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Introduction: Cardiac cell-cell junctions play important roles in maintaining cardiac integrity linking single cardiomyocytes into a single functioning syncytium. There are three main types of cell junctions in the heart: gap junctions (GJ), desmosomes (D) and adherens junctions (AJ). Mutations in the proteins which make-up these junctions are known to cause arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Pathological features include progressive replacement of right ventricular cardiac muscle with fibrofatty tissue. This can lead to heart failure and life threatening arrhythmias. During normal development of the mammalian heart, protein components of AJ and D gradually fuse to form composite junctions at the intercalated discs, also called areae compositae (singular, area composita, AC). In contrast, the adult heart of lower vertebrates, including the zebrafish, may have few or no AC type junctions. The detailed structure of cardiomyocyte cell-cell junctions in the adult zebrafish heart remain poorly defined and their role in normal development, growth and response to injury have yet to be studied. This thesis will examine the hypothesis that localisation and distribution of myocardial cell-cell junction proteins are crucial in normal myocardial development and in endogenous cardiac regeneration and repair following injury. This will be achieved by understanding the normal development of cell-cell junction proteins in zebrafish from embryonic to adulthood. These findings will then be analysed in comparison to cell-cell junction proteins localisation and distribution in early and late mammalian (mouse and human) myocardium. Once a normal pattern of cell-cell junction proteins will be established, the localisation of cell-cell junction proteins in plakologbin mutant zebrafish model for cardiomyopathy will be studied to understand the distribution and localisation of these proteins in disease manifestation. This model will then be used to test if localisation of cell-cell junction proteins plays an important in cardiac repair following injury by using embryonic laser injury model, this will be further tested by drug intervention study to investigate underlying pathways such as Wnt signalling pathway. Methods: Myocardial cell-cell junctions were assessed using immunohistochemistry in embryonic, juvenile and adult zebrafish hearts and in foetal and adult human hearts. The Plakoglobin mutant zebrafish line (UAS:Gal-4:Plakoglobin Naxos; named as PGNx) was characterised using various functional and morphological assessments including histology, echocardiography and MRI scanning. Similar studies were undertaken in PGNx mutants at different developmental stages. A pharmacological intervention study, using a GSK-3 inhibitor, was carried out in PGNx mutants followed by cardiac structural and functional assessments. Laser-induced cardiac trauma was used to assess the response to injury and repair in normal and PGNx embryos following treatment with the GSK3 inhibitor drug. Results: Cell-cell junction patterning in the embryonic, juvenile and adult zebrafish heart shows a characteristic pearl string appearance of desmoplakin and β-catenin labelled distinct disc shaped AJ. Human foetal heart showed small distinct D and AJ, while the adult human heart had features consistent with AC type junctions. PGNx fish showed reduced ventricle ejection fraction, dilatation of the atrium, reduced amplitude of wall motion and ventricle relaxation velocity compared to age-matched controls. Echocardiography and MRI imaging confirmed severe atrial dilatation and restrictive ventricle physiology in adult fish. The cell-cell junction proteins were over-expressed in the zebrafish PG mutant (PGNx) hearts compared to age-matched controls. Drug studies using a GSK-3β inhibitor showed complete recovery of cardiac function and partial recovery of heart structure. Cardiac injury studies, using laser, showed failure of repair in PGNx embryos compared to age-matched controls. The GSK3 inhibitor failed to improve the functional response following heart laser injury. Conclusions: Cell-cell junctions are distributed abundantly around cardiomyocytes in the zebrafish heart during early development and into adulthood. In contrast to previous studies in adult mammalian heart, there was no evidence of AC type junctions in adult zebrafish cardiomyocytes. The mutant zebrafish line showed restrictive cardiac physiology and abnormal cardiac structure confirming the key role played by plakoglobin in the normal heart development. This is further supported by evidence showing failure of repair in PGNx mutant embryos after injury. Drug treatment with a GSK-3 inhibitor highlights a potentially novel therapeutic pathway for treatment of ARVC involving Wnt signalling.

