Preclinical testing is an important part of cancer drug development. The aim of this thesis was to establish and evaluate preclinical in vitro methods useful in the development of new anticancer drugs. In paper I, the development of non-clonogenic assays (FMCA-GM) using CD34+ stem cells for assessment of haematological toxicity was described. A high correlation was seen when comparing the 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) from FMCA-GM with the IC50 from the established clonogenic assay (CFU-GM). In paper II, FMCA-GM was complemented with additional cell models, establishing a normal cell panel. In vitro toxicity towards the five normal cell types was compared with known clinical adverse event profiles. The normal cell panel roughly reflected the tissue specific toxicities but was most useful in the prediction of therapeutic index. In paper III the use of peripheral blood lymphocytes from human, dog, rat and mouse to detect species differences in cellular drug sensitivity was described. Good agreement between our method and the established CFU-GM assay was observed. In paper II the benefit of using primary tumour cells from patients to predict cancer diagnosis-specific activity was studied. The in vitro activity of fourteen anticancer drugs was tested in tumour samples of both haematological and solid tumour origin. In general, clinical activity was well reflected. In paper IV, the efficacy and toxicity models were applied for experimental follow-up of a novel inhibitor of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, CB3 (Phosphoric acid, 2,3-dihydro-1,1-dioxido-3-thienyl diphenyl ester). In the preliminary characterization of CB3, antitumour activity and a favourable toxicity profile were displayed, although the exact mechanism of action remains to be elucidated. CB3 will therefore be further investigated. In conclusion, the work presented here contributes to different parts of the preclinical drug development and the methods may aid in the characterization of anticancer compounds

Les travaux de recherche effectués dans le cadre de ce travail de thèse ont eu pour objectif de caractériser le rôle joué par les mécanismes de sorption et de biodégradation dans l’élimination de micropolluants organiques par les boues biologiques, et notamment celles de bioréacteur à membrane. La première étape a consisté en la mise au point d’une méthode d’analyse de molécules anticancéreuses depuis les phases aqueuse et solide des boues. L’extraction des molécules contenues dans la phase aqueuse a été réalisée par une combinaison de cartouches SPE permettant la récupération sélective d’espèces acides, neutres et basiques. L’extraction depuis la phase solide a été rendue possible grâce à l’utilisation de la technique sous solvant pressurisé et à chaud PLE, suivie par une étape de purification directement inspirée de la méthode développée pour la phase aqueuse. Une procédure originale de préparation d’échantillons de boues a été proposée pour estimer rigoureusement le phénomène de sorption. Le modèle de Freundlich est celui qui a donné les corrélations les plus satisfaisantes et a été sélectionné. La détermination des paramètres du modèle a mis en évidence des comportements de sorption différents pour les molécules ciblées, mais toujours caractérisés par des aptitudes de sorption faibles. La mise en relation des propriétés physico-chimiques des molécules, des boues et des paramètres de sorption n’a pas révélé de corrélations évidentes entre ces différents paramètres et ne permet pas de proposer de modèle capable de prédire la sorption en fonction des caractéristiques des boues et des polluants. La caractérisation du comportement d’un cocktail d’anticancéreux lors du traitement par un pilote de bioréacteur à membrane externe a révélé que le mécanisme majeur à l’origine de leur élimination était la biodégradation. Les interactions entre les microorganismes et les micropolluants ciblés sont liées au cométabolisme. Une étude approfondie du mécanisme a révélé que ces mêmes interactions étaient à l’origine d’une limitation de la biodégradation et doivent être intensifiées pour améliorer les performances de traitement sur ce point. / The aim of the present work was to characterize the sorption mechanisms and biodegradation role in the removal of some organic micropollutants (i.e. anticancer drugs) by biological sludges, including those of membrane bioreactor (MBR). The first step consisted in the development of an analytical method for the trace determination of anticancer drugs from sludge aqueous and solid phases. The extraction from the aqueous matrix was performed by a combination of SPE cartridges, allowing the selective recovery of acid, neutral and basic species. The extraction from the solid matrix was possible thanks to an extractive step performed by pressurized liquid extraction, followed by a purification step whose procedure was directly inspired from the method developed for aqueous samples. An original procedure for the conditioning of sludge samples before sorption experiments has been proposed. The Freundlich isotherm gave the satisfactoriest correlations and has been selected. The determination of the model parameters highlights different trends of sorption between targeted compounds, but always characterized by low sorption affinities. Physico-chemical properties of both compounds and sludge did not show any link with sorption parameters. Consequently, it is not possible to propose a predictive model for the sorption of polar micropollutants depending on both compounds and sludge properties. The removal of a “cocktail” of anticancer drugs by treatment through a side stream pilot-scale MBR has been investigated. Biodegradation appeared as the prevailing mechanism and was explained by cometabolic interactions. However, these interactions were also responsible for the limitation of biodegradation phenomenon and must be intensify to enhance the removal of these compounds.

