<p>Human L-glutamine:D-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase 1 (hGFAT1) is the first and rate-limiting enzyme of the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) and is a potential target to help prevent secondary complications of type II diabetes. GFAT catalyzes the irreversible reaction between L-glutamine and D-fructose-6-phosphate to produce L-glutamate and D-glucosamine-6-phosphate. hGFAT1 is not commercially available and is difficult to obtain from natural sources. Thus, a recombinant method to generate and purify the enzyme was developed and is discussed herein.</p> <p>There are only a handful of known inhibitors available to study the enzyme and the majority of these are toxic, non-specific, or substrate analogs. A high-throughput screening campaign was undertaken in pursuit of novel hGFAT1 inhibitors. The bioactive subset of the Canadian Compound Collection was assayed in duplicate for GFAT inhibitory activity using a modified version of the Morgan-Elson assay. Out of the 3950 bioactives, 9 were identified as lead compounds. All of the compounds identified from the bioactive collection are novel GFAT inhibitors.</p> <p>A structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis was performed on the lead compounds. Derivatives of the leads were also purchased or synthesized for inhibitory testing. Four distinct classes of compounds were identified as GFAT inhibitors: isoquinolines, aminothiazoles, pyridinones and quinones. The most potent lead compound elucidated from the SAR was dehydroiso-β-lapachone (IC₅₀ 1.5±0.5 µM). The mode of inhibition of dehydroiso-β-lapachone was determined to be non-competitive for both binding domains of recombinant hGFAT1.</p> <p>To validate the lead compounds as inhibitors of native hGFAT1 and to determine their cell permeability, a cell based assay was developed. HepG2 cell cultures were treated with an inhibitor and HBP metabolism was determined by measuring the levels of the end-product uridine diphosphate <em>N</em>-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc). UDP-GlcNAc was separated and detected by UPLC-ESI-TOF-MS and metabolite levels were normalized to cell concentration. The leads, alloxan, lapachol and amrinone all displayed hGFAT1 inhibition in cell culture.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Les plantes sont soumises durant leur vie à de nombreux stress environnementaux. Face à ces contraintes, les végétaux ont développé au cours de l'évolution différentes stratégies. La plus emblématique est la mise en place du métabolisme spécialisé, représenté par une grande diversité chimique et fonctionnelle. Bien que ce métabolisme soit de plus en plus étudié ces dernières années, de nombreuses lacunes persistes à son propos, liées notamment (i) à la complexité des modifications métabolomiques engendrées par la perception de stress, (ii) aux coûts et avantages que ces métabolites imputent à la plante les accumulant, et (iii) aux voies métaboliques menant à cette diversité de composés. Pour appréhender ces différentes problématiques, nous avons adopté une stratégie combinant des approches de phytochimie, de biologie moléculaire et de génétique. Dans un premier temps, nous avons étudié les changements métaboliques globaux engendrés par l’application de deux stress environnementaux, l’ozone et la blessure mécanique, sur une plante modèle au laboratoire, le panais, en fonction du temps. Les résultats de ces travaux nous ont permis d’identifier 40 métabolites différentiellement accumulés dans ces conditions, dont certaines furocoumarines. Par la suite, nous avons focalisé notre étude sur ces molécules en évaluant leurs profils d’accumulation, en condition de stress par blessures mécaniques, par la biais d’analyses différentielles. A partir de ces données, nous avons initié la recherche et l'identification de gènes candidats potentiellement impliqués dans cette voie à partir de plusieurs banques transcriptomiques et génomiques de panais. La fonction des gènes sélectionnés a été évalué par des approches d'expression hétérologue dans la levure. En parallèle de ces travaux, nous avons développé une stratégie destinée à mieux comprendre le coût métabolique de la synthèse de métabolites spécialisés. Pour ce faire, nous avons adapté aux furocoumarines une technique de clonage multigénique permettant de transférer dans une plante, et en une seule opération, plusieurs gènes impliqués dans la même voie de biosynthèse. Cette méthode nous a permis d'initier la génération de lignées stables ayant intégré les deux premiers gènes de la voie. Ces plantes seront comparées à des plantes sauvages et permettront ainsi d’étudier les coûts métaboliques et physiologiques de l’introduction de cette nouvelle voie de biosynthèse ainsi que ses bénéfices en termes de défense de la plante. / Plants are subjected to many environmental stresses during their life. Faced with these constraints, plants have developed different strategies during their evolution. The most emblematic is the establishment of a specialized metabolism, represented by a great chemical and functional diversity. Although this metabolism has been studied more and more in recent years, many gaps remain, related in particular (i) to the complexity of the metabolomic changes generated by the perception of stress, (ii) to the costs and benefits that these metabolites impute to the producing plant, and (iii) to the metabolic pathways leading to the diversity of compounds. To cope with these different issues, we adopted a strategy combining approaches of phytochemistry, molecular biology and genetics. First, we studied global metabolic changes caused by the application of two environmental stresses, ozone and mechanical wounding, on parsnip. The obtained results allowed us to identify 40 metabolites differentially accumulated under these conditions, including some furocoumarins. Subsequently, we focused our study on these molecules by evaluating their accumulation profiles under mechanical wounding stress condition, using differential analyzes. From this data, we initiated the search and identification of candidate genes potentially involved in this pathway based on transcriptomic and genomic parsnip libraries analyses. The function of the selected genes was evaluated by heterologous expression approach in yeast. In parallel to this work, we have developed a strategy to better understand the metabolic cost of specialized metabolites synthesis. To do this, we have adapted a multigene cloning method to furocoumarines, allowing to transfer several genes involved in the same pathway in a plant, in a single operation. This method allowed us to initiate the generation of stable lines having integrated the first two genes of the pathway. These plants will be compared to wild plants and will thus allow to study the metabolic and physiological costs of the introduction of this new biosynthetic pathway and its benefits in terms of plant defense.

Systems biology adopts an integrated approach to study and understand the function of biological systems, particularly, the response of such systems to perturbations, such as the inhibition of a reaction in a pathway, or the administration of a drug. The complexity and large scale of biological systems make modelling and simulation an essential and critical part of systems-level studies. Systems-level modelling of pathogenic organisms has the potential to significantly enhance drug discovery programmes. In this thesis, we show how systems--level models can positively impact anti-tubercular drug target identification. *Mycobacterium tuberculosis*, the principal aetiological agent of tuberculosis in humans, is estimated to cause two million deaths every year. The existing drugs, although of immense value in controlling the disease to some extent, have several shortcomings, the most important of them being the emergence of drug resistance rendering even the front-line drugs inactive. As drug discovery efforts are increasingly becoming rational, focussing at a molecular level, the identification of appropriate targets becomes a fundamental pre-requisite. We have constructed many system-level models, to identify drug targets for tuberculosis. We construct a constraint-based stoichiometric model of mycolic acid biosynthesis, and simulate it using flux balance analysis, to identify critical points in mycobacterial metabolism for targeting drugs. We then analyse protein--protein functional linkage networks to identify influential hubs, which can be targeted to disrupt bacterial metabolism. An important aspect of tuberculosis is the emergence of drug resistance. A network analysis of potential information pathways in the cell helps to identify important proteins as co-targets, targeting which could counter the emergence of resistance. We integrate analyses of metabolism, protein--protein interactions and protein structures to develop a generic drug target identification pipeline, for identifying most suitable drug targets. Finally, we model the interplay between the pathogen and the human immune system, using Boolean networks, to elucidate critical factors influencing the outcome of infection. The strategies described can be applied to understand various pathogens and can impact many drug discovery programmes.