DE LA TESI:L´apoptosi és un dels principals tipus de mort cel.lular programada i es caracteritza per ser un procés actiu encaminat a produir la mort cel.lular de manera controlada. Aquest procés juga un paper important en el correcte desenvolupament del sistema nerviós central, ja que permet l'eliminació de les cèl.lules innecessàries. En canvi, l´activació anòmala d´aquest mecanisme en el cervell adult contribueix de manera significativa en el desencadenament de moltes malalties neurodegeneratives, com són la malaltia d´Alzheimer o la de Parkinson entre d´altres. Així doncs, la determinació i comprensió de les diferents rutes senyalitzadores pro-apoptòtiques involucrades en aquestes malalties permetrà identificar noves dianes terapèutiques.L´objectiu d´aquesta tesi doctoral ha estat estudiar el paper anti-apoptòtic en neurones granulars de cerebel (CGNs) dels inhibidors de dos proteïnes cinases: la Glycogen Sinthase Kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) i la c-Jun NH2-terminal Kinase (JNK), i determinar per quines rutes senyalitzadores protegeixen a les neurones de la mort apoptòtica provocada per la deprivació de sèrum i potassi (DV S/K). El model escollit per realitzar aquests estudis ha estat la DV S/K en cultius primaris de CGNs, ja que permet reproduir in vitro la mort neuronal programada provocada per la deprivació de factors tròfics.En quant a la GSK-3beta s´ha demostrat que la seva inhibició protegeix de la mort induïda per la DV S/K i que aquesta protecció ve donada, com a mínim, per dos mecanismes no descrits prèviament. En primer lloc s´ha determinat que la GSK-3beta intervé en l'activació anòmala del cicle cel.lular, fet que en CGNs condueix a l'activació de l'apoptosi, i en segon lloc que la GSK-3beta intervé en l'alliberament desde els mitocondris de la proteína pro-apoptòtica AIF. En quant a la JNK també s'ha detectat que la seva inhibició protegeix d'aquest estímul apoptòtic i que una de les raons subjacents a aquest fet, és que la inhibició de la JNK manté activa la via de supervivència de l'AKT.La conclusió final d'aquesta tesi doctoral és que tant la GSK-3beta com la JNK tenen un paper clau en l'activació de l'apoptosi en neurones i que per aquest motiu podrien ser considerades potencials dianes farmacològiques per tractar malalties neurodegeneratives.

Wolbachia are widely spread, maternally transmitted insect endosymbiotic intracellular bacteria. They have been implicated in the control of several insect transmitted diseases, including dengue, yellow fever, Zika and malaria. Effective pathogen suppression in the insect host is shown to be proportional to the intracellular levels of bacteria. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying Wolbachia accumulation within organisms is extremely important for future epidemic control and research. Using Drosophila as a model insect, our lab has previously observed Wolbachia tropism to stem cell niches. Current work has identified polar cells as an additional site of Wolbachia tropism and demonstrated that Wg/Wnt signaling is important for Wolbachia intracellular accumulation in these somatic cells. In this thesis, we first observed that the Wg/Wnt pathway protein Armadillo also controls Wolbachia levels in the germline cells, indicating the possibility of having a conserved molecular mechanism controlling Wolbachia. Using RNAi and small molecule inhibitors of Shaggy, another component of the canonical Wg/Wnt pathway, we demonstrate that the canonical Wg/Wnt signaling is essential for Wolbachia intracellular accumulation. Our investigation provides fundamental insights into the mechanisms of Wolbachia intracellular accumulation. Furthermore, it offers novel strategies to modulate Wolbachia in non-model insect species, including various disease transmitting Anopheles, Culex, and Aedes. These findings potentially will increase the effectiveness of a Wolbachia-based vector transmitted disease suppression. / 2017-02-28

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<p>Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall and is the primary cause of coronary artery disease, the most common cause of death in western societies. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease include dyslipidemia, diabetes, smoking, and obesity. These risk factors have also been shown to promote vascular endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress; a cellular response characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the ER. Thickening and decreased stability of arterial plaque can lead to thrombosis and subsequent clinical complications of myocardial infarction and stroke. However, the exact mechanisms that lead to the development of atherosclerosis remain unclear. Here we show that inhibition, as well as a deficiency of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3α, can protect against accelerated atherosclerosis in a low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) knockout mouse model. Compared to LDLR^-/- controls, mice deficient in GSK-3α showed a decrease in lesion volume in the aortic root as well as protection against diet-induced hepatic steatosis. In addition, necrotic core volume was significantly reduced in LDLR^-/-GSK-3α^-/- mice compared to controls, a characteristic indicative of advanced plaque formation. Furthermore, hepatic and vascular ER stress levels were unaffected by the deletion of GSK-3α, a result that is consistent with the hypothesis that GSK-3α functions downstream of ER stress. Macrophages isolated from GSK-3α deficient mice had a reduction in unesterified cholesterol accumulation as well as a significant increase in the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Finally, BMT experiments showed a significant decrease in plaque size in the aortic sinus of LDLR^-/-GSK-3α^+/+ mice transplanted with GSK-3α deficient bone marrow. These results demonstrate a possible link between ER stress-induced activation of GSK-3α and the downstream effects leading to atherogenic initiation and progression.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

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Le facteur de transcription T-bet joue un rôle central dans la régulation de la différenciation des lymphocytes T. La protéine tyrosine kinase, la glycogène synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3), inhibe l'activation des lymphocytes T et contrôle l'expression de leurs récepteurs inhibiteurs PD-1 et LAG- 3. Bien que l'inhibition de GSK-3 puisse augmenter l'expression de T-bet, l'interrelation entre T-bet et GSK-3 dans l'immunité tumorale est inconnue. Dans cette étude, nous montrons que les souris knock-out T-bet (Tbet - / -) sont compromises dans leur capacité à contrôler la croissance des cellules tumorales du mélanome B16. Cependant, l'injection d'une petite molécule inhibitrice (SMI) de GSK-3 inverse cette condition compromise entraînant le contrôle de la croissance tumorale similaire à celle observée chez les souris de type sauvage. Un examen de Tbet - / - a montré une perte de cellules dendritiques (DC) et de cellules leucocytes polymorphonucléaires (PMN) potentiellement suppressives et de lymphocytes tumoraux T (TILs) CD4 + accompagnée d'une augmentation de cellules T CD8 +. L'analyse viSNE (avancé tSNE) a en outre montré une réduction de la population effectrice expérimentée à l'antigène dans les TILs CD8 + chez Tbet -/-. Cette population est marquée par la réduction de CD44. L'inhibition de GSK-3 n'a montré aucun effet sur la perte de DC, TILs CD4 +, PMN et les TILs CD8 + ainsi que l’expression de Granzyme B (GZMB) sur les cellules T CD8 +. La seule exception était une augmentation mineure néanmoins statistiquement significative du facteur de transcription Eomesdermin (Eomes) dans les TILs CD8 +. L'étude démontre un effet compensatoire inattendu de l'inhibition de GSK-3 sur la perte de T-bet. Il reste à élucider la nature complète du parcours de cette compensation. / The transcription factor T-bet plays a central role in regulating T-cell differentiation, while the protein tyrosine kinase, glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) inhibits T-cell activation and controls the expression of inhibitory receptors PD-1 and LAG-3 on T-cells. Although GSK-3 inhibition can increase T-bet expression, the inter-relationship between T-bet and GSK-3 in tumor immunity is unknown. In this study, we show that T-bet knock-out (Tbet-/-) mice are compromised in their ability to control the growth of the B16 melanoma tumor cells. However, the injection of a small molecule inhibitor (SMI) of GSK-3 reverses this compromised condition resulting in the control of tumor growth similar to that seen in wild type mice. An examination of Tbet-/- showed a loss of dendritic cells (DC) and potentially suppressive polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) and CD4+ cell tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) accompanied by an increase in CD8+ cells. viSNE analysis (advanced tSNE- t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding) further showed a reduction of antigen experienced effector marker CD44 in CD8+ TILs in Tbet-/-. GSK-3 inhibition showed no effect on the loss of DCs, CD4+ TILs or the presence of PMNs or CD8+ T-cells or the loss of Granzyme B (GZMB) on CD8+ cells. The one exception was a minor but statistically significant increase in the transcription factor Eomesodermin (Eomes) in CD8+ TILs. The study demonstrates an unexpected compensatory effect of GSK-3 inhibition on the loss of T-bet. The full nature of the pathway that accounts for this compensation remains to be elucidated.