The search for more effective treatment strategies in melanoma led to many new innovative approaches aiming at different molecular targets. Chemotherapy still remains the most effective treatment and many efforts are put in order to improve targeting and delivery of the chemotherapeutic agents. Among these, peptide conjugates of anticancer drugs were designed to increase stability, cell penetration, specificity and accumulation in cancer cells. We as well as others evaluated such a conjugate, termed PSF (L-prolyl-m-L-sarcolysyl-L-p-fluorophenylalanine-ethylester) in terms of its cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo using a human melanoma tumor as a model, its stability, transport, and metabolisation. <p>By comparing the cytotoxicity of PSF and melphalan towards different cancer primary melanoma cell cultures, we noticed some interesting observations: PSF displayed the same toxicity pattern both in short (2h) and long term (24h) cell exposures whereas melphalan and m-sarcolysin needed long term exposure to reach the same toxicity. This could indicate that PSF very quickly penetrates the cells in accordance with what has been shown with red blood cells (RBCs). PSF has shown a much better and quicker penetration into the cells in vitro as compared to melphalan. <p>In this present work, the cytotoxic effect of PSF was further evaluated in vivo using a standardized nude mice tumor model bearing a human melanoma. First, the acute toxicity in rats and mice and the maximum tolerated dose were determined. After a dose-escalation study one dose was singled out and tested as a single dose and as a fractionated dose. PSF was able to reach the tumor site and a dose-response relationship was observed. The IP administration of fractionated doses of PSF had significantly better effect on tumor growth inhibition, regression and regrowth than single dose administration and this without any evidence for general toxicity monitored by animal weight loss. We also compared the efficacy of PSF to its parent drug m-sarcolysin, melphalan and cyclophosphamide and observed that PSF was much more active than both melphalan and m-sarcolysin at the same molar doses.<p>Body distribution of the 14C-labelled PSF revealed ratios of 2.4 and 1.5 compared to muscle tissue for the two melanoma tumors evaluated with no significant and stable accumulation in any vital organ. The amount of tracer was still high in the blood after 24 hours explaining the high radioactivity in the kidney and partly in the liver. Interestingly, the spleen had an unusual high radioactivity uptake reflecting the exceptional binding of the tracer to blood cells (BC), while the pancreas very high load was an indicator of protease-mediated specific delivery and strongly support our hypothesis elaborated on the basis of in vitro results. <p><p>Our in vitro data point to a particular mechanism of action of PSF based on the transport of PSF through the body by the rapid binding to blood cells and the delivery at the tumor site by the subsequent release of its active metabolites due to cleavage by tumor-associated proteases.<p>Concerning the binding of PSF to membranes and its transport the following observations were made: while PSF was stable in human plasma, it disappeared very quickly in whole blood along with the generation of a main metabolite: m-sarcolysin. The presence of BC membranes was required for both binding and generating the metabolites. Binding to natural or artificial membranes was achieved and only competition with melanoma cells or proteolytic enzymes such as dispase, led to the generation of active metabolites. The different metabolites were isolated using preparative LC and were then identified using Electrospray Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (ESI). Three metabolites, of which m-sarcolysin was the main one, were identified all bearing the chloroethyl alkylating group. <p>Enzymatic catalysis was further supported by a set of experiments where the enzymatic activity was non-specifically and specifically inhibited. In order to look at the effect of extracellular matrix proteases on PSF, three representatives of ECM proteases were incubated with PSF: collagenase A had no effect, but both dispase and trypsine were able to process PSF. <p>The following data indicate the higher processing of PSF in the presence of cells with a higher proteolytic activity and thus the delivery of the blood cell-bound PSF. When comparing BC with melanoma cells (MC), the latter showed a higher ability to bind and process PSF both by membrane-associated and most interestingly