No description available.

Brainstem derived serotonin (5-HT) normally facilitates spinal motoneuron excitability and inhibits sensory afferent transmission and associated spinal reflexes. Because the 5-HT innervation of the spinal cord is almost exclusively derived from brainstem neurons, spinal cord injury leads to an immediate and dramatic loss of 5-HT and this in turn leads to the simultaneous loss of motoneuron excitability and increase (disinhibition) of sensory afferent transmission. This thesis examined how spinal cord 5-HT receptors adapt over the months after SCI (chronic injury) to compensate for the loss of 5-HT. We showed that after SCI 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptors become constitutively active (active in the absence of 5-HT) with chronic injury, and this leads to a recovery of motoneuron excitability and contributes to the recovery of locomotor function. Unfortunately, this also contributes to the development of muscle spasms when combined with the disinhibition of sensory afferent transmission. In contrast, 5-HT1 receptors that modulate sensory afferent transmission do not become constitutively active after chronic SCI, and this contributes to the continued disinhibition of sensory afferent transmission and associated hyperreflexia and muscle spasms after chronic SCI. However, exogenous application of 5-HT1B and 5-HT1F receptor agonists can restore inhibition over sensory afferent transmission and ultimately reduce muscle spasms. In summary, 5-HT2 receptors exhibit a remarkable adaptation to the loss of 5-HT with SCI, whereas 5-HT1 receptors do not. Understanding and promoting this natural plasticity may help in the development of better therapeutic interventions for treating SCI.

Background and purpose: 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) has been shown to control and modulate many physiological and behavioural functions in insects. In this study, we report the cloning and pharmacological properties of a 5-HT1 receptor of an insect model for neurobiology, physiology and pharmacology. Experimental approach: A cDNA encoding for the Periplaneta americana 5-HT1 receptor was amplified from brain cDNA. The receptor was stably expressed in HEK 293 cells, and the functional and pharmacological properties were determined in cAMP assays. Receptor distribution was investigated by RT-PCR and by immunocytochemistry using an affinity-purified polyclonal antiserum. Key results: The P. americana 5-HT1 receptor (Pea5-HT1) shares pronounced sequence and functional similarity with mammalian 5-HT1 receptors. Activation with 5-HT reduced adenylyl cyclase activity in a dose-dependent manner. Pea5-HT1 was expressed as a constitutively active receptor with methiothepin acting as a neutral antagonist, and WAY 100635 as an inverse agonist. Receptor mRNA was present in various tissues including brain, salivary glands and midgut. Receptor-specific antibodies showed that the native protein was expressed in a glycosylated form in membrane samples of brain and salivary glands. Conclusions and implications: This study marks the first pharmacological identification of an inverse agonist and a neutral antagonist at an insect 5-HT1 receptor. The results presented here should facilitate further analyses of 5-HT1 receptors in mediating central and peripheral effects of 5-HT in insects.

The biogenic amine serotonin (5-HT) plays a key role in the regulation and modulation of many physiological and behavioural processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. These functions are mediated through the binding of serotonin to its receptors, of which 13 subtypes have been characterized in vertebrates. We have isolated a cDNA from the honeybee Apis mellifera (Am5-ht7) sharing high similarity to members of the 5-HT7 receptor family. Expression of the Am5-HT7 receptor in HEK293 cells results in an increase in basal cAMP levels, suggesting that Am5-HT7 is expressed as a constitutively active receptor. Serotonin application to Am5-ht7-transfected cells elevates cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) levels in a dose-dependent manner (EC50 = 1.1-1.8 nM). The Am5-HT7 receptor is also activated by 5-carboxamidotryptamine, whereas methiothepin acts as an inverse agonist. Receptor expression has been investigated by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, and western blotting experiments. Receptor mRNA is expressed in the perikarya of various brain neuropils, including intrinsic mushroom body neurons, and in peripheral organs. This study marks the first comprehensive characterization of a serotonin receptor in the honeybee and should facilitate further analysis of the role(s) of the receptor in mediating the various central and peripheral effects of 5-HT.

