-Mimetika (SMCs) sind eine Klasse von Tetrapeptid-abgeleiteten Medikamenten, die dem homodimeren, pro-apoptotischen Protein Smac nachempfunden sind. Sie binden und hemmen die Apoptose-Inhibitoren (IAPs), eine Klasse von anti-apoptotischen Proteinen, die von vielen medikamentenresistenten Krebszellen überexprimiert werden. In dieser Arbeit wurden Strategien zur Steigerung und Kontrolle der Aktivität von SMCs durch Konjugation an Oligonukleotide (ON) untersucht. ONs wie Desoxyribonukleinsäure (DNA) oder das peptidbasierte Analogon Peptidnukleinsäure (PNA) bieten einzigartige Erkennungseigenschaften, die zur Detektion und/oder zur Modulation der Expression krebsspezifischer Genprodukte genutzt werden können. Letzteres kann z. B. mit Antisense-Oligonukleotiden (ASOs) erreicht werden, kurzen einzelsträngigen DNA- oder RNA-Molekülen, die die Translation einer komplementären Zielsequenz blockieren. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wurden Konjugate aus SMCs und ASOs auf Synergie-Effekte getestet. Viele menschliche Krebszelllinien sind gegen SMCs resistent, weil andere anti-apoptotische Proteine wie das zelluläre FLICE-ähnliche Protein (c-FLIP) als Ausfallsicherung wirken. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese Resistenz durch Kupplung eines SMC an ein anti-c-FLIP ASO überwunden werden kann. Im zweiten Teil wurden kurze ON-Sonden verwendet, um ein templiertes Reaktionssystem zur gezielten Aktivierung eines SMCs in Gegenwart von X-linked Apoptose-Inhibitor (XIAP) mRNA zu erzeugen. Es wurden zwei verschiedene Ansätze untersucht: Ein templierter Acyl-Transfer, bei dem hochaffine, bivalente SMCs aus niedrig affinen, monovalenten Vorläufern erzeugt werden und eine Demaskierung der für die Bindungsaffinität von SMCs entscheidenden, N-terminalen Aminogruppe durch templierte Reduktion eines Azids. Für die zweite Strategie wurden zwei verschiedene Reaktionen verglichen, die Staudinger-Reduktion mit Phosphinen und eine katalytische Photoreduktion mit einem Ruthenium-Komplex. / Smac mimetic compounds (SMCs) are a class of tetrapeptide-derived drugs, modelled after the homodimeric, pro-apoptotic protein Smac. They bind and antagonize Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs), a class of anti-apoptotic proteins overexpressed by many drug-resistant cancer cells. In this work, strategies to enhance and control the activity of SMCs by conjugating them to oligo-nucleotides (ON) were investigated. ONs like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or the peptide-based analog peptide nucleic acid (PNA) offer unique recognition properties that can be used to detect and/or modulate the expression of cancer-specific gene products. The latter can be achieved with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), short single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules that block the translation of a complementary sequence of interest. In the first part of this work, conjugates between SMCs and ASOs were tested for synergy. Many human cancer cell lines are resistant to SMCs because other anti-apoptotic proteins like the cellular FLICE-like protein (c-FLIP) act as a failsafe. It could be demonstrated that by joining an SMC with an anti-c-FLIP ASO this resistance can be overcome. In the second part, short ON probes were used to create a templated reaction system to conditionally activate an SMC in the presence of x-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) mRNA. Two different approaches were explored: A templated acyl transfer that yields high affinity bivalent SMCs from low affinity, monovalent precursors and unmasking of the N-terminal amino group, which is crucial for the binding affinity of SMCs, by templated reduction of an azide. For the second strategy, two different chemistries were compared, Staudinger reduction with phosphines and a catalytic photoreduction using a ruthenium complex.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Nucleoside (S)-cEt-LNA a été synthétisé par trois voies différentes à partir de la 5- méthyluridine qui est commercialement disponible. Le chemin le plus court comprend une méthylation diastéréosélective d'un aldéhyde, et une cyclisation 5-exo-tet d'un éther par déplacement SN2. / (S)-cEt-LNA nucleoside was synthesized by three different routes starting from commercially available 5-methyluridine. The shortest route includes a diastereoselective methylation of an aldehyde, and a 5-exo-tet cylization of an ether via SN2 displacement.