soluble proteases. A lot of families of enzymes are reported to be overexpressed by melanoma cells including: metalloproteases, cysteine cathepsins, serine proteases and aminopeptidases. All the melanoma cells and cell lines evaluated were able to generate PSF active metabolites. <p>To identify the families of enzymes expressed on the membrane of melanoma cells that might be involved in the mechanism of action of PSF, we performed 2D-gel electrophoresis on their membrane extracts. The 2D-gels experiments revealed the presence of proteins compatible with enzymes known to be important in melanoma and further work is needed to identify the individual enzymes involved by using mass spectrometry and Western blotting. <p><p>Both our in vitro and in vivo findings strongly suggest that not only melanoma tumor cells and tumor sites but other types of tumors as well may be targets for the toxic activity of PSF owing to their much higher load in proteolytic enzymes that are closely related to their invasive potential. The transport of PSF by the blood cells and the release of its metabolites at the tumor site result in a low amount of drug in its free soluble form within the blood and this may explain the relatively lower side-effects observed. PSF is thus expected to have a much better therapeutic index than conventional alkylating agents. This original mechanism of drug delivery may well be extended to other cancer and non-cancer drugs than alkylating agents.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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Le cancer colorectal (CCR) est l’un des cancers les plus diagnostiqués dans le monde mais surtout le 2ème cancerle plus mortel. Malgré les progrès de la recherche médicale dans les traitements anticancéreux, de nombreux effetssecondaires subsistent chez les patients ainsi que l’apparition de résistances aux traitements conventionnels. Ledéveloppement de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques anticancéreuses est donc nécessaire afin d’améliorer la priseen charge de ces patients. La thérapie photodynamique (PDT) utilisant des photosensibilisateurs (PS) se présentecomme une stratégie thérapeutique innovante limitant fortement ces effets secondaires indésirables. La PDT a étéapprouvée pour le traitement de certains cancers grâce à la génération d’espèces réactives de l’oxygènecytotoxiques uniquement après photoactivation des PS. Cependant, une faible solubilité et un manque de sélectivitédes PS vis à vis des sites tumoraux sont les principales limites en clinique. En effet, l’administration ciblée demédicaments est un point essentiel dans la thérapie anticancéreuse. La nanomédecine par l’utilisation denanoparticules permet d’améliorer le ciblage tumoral car elles sont capables de s’accumuler spontanément dansles tumeurs solides grâce à l’effet de perméabilité et de rétention accrue. L’objectif de cette étude a été dedémontrer l’intérêt de la vectorisation de la 5-(4-hydroxyphényl)-10,15,20-triphénylporphyrine-xylane (TPPOHX)sur des nanoparticules de silice (SNPs) afin d’augmenter l’efficacité anticancéreuse par un meilleur ciblagetumoral du traitement. Il a été démontré une augmentation significative de l’efficacité anticancéreuse des TPPOHXSNPs-PDT grâce à l’amélioration de l’internalisation cellulaire par rapport à la TPPOH libre-PDT sur 3 lignéescellulaires de CCR humain. De plus, il a été caractérisé que la mort cellulaire induite par les TPPOH-X SNPs-PDTest dépendante de la voie apoptotique et que l’autophagie joue un rôle de résistance à la mort cellulaire. Par ailleurs,in vivo et en l’absence de toxicité, les TPPOH-X SNPs-PDT induisent une augmentation de l’efficacitéanticancéreuse grâce à un meilleur ciblage tumoral par rapport à la TPPOH libre-PDT. Cette étude a donc permisde démontrer l’intérêt de la combinaison de la PDT et de la nanomédecine afin d’améliorer les futurs traitementsanticancéreux. / Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer globally but above all the second leading cause ofdeath for oncological reasons. Despite medical research advances in anti-cancer treatments, many side effectspersist in patients as well as development of resistances to conventional treatments. The development of new anticancertherapeutic strategies is necessary in order to improve care of patients. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) usingphotosensitizers (PS) comes as an innovative therapeutic strategy severely restricting these undesirable sideeffects. PDT has been approved for treatment of some cancers due to the generation of cytotoxic reactive oxygenspecies only with photoactivated PS. However, low physiological solubility and lack of selectivity towards tumorsites are the main limitations of their clinical use. Indeed, targeted drug delivery is a crucial point in cancer therapy.Nanomedicine through the use of nanoparticles improves tumor-targeting because they are able to spontaneouslyaccumulate in solid tumors through an enhanced permeability and retention effect. The purpose of this study wasto prove added value of 5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin-xylan (TPPOH-X) vectorization bysilica nanoparticles (SNPs) in order to enhance anti-cancer efficacy through better tumor-targeting. It has beendemonstrated significant anti-cancer efficacy increase of TPPOH-X SNPs-PDT thanks to cellular uptakeimprovement relative to free TPPOH-PDT in 3 human CRC cell lines. Moreover, it has been characterized thatcell death induced by TPPOH-X SNPs-PDT is conducted via apoptosis and autophagy acts as a resistance pathwayto cell death. Furthermore, in vivo and without toxicity, TPPOH-X SNPs-PDT induce an elevated anti-cancerefficacy through improvement of tumor-targeting compared to free TPPOH-PDT. This study therefore highlightedthe added value of PDT and nanomedicine combination in order to improve future cancer treatments.

The development of reliable and cost-saving methods to select pre-clinically new potential drugs with unknown and original mechanisms of action for cancer therapy has become crucial. Previous investigations demonstrated that infrared spectra of cancer cells exposed to well-known anticancer drugs used in the clinics provide a global fingerprint of all the metabolic modifications induced. Nowadays several natural products have been recognized for their medicinal values. Polyphenolic compounds constitute one of the largest groups of plant metabolites and many studies have demonstrated their anticancer properties at multiple steps of carcinogenesis. Taking into account the large diversity of polyphenolic structures in nature and their numerous targets against carcinogenesis, the step of selection becomes essential as it is virtually impossible to classify them using traditional classification techniques. While FTIR spectroscopy appears to have a definite potential to sort anticancer drugs on the basis of the metabolic modifications they induced, the present challenge in this thesis is to evaluate the drug-induced spectral changes in cancer cells on a larger scale. The coupling of FTIR spectroscopy with a high throughput screening extension could become a useful method to generate drug classifications based on the “modes of action”. In a first step, the IC50 was evaluated for each polyphenol to normalize all spectral experiments that will be carried out on breast cancer cells. The first experiments revealed dispersive artifacts (wide variations of absorbance distribution and Mie scattering effects) contributing to spectral measurements. To minimize them, the best option was covering uniformly the surface of spectral measurement with cells (detailed in chapter III). Once the protocol refined, it was applied to the study of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells exposed for 24 hrs to 15 polyphenols. Through unsupervised and supervised statistical analyses, a distinction between polyphenol treatments could be well established. Complex effects of polyphenols on cancer cells were revealed, suggesting that mechanisms specific to each polyphenol were evidenced by the whole infrared spectrum. Clustering of polyphenol-induced spectral signatures by Hierarchical Cluster Analysis indicates that some of the polyphenols share similar effects on MDA-MB-231 (detailed in chapter IV). This experiment was then extended to another breast cancer cell line, MCF-7. It demonstrated a cell line dependency to polyphenolic treatments. Finally a subcellular investigation of treated MCF-7 breast cancer cells in their live state was done using Raman imaging. A distinction between nucleus and cytoplasm of treated cells brought supplementary information regarding the effect of polyphenols, leading to subcellular biological assumptions on polyphenol effects. These results paves the way for a new classification based on infrared spectral signatures that reflect the overall chemical modifications experienced by the cells when exposed to drugs. / Le développement de méthodes fiables et peu cher pour sélectionner de potentiels nouveaux médicaments présentant un mécanisme d’action original et inconnu avant toute étape clinique devient crucial. De précédentes études ont pu démontrer que les spectres infrarouges de cellules cancéreuses exposées à des agents anticancéreux connus et utilisé dans le monde clinique fournissent une empreinte globale de toutes les modifications métaboliques induites. La spectroscopie infrarouge est un outil innovant qui semble prometteur pour offrir un aperçu global des processus biologiques et physiologiques qui sont menés par un médicament dans des cellules cancéreuses. De nos jours, de nombreux produits naturels ont été reconnus pour leurs propriétés médicinales. Les polyphénols constituent l’un des plus vastes groupes de métabolites végétaux et de nombreuses études ont démontré leurs propriétés anticancéreuses à de multiples étapes de la carcinogénèse. En prenant en compte la très grande diversité de structures polyphénoliques existantes dans la nature et leurs nombreuses cibles anti-tumorales, l’étape de sélection est devenue essentielle comme il est virtuellement impossible de les classifier grâce à des techniques de classification traditionnelles telles que les études –omiques. Dès lors, le défi de cette thèse est d’évaluer les variations spectrales induites par un polyphénol dans des cellules cancéreuses à une plus grande échelle. Le couplage de la spectroscopie IRTF avec une extension de criblage de haut débit pourrait devenir une méthode utile pour générer des classifications de molécules sur base de leur « modes d’action ». Dans un premier temps, la concentration qui inhibe 50% de la croissance des cellules cancéreuses fut déterminée pour chaque polyphénol et chaque lignée de cellules cancéreuses. Le traitement des cellules à cette concentration permet une normalisation interne des expériences réalisées ultérieurement en spectroscopie infrarouge. Une fois le protocole établi, la lignée MDA-MB-231 fut exposée durant 24 heures à 15 polyphénols différents. Au moyen d’analyses statistiques multivariées supervisées et non supervisées, une distinction parmi les polyphénols a pu être établie et des effets complexes des polyphénols sur les cellules cancéreuses ont pu être révélés, suggérant des mécanismes d’action spécifiques à chaque polyphénol mis en évidence par spectroscopie infrarouge. Finalement, une étude subcellulaire sur cellules vivantes fut réalisée par imagerie Raman sur une seconde lignée de cellules cancéreuses mammaires appelées MCF-7. Cela permis de compléter en partie l’information macroscopique offerte par la spectroscopie infrarouge par une information microscopique sur l’effet de certains polyphénols. Cette thèse a ouvert la voie pour de nouvelles techniques de classification d’agents anticancéreux basées sur la spectroscopie infrarouge, technique sensible à l’ensemble des modifications chimiques subies par des cellules. / Option Chimie du Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Les cibles épigénétiques telles que les histones désacétylases (HDAC) sont étudiées comme nouveaux traitements anticancéreux, leur fonctionnement anormal étant associée aux processus cancéreux. De nombreux inhibiteurs de ces enzymes sont apparus tel que le SAHA ou le CI-994. Notre laboratoire a développé un nouvel analogue de la trichostatine A appelé NODH. Malgré leur activité anticancéreuse in vitro prometteuse, ces inhibiteurs souffrent de leur manque de solubilité, d'effets toxiques et de leur rapide métabolisation par l'organisme. Afin de pallier ces limitations, ces iHDAC peuvent être conjugués à des vecteurs capables de les transporter dans l'organisme et de les libérer une fois la cible tumorale atteinte. Ce travail de thèse a consisté dans un premier temps à développer des prodrogues acido-sensibles capable de libérer la substance active après endocytose par les cellules. Ces systèmes ont été appliqués aux trois iHDAC SAHA, CI-994 et NODH. Les prodrogues développées ont ensuite été accrochées sur des nanoparticules polymériques connues pour leur biocompatibilité et leur accumulation dans les tumeurs grâce à l'effet EPR. L'activité anticancéreuse de certaines nanoparticules a été validée par des tests in vitro et in vivo. Un deuxième travail a été entrepris concernant la préparation de prodrogues fluorescentes pH labiles capables de libérer la substance active et de moduler la fluorescence par la variation du pH. La dernière partie de ce travail a été consacrée à la mise au point d'une nouvelle méthode de synthèse par voie superacide potentiellement stéréosélective de benzofuranones nécessaires à la préparation d'analogues de NODH. / Epigenetic targets like histone deacetylases (HDAC) are studied as new anticancer treatments, their dysfunctioning being associated