In humans, taste is one of the five senses, and helps in the recognition of nutritionally important and potentially harmful substances. It triggers innate behaviour to accept or reject food. Humans can sense five basic tastes, which are sweet, umami, bitter, salt and sour. The receptors that mediate bitter, sweet and umami tastes belong to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily. A group of three receptors sense sweet and umami tastes, whereas bitter taste is sensed by 25 bitter taste receptors (referred as T2Rs). T2Rs are activated by structurally diverse natural and synthetic bitter compounds. Many common pharmaceutical compounds are bitter in taste and these are effective ligands for T2Rs. Recent finding of T2Rs in extra-oral tissues suggests these receptors are also involved in various physiological and pathophysiological processes. To understand the structure and function of these receptors, studies directed at elucidating their mechanisms of activation, and identification of novel ligands including bitter blockers (antagonists and inverse agonists), are required. To obtain mechanistic insights into the role of the highly conserved, and receptor specific residues, two bitter taste receptors (T2R1 and T2R4) were targeted. In this study, a combination of molecular, biochemical and pharmacological approaches were used to identify the amino acids and motifs, important for T2Rs to switch from inactive to active state. A hydrogen-bonding network between transmembrane (TM) helices 1-2-7 was identified as important for T2R activation. Alanine-scan mutagenesis of intracellular loops (ICLs) 2 and 3 identified T2R regions important for G protein binding, and receptor activation. A pharmacological method was developed, to screen potential bitter blockers for T2Rs. Using this method, three novel bitter blockers, which include two natural antagonists and one synthetic inverse agonist for T2R4, were discovered. The role of expression tags in enhancing T2R4 expression was also pursued. T2R4 expression on the cell surface was increased 2.5 fold, when its N-terminus was tagged with rhodopsin N-terminal 33 residues (Rho33- T2R4 chimera). In conclusion, work carried out provides novel insights into the mechanisms of T2R activation, and in the discovery of bitter blockers for T2R4.

No description available.

L'anorexie mentale est une maladie mortelle liée à une privation volontaire d'aliments en dépit d'un besoin énergétique. La compréhension des causes biologiques des anomalies alimentaires requiert un niveau d'analyse simplifié. Ainsi l'utilisation de modèles animaux a permis d'identifier l'une des premières cibles thérapeutiques potentielles de l'anorexie : le récepteur 5-HT4 de la sérotonine (R5-HT4). La stimulation des R5-HT4 dans le noyau accumbens (NAc) active la voie de signalisation AMPc/PKA/CART et inhibe la faim, alors que l'inhibition de son activité constitutive par un agoniste inverse spécifique inhibe cette voie et provoque une hyperphagie. La transfection d'un R5-HT4 muté (R5-HT4ASSL), insensible à la sérotonine et dont l'activité constitutive est plus forte que celle du récepteur natif, dans le NAc chez la souris sauvage ou privée des R5-HT4, réduit la motivation à consommer des aliments, en activant la voie AMPc/PKA/CART de façon indépendante de la sérotonine. Ces résultats constituent un des rares cas connus d'implication de l'activité constitutive d'un récepteur couplé à une protéine G dans une fonction physiologique, la prise alimentaire. Dans ce contexte, nous décrivons un nouveau facteur de régulation du taux d'AMPc sous le contrôle des R5-HT4 dans le NAc : le complexe « A-kinase anchoring protein/Protein kinase A » (AKAP/PKA). La liaison de la PKA à l'AKAP inhibe l'augmentation du taux d'AMPc et d'ARNm codant le peptide CART, induite par la stimulation pharmacologique des R5-HT4, dans le NAc. Cet effet s'accompagne d'une diminution de la prise alimentaire. Ce rétrocontrôle négatif du complexe AKAP/PKA sur l'activité des R5-HT4 permet de diminuer le taux d'AMPc dans le NAc et de réguler la prise alimentaire. Ces résultats suggèrent qu'une trop forte activité constitutive des R5-HT4 induit une augmentation anormale d'AMPc dans le NAc qui peut conduire à des anomalies alimentaires comme l'anorexie mentale. Nous avons ainsi identifié un mécanisme moléculaire capable de réguler l'activité des R5-HT4 et qui pourrait servir de cible pour le traitement de l'anorexie. / Anorexia nervosa is a deadly mental disease related to a voluntary deprivation of food despite an energy requirement. Understanding of the biological causes of food anomalies requires a level of simplified analysis. And the use of animal models has previously allowed us to identify one of the first potential therapeutic targets of anorexia : serotonin 4 receptors (5-HT4Rs). Stimulation of 5-HT4Rs in the nucleus accumbens (Nac) activates the cAMP/PKA/CART signaling pathway and inhibits hunger, while the inhibition of its constitutive activity by a specific inverse agonist inhibits this pathway and causes hyperphagia. Transfection of a mutated 5-HT4R (5-HT4RASSL) insensitive to serotonin and whose constitutive activity is stronger that the native receptor, in the NAc in mice, reduces motivation for consuming food while activating the cAMP/PKA/CART pathway independently of serotonin. These results are one of the few known cases of involvement of the constitutive activity of G protein coupled receptor to a physiological function, the intake of food.In this context, we describe a new factor regulating cAMP levels under the control of 5-HT4Rs in the NAc: the A-kinase anchoring protein/Protein kinase A (AKAP/PKA) complex. The binding of PKA to AKAPs inhibits the increase in cAMP levels and mRNA encoding the peptide CART induced by pharmacological stimulation of 5-HT4Rs, in Nac. This effect is accompanied by a decrease in food intake The negative feedback of AKAP/PKA complex on the activity of 5-HT4Rs reduces the cAMP levels in the NAc and controls food intake.These results suggest that a too strong constitutive activity of 5-HT4Rs induces cAMP abnormal increase in the Nac and leads to eating abnormalities such as anorexia nervosa. We identified a molecular mechanism that regulates the activity of 5-HT4Rs and could serve as a target for the treatment of anorexia.