Transcription lies at the centre of gene expression. In eukaryotes, transcription occurs not only at genes but also across the non-coding portion of the genome, an apparently pervasive process that gives rise to a wide array of different transcripts. In recent years, it has emerged that genes themselves are frequently subject to non-coding transcription of their antisense strand. This antisense transcription is evident in eukaryotes from yeast to mammals; however its general genome-wide role, if indeed it has one, remains elusive. Here, the nature of antisense transcription in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is explored on a genome-wide scale. Antisense transcription is ubiquitous and often abundant, and appears to be driven by a promoter architecture at the 3’ end of genes, one which shows evidence of regulation, and which mirrors that found at the 5’ end. Furthermore, antisense transcription shows evidence of changing gene behaviour. It is associated with a drastically altered chromatin environment at the 5’ promoter and across the gene body; however it is not associated with a change in the level of gene transcription itself. Rather, these chromatin changes appear to enforce a change in the mode of gene transcription, promoting rapid bursts of transcription re-initiation that result in noisier gene expression – a hitherto unknown role of antisense transcription. It is proposed that antisense transcription represents a fundamental layer of gene regulation, and that it should be considered a canonical feature of eukaryotic genes.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal, muscle-wasting disorder due to mutations/deletions in the dystrophin gene. Whilst improvements in palliative care have increased the life expectancy of patients, cardiomyopathy and respiratory complications are still the leading causes of death. A potential therapy for the treatment of DMD is antisense oligonucleotides (AOs), which modulate dystrophin pre-mRNA splicing to restore the dystrophin reading frame and generate a truncated functional protein. Conjugation of AOs to cell penetrating peptides (CPP), such as Pip5e-, significantly improves delivery to skeletal muscles and to the heart, which is imperative given the impact of cardiomyopathy to mortality. However, it should be noted that the contribution of skeletal muscles, such as the core respiratory muscle, the diaphragm, in dystrophic cardiopulmonary function is poorly understood. The specific aims of the work in this thesis were to (i) understand the effect of the diaphragm on cardiac function using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), (ii) screen a number of derivatives of Pip5e (Pip6) in an effort to discover further promising peptides and define the properties integral to heart penetrating capacity, and (iii) assess whether Pip6-PMOs restore cardiac function (MRI) following a repeat, low dose regimen. In short, the specific restoration of dystrophin in the diaphragm of the dystrophic mouse model, the mdx mouse, did not improve cardiac function, highlighting the importance of a body-wide therapy. The screening of multiple Pip5e-PMO derivatives revealed 3 promising peptides with improved cardiac splicing capacity; however, serial deletions of amino acids from the central core resulted in the diminution of dystrophin restoration, possibly due to a reduction in hydrophobicity. Finally, the Pip6-PMO treatment regimen substantially restored dystrophin protein (28% in heart) and stabilised cardiac function, even with an increased work load. In conclusion, this study illustrates the importance of a body-wide treatment, such as the CPP strategy (Pip-PMO). These Pip-PMO conjugates demonstrate high dystrophin restoration in a number of muscles, including cardiac muscle, and have a beneficial effect on cardiac function.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Le cancer de la prostate (CaP) est actuellement le cancer le plus fréquent en France et constitue l'une des principales causes de décès par cancer chez l'homme dans les pays industrialisés. Un tiers des patients avec un CaP à priori localisé auront déjà des micro-métastases au moment du traitement local. Ces patients qui répondent dans un premier temps à la castration (hormonothérapie) seront cependant en échappement hormonal dans les 2 ans qui suivent. Récemment, plusieurs essais cliniques de phase III ont rapporté un gain de survie avec la chimiothérapie à base de docétaxel dans les CaPs métastatiques résistants à la castration. Néanmoins, la survie n'est prolongée que de 2 ou 3 mois et de nouvelles approches thérapeutiques ciblant des voies de signalisation spécifiques sont donc nécessaires. Les travaux réalisés au cours de cette Thèse ont permis tout d'abord de montrer, grâce à l'utilisation de TMAs, que la surexpression de TP53INP1, une protéine de réponse au stress, était un facteur de mauvais pronostic dans le CaP, prédictif notamment du risque de rechute biologique. Nous avons ensuite pu montrer grâce à des xénogreffes de cellules tumorales (LNCaP) que les taux d'ARNm de TP53INP1 diminuaient durant l'hormonothérapie et que TP53INP1 était de nouveau significativement surexprimée dans les tumeurs résistantes à la castration. Nous avons développé et déposé un brevet pour un oligonucléotide antisens (ASO) inhibant TP53INP1. Le traitement in vitro des lignées cellulaires hormonosensibles LNcaP et hormono-résistantes C4-2 par l'ASO induit une diminution d'expression de la protéine TP53INP1, inhibe la prolifération cellulaire et induit une augmentation de l'apoptose. / Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common malignancy in France and one of the most frequent leading causes of cancer-related death in men in industrialized countries. Even with aggressive screening, approximately one-third of patients believed to have localized PC will already have micro-metastatic disease at the time of definitive local therapy. These patients initially respond to androgen ablative therapy, but with time, their tumors ultimately become unresponsive and recur within 2 years as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Recently, docetaxel-based regimens have shown improved survival in men with CRPC in phase III studies. However, the median overall survival was prolonged for only 2-3 months, and thus development of new therapeutic approaches that target relevant signaling pathways are essential to restore the androgen-sensitivity of CRPC. We showed, using tissue micro-array (TMA) analysis, that over-expression of Tumor Protein 53-Induced Nuclear Protein 1 (TP53INP1), a cell stress response protein, is a worse prognostic factor in PC, particularly predictive of biological cancer relapse. We also we found that TP53INP1 protein expression decreases during castration therapy (CT) and significantly increases in human CRPC. TP53INP1 mRNA was also significantly increased in castration-resistant (CR) tumors of LNCaP xenograft compared to the castration-sensitive (CS) taken before CT. We developed and world-wide patented one antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) targeting TP53INP1 (PCT/IB2011/054555). Treatment of LNCaP and C4-2 cells in vitro with TP53INP1 ASO downregulates TP53INP1 protein level, inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis.