Un dérèglement du cycle cellulaire peut causer le cancer. Lors de la cytocinèse un anneau contractile d’actine et de myosine se forme, se contracte, et donne un anneau du midbody qui mène à l’abscision. Le processus de cytocinèse est sous le contrôle de protéines telles que la GTPase Rho qui active la cytocinèse et les cyclines-Cdks qui l'inhibent. La Drosophile possède 3 cyclines mitotiques CycA/ CycB/ CycB3 qui sont successivement dégradées en fin de mitose et permettent l'initiation de la cytocinèse. La dernière étape d’abscission est un phénomène qui reste encore peu connu. Les protéines Vps4 et CHMP4C liées à ANCHR vont, sous la dépendance de la kinase Aurora B, promouvoir l’abscision mais, suite à quelques études récentes, il semble y avoir une implication de la cycline B. Ici, le but était de tester l’implication de cette cycline dans les processus de cytocinèse et d’abscision, elle a été menée par microscopie à haute résolution en temps réel avec des cellules S2 de l’organisme Drosophila melanogaster par le suivi de protéines recombinantes fluorescentes. L’étude a été divisée en deux axes : gain et perte de fonction par l’intermédiaire respectivement de la protéine Cycline B recombinante stable, non dégradable (CycBstable-GFP) et l’inhibition par l’utilisation d’ARN double brin (ARNdb) sur l’endogène. La CycBstable-GFP a perturbé la cytocinèse en induisant plusieurs anneaux contractiles et midbodies. En revanche la réduction de l’expression de CycB n'a pas eu d’effet observable, et elle ne semble pas avoir d’action sur l’abscission malgré le recrutement de CycB-GFP au midbody tardif. En revanche la protéine Cdk1 semble avoir un rôle dans l'abscision puisque sa réduction d’expression a induit un délai. Elle a donc une implication potentielle sur la cytocinèse. / Dysregulation of the cell cycle can cause cancer. During cytokinesis a contractile ring of actin and myosin forms, contracts and gives rise to a midbody ring which controls abscission. The process of cytokinesis is controlled by proteins such as the Rho GTPase, which activates cytokinesis and cyclin-Cdks that inhibit cytokinesis. Drosophila has 3 mitotic cyclins CycA, CycB and CycB3, which are successively degraded at the end of mitosis to allow the initiation of cytokinesis. The last step of abscission is a phenomenon that is still obscure. The ESCRTIII components VPS4 and CHMP4C protein linked to ANCHR will, in an Aurora B kinasedependent manner, promote abscission with recent studies implicating Cyclin B at this stage. Here, the aim was to test the role of cyclin B in cytokinesis and abscission, using real-time, high resolution microscopy of Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells expressing recombinant fluorescent proteins. This study was divided into two parts: gain and loss of function studies respectively using stable non-degradable cyclin B (CycBstable-GFP) and inhibition by using CycB double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The CycBstable-GFP perturbed cytokinesis by inducing multiple contractile rings and midbodies. However CycB depletion had no detectable effect on the progression of cytokinesis nor on abscission despite the recruitment of CycB-GFP to the late midbody. In contrast, the protein Cdk1 seemed to play a role in abscission, since its depletion induced a delay. It therefore has potential implications for cytokinesis.