La conduite alimentaire n'obéit pas nécessairement au besoin physiologique de consommer des aliments (la faim) ou à la satiété suggérant qu'un système nerveux volontaire de la restriction (anorexie) et de la consommation excessive d'aliments (boulimie, « binge-type eating ») inhibe le système nerveux autonome. Ces deux anomalies affectent plus fréquemment, et souvent à la fois, la femme que l'homme. Si l'utilisation de modèles animaux permet l'étude d'une part des bases neuronales en cause, ceux possiblement responsables de l'alternance « anorexie / boulimie » restent encore à identifier. Dans ce contexte, nous avons ainsi centré nos analyses sur l'étude de l'implication de récepteurs cérébraux couplés aux protéines G ; les récepteurs 4 de la sérotonine (R5-HT4) car leur stimulation dans le noyau accumbens (NAc), une structure du système de la récompense, inhibe la faim y compris après la mise à jeun de souris, par l'action AMPc/PKA dépendante d'un peptide de l'addiction ; « cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript » (CART). Nous montrons que le maintien d'une plus forte expression (ectopique ou physiologique) des R5-HT4 dans le NAc a réduit plus durablement la faim que sa seule stimulation et augmente l'activité locomotrice. En incluant dans notre raisonnement l'activité constitutive des R5-HT4 (e.g. accumulation de la forme active R*), nous montrons que l'injection d'un agoniste inverse (inhibition de l'activité constitutive : accumulation de la forme inactive, R) spécifique des R5-HT4 dans le NAc entraîne une baisse du taux d'AMPc et de CART tout en augmentant celui des ARNm codant le NPY d'autant plus que l'hyperphagie est élevée. Les effets induits par l'injection de l'agoniste inverse ne sont pas observés lorsqu'il est adjoint à un antagoniste des R5-HT4. Ces résultats suggèrent une implication physiologique de l'activité constitutive des R5-HT4 dans la régulation de la conduite alimentaire; son inhibition (agoniste inverse) dans le NAc augmente la prise et reprise alimentaire après un jeûne. L'ensemble de ces résultats rend probable que la plus forte activité des R5-HT4, à la base d'une association « anorexie /hyperactivité locomotrice », souvent décrite comme paradoxale au plan énergétique dans le syndrome de l'anorexie mentale, représente plutôt un mécanisme de compensation globale d'une valeur énergétique à perdre en conséquence d'une trop forte consommation d'aliments. Puisque la densité des R5-HT4 peut varier selon un taux variable de 5-HT après stress, lequel aggrave les anomalies alimentaires, nous avons étudié plus avant l'implication des R5-HT4 dans l'effet anorexigène du stress (immobilisation forcée) chez des souris femelles privées de leur gène : l'hypophagie induite par le stress n'a pas été observée chez les souris privées des R5-HT4 qui présentent une possible hyperactivité de l'axe hypothalamo-hypophysaire corticosurrénalien vraisemblablement compensée par un plus fort rétrocontrôle négatif. Il est donc probable que les R5-HT4 contribuent à réduire les conséquences du stress et que la modification de l'équilibre de leur activité contribue à une part de la symptomatologie de patients atteints d'anorexie / boulimie. / Feeding behavior does not necessarily obey to the physiological need to eat (hunger) or to satiety, suggesting that voluntary nervous system of the restriction (anorexia) and overeating (bulimia, binge-type eating) inhibits the autonomic nervous system. These two anomalies affecting more frequently, and often both, the woman than man. If animal models are used to study a part of neural bases involved, those possibly responsible for the oscillation of"anorexia / bulimia" remain to be identified. In this context, we thus focused our analysis on the study of the involvement of brain receptors coupled to G proteins ; serotonin 4 receptors (5-HTR4) because their stimulation in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain reward area, inhibits hunger even after a food deprivation, by the action ofcAMP / PKA, dependent of an addiction peptide, "cocaine-and amphetamine-regulated transcript" (CART). Weshow that maintaining a higher expression (ectopic or physiological) of 5-HTR4 in the NAc, reduced hunger more longer than the acute stimulation and increased locomotor activity. Including in our reasoning the constitutive activity of 5-HTR4 (e.i. accumulation of the active form R*), we show that injecting a specific inverse agonist of the5-HTR4 (inhibition of constitutive activity: accumulation of inactive form, R ) in the NAc induced a decrease incAMP and CART levels, while increasing NPY mRNA level, especially when binge is high. The effects induced by the injection of the inverse agonist are not observed when a 5-HTR4 antagonist was coadministrated. These results suggest a physiological involvement of the constitutive activity of 5-HTR4 in the regulation of feeding behavior ; its inhibition (inverse agonist) in the NAc increases the food intake in fed or food-deprived mice. All of these results makes it likely that the highest activity of 5-HTR4, at the base of the association "anorexia /locomotor hyperactivity", often described as paradoxical in terms of energy, in the syndrome of anorexia nervosa,represent rather a global compensation mechanism of energy to be lost as a result of an excessive consumption of food. Since the density of the 5-HTR4 may vary depending on a variable rate of 5-HT following stress, which aggravates the feeding disorders, we further investigated the involvement of 5-HTR4 in the appetite-suppressant effect of stress (forced immobilization) in female mice deprived of their gene: stress-induced hypophagia was not observed in mice deprived of 5-HTR4 who present a possible hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical axis likely offset by a stronger negative feedback. It is therefore likely that the 5-HTR4 contribute to reduce the effects of stress and that the modification of the balance of their activities contribute to a part of the symptoms of patients with anorexia / bulimia.