L’infarctus du myocarde, problème majeur de santé publique, est caractérisé par une nécrose cardiomyocytaire. Des séries d’occlusions-reperfusions courtes, réalisées avant l’ischémie (Préconditionnement (PréC) ischémique) ou au moment de la reperfusion (Postconditionnement (PostC) ischémique), protègent le coeur contre des lésions d’ischémie-reperfusion (IR). Les mécanismes intracellulaires impliqués restent obscurs. Nous avons étudié la signalisation intracellulaire du PréC et du PostC, et la cardioprotection qui en découle, sur un modèle de coeur isolé perfusé de souris. Le PréC ischémique peut être mimé par une activation directe du canal potassique mitochondrial ATP dépendant (mitoKATP), entraînant la mise en place d’une boucle d’auto-amplification incluant l’activation d’Akt, l’inhibition de GSK-3β et l’ouverture du mitoKATP. Cette réponse est liée à la production modérée d’espèces dérivées de l’oxygène par le mitoKATP et aboutie à une cardioprotection. La voie de développement Wnt est capable de moduler le PréC via GSK-3β. La voie de survie mTOR, cible de GSK-3β est aussi impliquée et pourrait induire des modifications traductionnelles lors de la réponse adaptative à l’IR. Le PostC ischémique peut également être mimé par activation directe du mitoKATP lors de la reperfusion, engendrant une protection du coeur et la mise en place d’une boucle d’auto-amplification similaire à celle du PréC, comprenant Akt, GSK-3β et le mitoKATP. Le PostC est dépendant de GSK-3β, mais contrairement au PréC, il n’impliquerait pas les voies Wnt et mTOR. Cette étude est la première démontrant que le PréC implique les voies de survie mTOR et de développement Wnt avec un rôle central de GSK-3β. / Myocardial infarction is a major problem of public health, whose prognosis is related to the extent of the infarcted territory. Transient episodes of ischemia/reperfusion before ischemia (ischemic PreConditioning (PreC)), or at the onset of reperfusion (ischemic PostConditioning (PostC)) confer myocardium resistance to lethal ischemia. However the exact mechanism of PreC and PostC remains obscure. Our objectives were to examine signaling events during PreC and PostC and their effects on cardioprotection in an isolated mouse heart model. We provide evidence that pharmacological PreC by direct activation of mitoKATP, like ischemic PreC, involve an amplification loop involving ROS production and resulting in a sustained down-regulation of GSK-3β via Akt activation and a constant opening of mitoKATP. The mTOR pathway is a target of this loop and participates to cardioprotection. Disruption of Wnt pathway by sFRP1 modulates this loop inducing GSK-3β activation. This is the first evidence that PreC involves both a pro-survival mTOR pathway and an embryonic developmental Wnt pathway targeting GSK-3β. During ischemic and pharmacological PostC, the same amplification loop is activated, including Akt, GSK-3β and the mitoKATP. Unlike PreC, PostC did not induce the mTOR survival pathway: neither phosphorylation of mTOR nor of its targets p70S6K and 4E-BP1 were observed. However, cardiac overexpression of a Wnt antagonist, impairing PreC through GSK3-β, was unable to abolish cardioprotection afforded by PostC. PostC signaling differs from the preC pathway. Despite these discrepancies, GSK-3β plays a key role in both types of cardioprotection.

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