to cancer mechanisms. Several epigenetic target inhibitors have been developed like SAHA or CI-994. Our group has developed a new trichostatin A analogue called NODH. Despite their promising in vitro anticancer effect, these inhibitors suffer from lack of solubility, toxic effects and rapid clearance. These constrains make the HDACi good candidates for ligation to vectors able to carry them in the body and to release them when the tumor is reached. The first part of this thesis work has focused on the development of acid sensitive prodrugs able to release an active substance after cellular internalization by endocytosis. These systems were applied to three HDACi SAHA, CI-994 and NODH. These prodrugs were then conjugated to polymeric nanoparticles known for their biocompatibility and their accumulation in tumors exploiting the EPR effect. The anticancer activity of some nanoparticles has been validated by in vitro and in vivo tests. The second part of this work was carried out in order to prepare pH sensitive fluorescent prodrugs able to release the active molecule and to modulate the fluorescent effect by pH changes. The last part of this work was dedicated for the development of a new synthesis in suparacid potentially stereoselective of several benzofuranones required for the preparation of NODH analogs.

There is an urgent need to develop reliable and cost-saving methods to select pre-clinically new drug candidates with original mechanism for cancer therapy. Previous results have shown that IR spectra of cancer cells exposed to various drugs provided a global signature of all the metabolic changes induced by the treatments. In this thesis, we attempted to develop a selection criterion – based on FTIR spectroscopy – for potential antitumor compounds according to their mechanism of action. <p>In chapter III, it was demonstrated that spectral variations in IR spectra of cancer cells induced by a treatment can be correlated to the mechanism of the drug. Human prostate cancer PC-3 cells were exposed to 7 well-described anticancer drugs belonging to 3 distinct classes. Each class is characterized by a unique mode of action. Drugs known to induce similar types of metabolic disturbances appear to cluster when spectrum shapes are analyzed. Chapter IV generalized the results obtained on PC-3 cells with six other cell lines. We showed that the spectral signatures of drug effects are mainly independent of the cell line. Chapter V indicated that, while the cell cycle phase influence IR spectra of cells, the drug spectral signature was dominated by global metabolic modifications and not much by the cell cycle perturbations due to this drug. <p>Chapter VI and VII focused on lipids. While the precise identification of particular molecules is particularly complex with IR spectroscopy, we attempted to extract more precise information and to assign spectral variations to specific changes in lipids. IR spectra of lipids contain very interesting details on their nature and structure. We achieved to build a tool which quantifies five major lipid classes in complex mixtures such as total lipid cell extracts. However, based on this tool, the treatments used do not induce any variation in the lipid cell composition (for five classes).<p>Finally, in chapter VIII, we applied the method developed previously on a new potential class of anticancer molecules: the polyphenols. A global method was particularly interesting as the development of therapy using these compounds is hampered by the complexity of the multiple anticarcinogenic mechanisms of these molecules. We have noticed the similarities and discrepancies among 3 very close synthetic molecules and the observations were coherent with previous biological data. We also compared them with 3 natural molecules already in clinical phase for treatment of various cancers.<p>In conclusion, we developed an objective classifier for potential anticancer drugs based on their global effects on cancer cells. Applied to a larger scale, this method could constitute a first step in the screening method to select drugs with original mode of action.<p>There is an urgent need to develop reliable and cost-saving methods to select pre-clinically new drug candidates with original mechanism for cancer therapy. Previous results have shown that IR spectra of cancer cells exposed to various drugs provided a global signature of all the metabolic changes induced by the treatments. In this thesis, we attempted to develop a selection criterion – based on FTIR spectroscopy – for potential antitumor compounds according to their mechanism of action. <p>In chapter III, it was demonstrated that spectral variations in IR spectra of cancer cells induced by a treatment can be correlated to the mechanism of the drug. Human prostate cancer PC-3 cells were exposed to 7 well-described anticancer drugs belonging to 3 distinct classes. Each class is characterized by a unique mode of action. Drugs known to induce similar types of metabolic disturbances appear to cluster when spectrum shapes are analyzed. Chapter IV generalized the results obtained on PC-3 cells with six other cell lines. We showed that the spectral signatures of drug effects are mainly independent of the cell line. Chapter V indicated that, while the cell cycle phase influence IR spectra of cells, the drug spectral signature was dominated by global metabolic modifications and not much by the cell cycle perturbations due to this drug. <p>Chapter VI and VII focused on lipids. While the precise identification of particular molecules is particularly complex with IR spectroscopy, we attempted to extract more precise information and to assign spectral variations to specific changes in lipids. IR spectra of lipids contain very interesting details on their nature and structure. We achieved to build a tool which quantifies five major lipid classes in complex mixtures such as total lipid cell extracts. However, based on this tool, the treatments used do not induce any variation in the lipid cell composition (for five classes).<p>Finally, in chapter VIII, we applied the method developed previously on a new potential class of anticancer molecules: the polyphenols. A global method was particularly interesting as the development of therapy using these compounds is hampered by the complexity of the multiple anticarcinogenic mechanisms of these molecules. We have noticed the similarities and discrepancies among 3 very close synthetic molecules and the observations were coherent with previous biological data. We also compared them with 3 natural molecules already in clinical phase for treatment of various cancers.<p>In conclusion, we developed an objective classifier for potential anticancer drugs based on their global effects on cancer cells. Applied to a larger scale, this method could constitute a first step in the screening method to select drugs with original mode of action.<p><p>Afin d’améliorer les thérapies contre le cancer, il devient actuellement cruciale de développer une méthode pour améliorer la sélection préclinique de nouvelles molécules, potentiellement anticancéreuses. Des publications précédentes ont mis en évidence que les spectres infrarouges de cellules cancéreuses exposées à différents agents thérapeutiques fournissent une empreinte globale de l’ensemble des changements métaboliques induit par ce médicament. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons d’utiliser la spectroscopie infrarouge pour mettre au point un critère de sélection basé sur le mode d’action des agents anticancéreux. Plusieurs aspects de la technique ont été investigués. Nous avons d’abord démontré la possibilité d’utiliser les spectres infrarouges de cellules cancéreuses de prostate PC-3 traitées avec 7 drogues pour classer ces molécules selon leur mode d’action. Nous avons ensuite reproduit les résultats obtenus sur PC-3 avec 6 autres lignées cellulaires et montré que la signature spectrale obtenue était largement indépendante de la lignée. Par la suite, nous avons étudié si l’effet sur le cycle cellulaire induit par de nombreuses molécules anticancéreuses, pouvait expliquer certains changements spectraux observés suite au traitement. Nous avons pu montrer que la majorité des variations spectrales n’étaient pas liées à une perturbation du cycle cellulaire. Nous nous sommes ensuite concentrés sur une classe de molécules en particulier: les lipides. Après avoir mis en évidence l’ensemble des informations contenues dans un spectre infrarouge de lipides, nous avons mis au point un modèle permettant de quantifier 5 classes de lipides dans des mélanges complexes tels que des extraits lipidiques provenant de cellules. Néanmoins, aucune variation du contenu en ces 5 classes de lipides n’a été observée pour les traitements utilisés dans cette étude. Enfin, nous avons appliqué la méthode mise au point dans cette thèse à une classe de molécules prometteuses :les polyphénols. Une approche globale s’avère particulièrement intéressante pour ces composés étant donné qu’ils présentent des mécanismes anticancéreux multiples et complexes. Nous avons comparé 3 molécules naturelles en phase clinique pour le traitement de certains cancers et 3 molécules synthétiques présentant une structure très proche. Par notre méthode, nous avons mis en évidence certaines similarités et différences de ces 6 molécules en termes d’effets globaux sur les cellules. En conclusions, nous avons développé un outil objectif de classification pour les molécules anticancéreuses potentielles, basée sur le mécanisme global des composés. Appliquée à plus large échelle, cette méthode pourrait constituer une première étape permettant de sélectionner les molécules avec un mode d’action original. / Doctorat en Sciences agronomiques et ingénierie biologique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Les sphéroïdes multicellulaires tumoraux (SMT) constituent un outil prometteur dans le domaine de l’étude biologique des tumeurs. Le but de la thèse était de développer une technique de la formation de SMT et de démontrer la disponibilité de ces sphéroïdes comme modèle in vitro 3D pour tester l’efficacité de principes actifs anticancéreux ainsi que celle de formulations de délivrance de médicaments. L'effet d’auto-assemblage de cellules induit par une addition des peptides RGD cycliques a été étudié pour 16 lignées cellulaires de différentes origines. Le peptide cyclique RGDfK et sa modification avec le cation triphenylphosphonium (TPP) ont permis de mettre en évidence l’induction de formation de sphéroïdes. Les sphéroïdes ont été employés comme modèles pour évaluer la cytotoxicité de principes actifs antitumoraux (doxorubicine, curcumine, temozolomide) et un certain nombre de formulations nano- et micrométriques (microréservoirs, nano-émulsions et micelles). / Multicellular tumor spheroids (MTS) are a promising tool in tumor biology. The aim of the Thesis was to develop a novel highly reproducible technique for MTS formation, and to demonstrate the availability of these spheroids as 3D in vitro model to test anticancer drugs and drug delivery vehicles. Cell self-assembly effect induced by an addition of cyclic RGD-peptides directly to monolayer cultures was studied for 16 cell lines of various origin. Cyclo-RGDfK peptide and its modification with triphenylphosphonium cation (TPP) were found to induce spheroid formation. The spheroids were used as a model to evaluate the cytotoxicity of antitumor drugs (doxorubicin, curcumin, temozolomide) and a number of nano- and micro- formulations (microcontainers, nano-emulsions and micelles).

Traditionally, inoperable or metastatic cancers have been treated by causing massive DNA damage in order to induce self-destruction (apoptosis) of the rapidly multiplying cancer cells. Initially, this strategy works for many cancers, in particular those which express normal p53 tumor suppressor protein. However, most cancers eventually aquire mutations in either p53 or other signaling molecules and fail to initiate apoptosis in response to severe DNA damage. During this study three types of compounds were investigated for their DNA damaging and anticancer effects: a pair of novel metal containing compounds, a pair of natural products, and a known synthetic drug which had been used many years ago for completely different indication. It was shown that all stop the growth of cancer cells and that the latter two classes do not require functional p53 because they work equally well in cells with normal (wildtype), mutant or no p53. The two nickel complexes investigated in this dissertation, differ in their ability to cause DNA damage and cell death. The oxidized form of the nickel complex, [Ni(CR-2H)] 2+ causes DNA damage and cell death at a much lower concentration than its reduced counterpart [Ni(CR)] 2+ . The phenanthridine alkaloids, Sanguinarine and Chelerythine cause high levels of DNA strand breaks and extremely rapid apoptosis which is not due to DNA damage because the quick onset precludes extensive signaling. The effects of the phenanthridines were linked to production of large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS), in particular hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). The importance of ROS for the action of anticancer drugs as well as antibiotics is increasingly being recognized. In addition we also investigated the thioxanthone Lucanthone or Miracil D (which was used for the treatment of parasitic worms more than 50 years ago). It causes DNA strand breaks and apoptosis. Apoptosis occurs on a timescale consistent with signaling. However, p53 does not seem to be involved and alternative mechanisms are being investigated. This work provides new directions for designing novel anticancer drugs that are not subject to the limitations of DNA damaging agents.