La leucémie myéloïde aiguë (LMA) est causée par une prolifération anormale de cellules souches sanguines immatures. Notre laboratoire se concentre sur un sous-groupe de la LMA représentant près de 30% de la LAM pédiatrique et caractérisé par la translocation chromosomique KMT2A-MLLT3. L'analyse par séquençage de l’ARN (RNA-seq) dans notre modèle de LMA médiée par la fusion KMT2A-MLLT3 et des échantillons de patients leucémiques a révélé que les gènes codant la chimiokine CCL23 et son récepteur correspondant CCR1 sont surexprimés dans cette maladie. Bien qu'il ait été rapporté que CCL23 et CCR1 sont impliqués dans le trafic de leucocytes et le développement de l'inflammation, les rôles exacts de ces deux protéines dans la leucémogenèse sont inconnus. Pour illustrer les effets de la signalisation CCL23/CCR1 dans la leucémie causée par la fusion KMT2A-MLLT3, nous avons utilisé la technique de transfert d'énergie de résonance de bioluminescence 2 améliorée (ebBRET2) avec des tests d'immuno-empreintes. Nos résultats ont révélé que la signalisation de l'axe CCL23/CCR1 active plusieurs effecteurs de signalisation intermoléculaire, y compris Gi2, G12/13 et β-arrestine 1/2, mais avec un biais vers le recrutement de la β-arrestine. Nous avons également montré que le récepteur CCR1 présente une activité constitutive qui peut se coupler à une voie médiée par la protéine G et activer la voie impliquant les MAP kinases. Enfin, nous avons montré que la signalisation de l'axe CCL23/CCR1 provoque une activation de ERK1/2 dans les lignées cellulaires LMA potentiellement par une voie médiée par la β-arrestine. Ces résultats indiquent que la signalisation de l'axe CCL23/CCR1 active plusieurs voies biologiques pouvant fournir des avantages majeurs pour le développement et la progression de la LMA et présentent ainsi CCL23 et CCR1 comme deux candidats intéressants pour une thérapie ciblée contre la LMA de type KMT2A-MLLT3. / Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is caused by abnormal proliferation of immature blood stem cells. Our lab focuses on an AML subgroup accounting for almost 20% of pediatric AML and characterized by a chromosomal translocation that generates the gene fusion: KMT2A-MLLT3 (KM3). Interestingly, RNA-seq analysis of our KM3 AML model and AML patient samples has revealed that the chemokine CCL23 and its corresponding receptor CCR1 are highly upregulated in this disease. Although it has been reported that CCL23 and CCR1 are implicated in leukocyte trafficking and development of inflammation, the exact roles of these two proteins in leukemia are unknown. To illustrate the effects of CCL23/CCR1 signaling in the KMT2A-MLLT3 rearranged leukemia we employed the enhanced bystander bioluminescence resonance energy transfer 2 (ebBRET2) technique along with phospho-immunoblots assays. Our results revealed that CCL23/CCR1 axis signaling activates multiple intermolecular signaling effectors, including Gi2, G12/13, and β-arrestin1/2 albeit with a bias towards β-arrestin recruitment. We also showed that the CCR1 receptor exhibits a constitutive activity which can couple to a G-protein mediated pathway to activate the MAPK cascade. Finally, we showed that CCL23/CCR1 axis signaling causes an activation of ERK1/2 in AML cell lines potentially through a β-arrestin-mediated pathway. These results indicate that the CCL23/CCR1 axis signaling activates several biological pathways than can provide major advantages for the AML disease development and progression thus presenting both CCL23 and CCR1 as interesting candidates for targeted therapy against KMT2A-MLLT3 AML.