La cytokinèse est un processus fondamental prenant place à la fin de la mitose et permettant la séparation des deux cellules filles. Un défaut de cytokinèse peut mener à une ségrégation anormale des chromosomes et engendrer des phénomènes de cancer. Dans beaucoup d'organismes eucaryotes, la cytokinèse nécessite l'assemblage et la contraction d'un anneau d'actomyosine permettant la formation d'un sillon et la réorganisation de la membrane cellulaire au site de clivage. Dans la plupart de ces organismes, des protéines du cytosquelette appelées septines participent à la cytokinèse. Chez la levure bourgeonnante, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cinq septines sont exprimées durant la mitose (Cdc3, Cdc10, Cdc11, Cdc12 et Shs1). Ces protéines ont la capacité de s'assembler en un anneau au niveau du site de bourgeonnement, lieu de séparation entre la cellule mère et la cellule fille. Cet anneau de septines permet la fixation et le recrutement de nombreuses protéines intervenant dans la cytokinèse. La dynamique des septines change durant le cycle cellulaire, ce qui a une importance dans la régulation de la cytokinèse. La stabilisation de cet anneau est accompagnée d'un changement du niveau de phosphorylation des septines, mais les kinases responsables de ces modifications restent inconnues. Les travaux de l'équipe de Simonetta Piatti ont mis en évidence un nouveau rôle de la GTPase Rho1 et de sa cible, la protéine kinase C (Pkc1), dans la régulation de la dynamique des septines. Le but de ce travail de thèse était de déterminer les voies moléculaires par lesquelles la protéine Pkc1 intervient dans le recrutement et la stabilisation de l'anneau de septines. Pour se faire nous avons purifié le complexe de septines chez la levure bourgeonnante en présence ou en absence de la protéine Pkc1 et nous l'avons analysé par spectrométrie de masse. Cette analyse nous a permis d'observer que le niveau de phosphorylation d'un cluster (îlot) de 5 sérines était diminué sur Shs1. L'alignement de séquence nous a permis de constater que ce domaine était conservé dans la septine Cdc11. Par ailleurs ces deux protéines sont connues pour jouer un rôle dans l'assemblage des filaments et la formation de l'anneau de septines. Il a déjà été observé qu'un mutant phosphomimétique du cluster de sérine de la septine Shs1 empêche la formation des filaments in-vitro. Nous avons voulu caractériser le rôle de ce cluster dans la protéine Cdc11 en créant un mutant non-phosphorylable (CDC11-9A) et un mutant phosphomimétique (CDC11-9D). De manière très évidente, le mutant phosphomimétique provoque des problèmes de cytokinèse dans les cellules dont le gène codant la protéine Shs1 a été supprimé. A l'inverse le mutant non-phosphorylable améliore le phénotype des cellules ne comportant pas Shs1. Ces résultats sont en parfait accord avec l'observation selon laquelle les protéines Shs1 et Cdc11 pourraient avoir des fonctions très similaires, et mettent en avant le rôle important du cluster de sérines phosphorylées de Cdc11 lors de la cytokinèse. Nous avons constaté que Pkc1 ne phosphoryle pas directement les septines, mais agit par l'intermédiaire de kinases et de phosphatases impliquées dans la régulation des septines. Nous avons pu montrer que Pkc1 régule l'interaction de Gin4 avec les septines, cette kinase étant connue pour sa capacité à phosphoryler Shs1. De plus, nous avons observé que Pkc1 impacte sur le niveau de phosphorylation des deux autres kinases de la même famille, Hsl1 et Kcc4. Par ailleurs, la délétion de PKC1 diminue drastiquement la quantité de protéines Kcc4 dans la cellule.L'absence de Pkc1 augmente également l'interaction entre les septines et Bni4, une sous-unité régulatrice de la phosphatase PP1. Nous avons également observé que Bni4-PP1 peut déphosphoryler Cdc11, expliquant la diminution de son niveau de phosphorylation en cas d'absence de la protéine Pkc1.Ces travaux mettent en évidence que Pkc1 est un nouveau régulateur majeur des septines dans la levure. / Cytokinesis is the last step of mitosis and is the fundamental process leading to the physical separation of two daughter cells. Defects in cytokinesis generate polyploid cells that are prone to chromosome missegregation and cancer development. In animal cells and fungi, cytokinesis requires the formation and contraction of an actomyosin ring that drives ingression of the cleavage furrow. Additional cytoskeletal proteins called septins contribute to cytokinesis. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, five different septins are expressed during the mitotic cell cycle (Cdc3, Cdc10, Cdc11, Cdc12 and Shs1). All septins, except for Shs1, are essential for cell viability. Yeast septins form filaments that in turn organize into a ring at the bud neck, which is the constriction between the mother and the future daughter cell where cytokinesis takes place. The septin ring then expands into a rigid septin collar that acts as scaffold for cytokinesis by recruiting most cytokinetic proteins to the bud neck. Cell cycle-regulated changes in septin ring dynamics are thought to be important for its cytokinetic functions and formation of the rigid septin collar is accompanied by septin phosphorylation. However, the kinases responsible for these modifications have not been fully characterized. Unpublished data from our laboratory indicate that the Rho1 GTPase, which is essential for actomyosin ring formation and contraction, and its target protein kinase C (Pkc1) contribute to deposition and stabilization of the septin ring. Here, we have addressed how Pkc1 regulates septin ring deposition and/or stability. To this end, septin complexes were purified from yeast and analyzed by mass spectrometry, comparing wild type and pkc1Δ mutant cells. This mass spectrometry analysis clearly showed that phosphorylation of a cluster of residues in Shs1 decreased in the absence of Pkc1. Interestingly, we found that this cluster is conserved in the septin Cdc11, which together with Shs1 is known to play an important role in the assembly of high-order structures like filaments and rings. Phosphomimetic mutations of the phosphorylatable cluster in Shs1 have been previously shown to disrupt filament formation in-vitro. We therefore proceeded to mutagenise the same cluster in Cdc11, generating a phosphomimetic (CDC11-9D) and in a non-phosphorylatable mutant (CDC11-9A). Strikingly, the phosphomimetic CDC11-9D caused cytokinesis defects in cells lacking Shs1, whereas the non-phosphorylatable CDC11-9A allele partially rescued the sickness of shs1∆ mutant cells. These observations are in agreement with the notion that Cdc11 and Shs1 share overlapping functions and highlight an important role of the phosphorylatable cluster of Cdc11 for cytokinesis. We also found that Pkc1 does not phosphorylate septins directly, but rather regulates the activity of septin kinases and phosphatases. Consistently, we show that Pkc1 affects the interaction between septins and the bud neck kinase Gin4, which is known to interact with septins and to phosphorylate them. In addition, Pkc1 impacts on the phosphorylation of two additional bud neck kinases, Hsl1 and Kcc4, which are part of the same family of Nim1-related kinases as Gin4. In addition, PKC1 deletion leads to a dramatic decrease in the levels of Kcc4 , so that it is barely detected at the bud neck.Deletion of PKC1 affects also the interaction between septins and the Bni4 protein, which is a regulatory subunit for the PP1 phosphatase at the bud neck. In turn, we found that Bni4-PP1 modulates Cdc11 phosphorylation, thereby explaining how the latter is decreased in the absence of Pkc1. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that Pkc1 is a novel major regulator of septins in yeast.

In order to generate healthy daughter cells, nuclear division and cytokinesis need to be coordinated. Premature division of the cytoplasm in the absence of chromosome segregation or nuclear proliferation without cytokinesis might lead to aneuploidy and cancer. The cyclin dependent kinases, CDKs, are a main regulator of the cell cycle. Timely increase and decrease in their activity is required for cell cycle progression. To enter mitosis, mitotic CDK activity needs to rise. CDK activity stays elevated until chromosome segregation is completed and exit from mitosis requires decrease in CDK activity. Observations in several experimental systems suggest that coordination of cytokinesis with the nuclear cycle is regulated through CDK activity. Prolonged high CDK activity, as it occurs when chromosome segregation is delayed, was found to oppose cytokinesis. Prevention of cytokinesis through high CDK activity may therefore provide a mechanism to prevent precocious cell division in the absence of chromosome segregation. To prevent polyploidy when cell division is delayed, progression through the next nuclear cycle should be inhibited until cytokinesis is completed, presumably by the inhibition of CDK activity. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a signaling cascade called Septation Initiation Network (SIN) is required for the coordination of cytokinesis with the nuclear cycle. The SIN is essential for cytokinesis, triggering the execution of cell division through constriction of the actomyosin ring. The activation of the SIN signaling cascade, and thus cytokinesis, is opposed by high CDK activity, preventing precocious cytokinesis. S. pombe delay entry into the next nuclear division in response to delayed cytokinesis due to defects in the contractile ring until cytokinesis is completed thereby preventing the accumulation of multinucleate, non viable cells. This safeguard against multinucleate cells is termed the cytokinesis checkpoint. The cytokinesis checkpoint keeps CDK activity low, preventing nuclear cycle progression. The SIN is required for the cytokinesis checkpoint and therefore is a key coordinator between nuclear cycle and cytokinesis. How the SIN functions in the cytokinesis checkpoint was not known. Cdc14-family phosphatases are highly conserved from yeast to humans, but were only characterized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae at the time this thesis was initiated. Cdc14 had been identified as the effector of a signaling cascade homologous to the SIN, called the mitotic exit network (MEN), which is required for exit from mitosis. This thesis describes the identification of the S. pombe Cdc14-like phosphatase Clp1p as a component of the cytokinesis checkpoint. Clp1p opposes CDK activity, and Clp1p and the SIN activate each other in a positive feedback loop. This maintains an active cytokinesis checkpoint and delays mitotic entry. We further found that Clp1p regulates chromosome segregation. Concluding, this thesis describes discoveries adding to the characterization of the cytokinesis checkpoint and the function of Clp1p. While others found that Cdc14-family phosphatases, including Clp1p, have similar catalytic functions, we show that their biological function may be quite different between organisms, possibly due to different biological challenges.

Les GTPases Ral, RalA et RalB, sont des effecteurs proximaux de l’oncogène Ras.Malgré leur forte homologie, leurs activateurs communs (les RalGEFs) et des effecteurs communs (le complexe exocyste), ils apportent des contributions distinctes et parfois collaborent à diverses fonctions cellulaires.RalA est impliqué en prolifération en absence de substrat et l'exocytose polarisée.RalB est impliqué dans la migration cellulaire, l'autophagie et l'apoptose des cellules cancéreuses. Comment les GTPases Ral régulent ces différents fonctions n’est toujours pas connu.Une partie de ma thèse était consacrée à l'étude de la spécificité des fonctions de RalA et RalB, ainsi que la spécificité des RalGEFs et des éléments de l'interactome deRal, dans trois processus biologiques: la cytocinèse, la migration cellulaire et l'activation de la voie MAPK.Nous avons démontré que RalA et RalB ont des fonctions distinctes pendant la cytocinèse. RalA est nécessaire pour la correcte progression de la cytocinèse alors RalB est nécessaire pour l’abscission du pont intracellulaire. Nous avons montré également que RalA, mais pas RalB, régule l’activation de p38 et de Jnk à travers le complexe exocyste en réponse au stress osmotique. L'implication de RalB, mais pas RalA, dans la migration cellulaire a été établie antérieurement. Dans ces trois fonctions, nous avons montré que les GTPases Ral sont été régulées par des RalGEFs spécifiques.Nous avons effectué un crible par siARN de 91 gènes codant des protéines du réseau d’interactions protéine‐protéine autour de Ral (l'interactome de Ral), nous avons identifié 14 protéines impliquées dans la voie de RalA et 8 protéines impliquées dans la voie de RalB, en cytocinèse. Dans la migration cellulaire, nous avons identifié 22 protéines impliquées dans la voie de RalB. Nous avons identifié cinq protéines communes aux deux fonctions cellulaires.Parmi ces protéines, j'ai étudié la relation fonctionnelle entre RalA et Stk38, une kinase qui appartient à la voie Hippo, qui a un rôle suppresseur de tumeur. J'ai montré que RalA active Stk38 par une voie RalA/exocyste/Map4k4 en réponse au stress osmotique. J’ai démontré que cette voie est impliquée dans l’activation de la voie p38 et Jnk en réponse au stress osmotique. J'ai aussi montré que la régulation deStk38 par RalA est nécessaire pour l'apoptose induite par le TNFα.L'identification de nouveaux composants de la voie RalA ouvre de nouvelles perspectives dans la compréhension de la fonction des GTPases Ral dans les processus normaux et tumoraux. En outre, ce travail est le premier présentant RalA comme une protéine pro‐apoptotique, ce qui suggère que RalA pourrait posséder une fonction suppresseur de tumeurs. / The Ras‐like GTPases RalA and RalB are proximal effectors of oncogenic Ras.Despite their high homology, their common activators (the RalGEFs) and effectors(the exocyst complex), they make distinct and sometimes collaborative contributions to diverse cellular functions. RalA supports anchorage independent growth and regulates polarized exocytosis. RalB regulates cell migration and autophagy and inhibits apoptosis of cancer cells. How Ral GTPases achieve their differing functions is still elusive.One part of my thesis was dedicated to study the specificity of RalA and RalB functions, as well as the specificity of RalGEFs functions and of the components of the Ral interactome, in three biological processes: cytokinesis, cell migration and MAPK activation.We demonstrated that RalA and RalB have distinct functions during cytokinesis.RalA is necessary for correct progression of cytokinesis whereas RalB is necessary for abscission of the intracellular bridge. We showed also that RalA, but not RalB,regulates p38 and Jnk activation upon osmotic stress through the exocyst complex.The importance of RalB, but not RalA, in cell migration was established previously. In these three functions, we showed that the functions of Ral GTPases were triggered by specific RalGEFs.We carried out a siRNA screen of 91 genes encoding proteins participating to a protein‐protein interaction map rooted in Ral (the Ral interactome), we determined14 proteins as components of RalA pathway and 8 proteins as components of RalBpathway, required for cytokinesis completion. In cell migration, we determined 22 proteins as components of RalB pathway. We identified 5 proteins in common involved in both cellular functions.Among these proteins I have been studying the functional relationship betweenRalA and Stk38, a kinase that belongs to the tumour suppressor Hippo pathway. I showed that upon osmotic stress, RalA activates Stk38 by phosphorylation through aRalA/exocyst/Map4k4 pathway. I demonstrate that this pathway has the function to trigger p38 and Jnk activation upon osmotic stress. I showed that the regulation ofStk38 by RalA is required for apoptosis induced by TNFα.The identification of new components of Ral pathway opened new perspectives in understanding the Ral GTPases function in normal and tumour processes. Moreover,this is the first work presenting RalA as a pro‐apoptotic protein, suggesting that RalAmight have tumour‐suppressor like functions.

No description available.

No description available.

The trimorphic fungus Candida albicans is the leading cause of systemic candidiasis, a disease with poor prognosis affecting immunocompromised patients. The capacity to switch between growth morphologies is tightly coupled to its ability to cause life-threatening infection. Recently, the molecular chaperone Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) has been implicated as a major regulator of C. albicans morphogenesis via the Ras1-PKA pathway. In model organisms from plant, animal and fungal kingdoms, Hsp90 stabilizes regulators of cell signaling and participates in many important cellular processes. Hsp90’s roles in C. albicans are beginning to be dissected. This thesis represents a comprehensive overview of the morphological response of C. albicans to compromised Hsp90 function, illuminating previously unidentified roles for this chaperone in cell cycle progression, cytokinesis and vacuole maintenance. This work sheds light on the importance of Hsp90 in fungal development and the therapeutic potential of Hsp90 inhibitors in the treatment of fungal infections.

The trimorphic fungus Candida albicans is the leading cause of systemic candidiasis, a disease with poor prognosis affecting immunocompromised patients. The capacity to switch between growth morphologies is tightly coupled to its ability to cause life-threatening infection. Recently, the molecular chaperone Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) has been implicated as a major regulator of C. albicans morphogenesis via the Ras1-PKA pathway. In model organisms from plant, animal and fungal kingdoms, Hsp90 stabilizes regulators of cell signaling and participates in many important cellular processes. Hsp90’s roles in C. albicans are beginning to be dissected. This thesis represents a comprehensive overview of the morphological response of C. albicans to compromised Hsp90 function, illuminating previously unidentified roles for this chaperone in cell cycle progression, cytokinesis and vacuole maintenance. This work sheds light on the importance of Hsp90 in fungal development and the therapeutic potential of Hsp90 inhibitors in the treatment of fungal infections.

It has been suggested that high protein diets are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer due to the higher content of red meat. However, the study of the overall dietary and lifestyle pattern may prove more important than any individual component when assessing colorectal cancer risk. From this, it is proposed that a dietary pattern used for weight loss that is higher in protein but remains low in fat and high in foods rich in fibre and micronutrients that are required for genome stability may not increase the risk of colorectal cancer, thus providing a safe and effective dietary method of weight loss in overweight subjects. This thesis describes the development of a novel in vitro faecal water genotoxicity test using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) cytome assay in the WIL2-NS cell line. This thesis then investigates faecal water genotoxicity and peripheral blood lymphocyte genome stability in overweight men following a weight loss dietary pattern either high in protein, specifically red meat, or high in carbohydrate. Results from this thesis indicate that the genotoxic potential of faecal water can be successfully assessed in vitro using the CBMN cytome assay. A high protein-high red meat weight loss diet did not increase faecal water genotoxicity or peripheral blood lymphocyte DNA damage, measured with the CBMN cytome assay, differently to a high carbohydrate weight loss diet. Faecal water genotoxicity data suggests weight loss and/or caloric restriction following either a high protein or high carbohydrate diet may beneficially modify the carcinogenic load of the colon in the short term, however this needs to be validated in a study that includes a non-weight loss control group. A lack of relationship was seen between faecal water genotoxicity and genome damage in lymphocytes which may suggest that the assessment of both the genome damage potential of the bowel contents and the assessment of the genome stability profile of peripheral blood lymphocytes may be important in comprehensively assessing the impact on genome damage by different dietary patterns. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1316889 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, 2008

Cytokinesis is the cytoplasmic division of one cell into two independent daughter cells. Precise regulation of cytokinesis during cell cycle is essential for healthy and rapid multiplication of any organism. Schizosaccharomyces pombe has emerged as an excellent model system to study eukaryotic cell division regulation. This rod shaped organism grows by bipolar elongation in interphase when its actin cytoskeleton is concentrated at the cell ends (poles). However, growth stops in mitosis and the actin cytoskeleton is rearranged to facilitate assembly of the contractile actomyosin ring at the cell middle. Although several studies have focused on the separate processes of growth and division, it was unclear how cells regulate the cytoskeletal remodeling during the transition between the different stages of the cell cycle. The Septation Initiation Network (SIN) is a signaling cascade essential for fission yeast cytokinesis (Balasubramanian et al., 1998; Mishra et al., 2004) and the MOR (morphogenesis) signaling pathway is essential for interphase bipolar growth (Kanai et al, 2005). Interestingly, inactivation of the SIN not only failed to maintain the cytokinetic apparatus at the cell middle but also caused the redistribution of the cytoskeletal elements like actin to the cell ends that led to bipolar cell elongation similar to cells in interphase (Mishra et al., 2004). These results suggested that SIN signaling inhibits interphase bipolar growth, but it was not clear if the SIN had a direct role in inhibition of interphase growth during mitosis and this question was the major focus of this thesis. The results presented in Chapter II show a novel cross-pathway interaction between the SIN and the MOR in the fission yeast. Our results in Chapter III suggest that some of the MOR pathway components might be important for coordination between nuclear and cytoplasmic divisions in mitosis, revealing novel roles of the pathway. In a separate study (Chapter IV) we sought to identify additional regulators of the SIN and cytokinesis through a suppressor screen and found that the nucleolar rDNA transcription machinery inhibits cytokinesis in fission yeast.