On a récemment mis en évidence l'existence d'une étroite interconnexion entre la perception d'éléments d'origine microbienne (qui se fait à travers les récepteurs de l’immunité innée tels que les TLRs) et l'homéostasie du réticulum endoplasmique. En situation de stress, une grande quantité de protéines mal repliées s'accumule dans le réticulum, déclenchant une série de réponses cellulaires connues sous le nom de "Unfolded Protein Response" (UPR). On a découvert que l'activation de l'UPR contribue à la réponse inflammatoire, en particulier chez les cellules dendritiques. GADD34/PP1 est un complexe protéique qui dé-phosphoryle eIF2α et participe à la restauration de la synthèse protéique. On a démontré que GADD34 a aussi un rôle dans le contrôle de l’expression des cytokines pro-inflammatoires, en particulier l'interféron de type I. Le but de cette thèse est de clarifier comment la voie de signalisation des TLRs et le UPR s'intercroisent et comment est-ce qu'on peut exploiter cette interaction dans des cas pathologiques J’ai pu démontrer, à l'aide de cellules dendritiques d’origine humaine et murine, que le guanabenz (GBZ), un inhibiteur du complexe GADD34/PP1, est capable de bloquer l'activation des récepteurs TLRs endosomaux. Cet inhibiteur est également capable de bloquer le choc septique dépendent de TLR9 et de baisser le niveau d’autoanticorps dans un modèle lupique. En conclusion, j'ai pu démontrer, aussi bien in vitro que in vivo, que le guanabenz est capable d'inhiber les TLRs endosomaux à travers un nouveau mécanisme d’inhibition sur CH25H, une enzyme du métabolisme du cholestérol, qui a été récemment découvert comme faisant partie de l'immunité innée. / Sustained immune reaction is strictly interconnected to pathogenic situations. For this reason, the activation of immune cells is controlled by multiple pathways. A cross-talk between microbial sensing and Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) homeostasis has been discovered. Abnormal accumulation of proteins in the ER is a sign of cellular malfunction and triggers emergency rescue pathways, collectively known as the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). UPR induction triggers or amplifies inflammatory signals by dendritic cells (DCs). GADD34/PP1 is a holophosphatase complex that dephosphorylates eIF2α and participates in the UPR feedback loop, by restoring protein translation. It has been shown that GADD34 plays an important role in controlling the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, especially type I interferon. In dendritic cells (DCs), pathogens are sensed by Pathogen Recognition Receptors (PRRs); the better characterised class of PRRs being the Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs). Thus, the aim of my thesis is to investigate how TLRs and ER-signalling pathways intersect and how this can be used to control pathogenic states, with particular attention for the GADD34/PP1 complex. Using both human and mouse DCs, we show that guanabenz (GBZ), an inhibitor of the GADD34/PP1 complex, blocks endosomal TLRs activation. The same inhibitor rescues mice viability in a TLR-dependent septic shock model and controls the circulating autoantibodies in a lupus model. Our studies show that TLR9 is particularly sensitive to GBZ. We show also that GBZ has a previously unidentified effect on CH25H, an enzyme that hydroxylates the cholesterol in 25-hydroxycholesterol, recently linked to TLRs signaling.

Les cellules dendritiques (DCs) sont les plus efficaces cellules présentatrices d'antigène. La détection de motifs pathogènes, tel que lipopolysaccharides bactériens et ARNs double-brins (ARNdb) viraux, par les DCs provoque leur maturation et induit de nombreux changements morphologiques et biochimiques permettant aux DCs d'acquérir leurs puissants fonctions activatrices des cellules T. Dans ce travail, les réponses des DCs à l'ARNdb ont été analysées. Nous avons montré que, en réponse à au poly I:C, un analogue synthétique des ARNdb, les DCs montent une réponse de stress intégré spécifique au cours de laquelle le facteur de transcription ATF4 et le cofacteur de la phosphatase 1, GADD34, sont exprimés. Les DCs activées par le poly I:C présentent un profil de transcrits similaire à ce qui est produit au cours d'une ‘unfolded protein response'. GADD34 est important pour contrebalancer la phosphorylation du facteur d'initiation de la synthèse protéique eIF2α par la kinase PKR au cours de l'activation des DCs. Contrairement aux fibroblastes embryonnaires murins, les DCs résistent à l'inhibition de la synthèse des protéines induite en réponse à la stimulation avec poly I:C. Néanmoins, l'expression de GADD34 n'a pas un impact majeur sur la synthèse protéique globale. Par contre, GADD34 a été démontré être absolument nécessaire à la production d'interféron du type I et d'IL-6 par les fibroblastes et les DCs en réponse à l'ARNdb. Cette observation a des implications importantes en liant la détection des pathogènes avec les voies intégrés de réponse au stress. / Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most important antigen presenting cells. In response to inflammatory stimulation, DCs display a distinct pattern of differentiation that exhibits specific mechanisms to control the immune response. In this work the responses to dsRNA were analyzed. We have shown that in response to a mimic of dsRNA, polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid (poly I:C), DCs mount a specific integrated stress response during which the transcription factor ATF4 and the growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible protein 34 (GADD34), a phosphatase 1 (PP1) cofactor, are expressed. GADD34 is important to counteract phosphorylation of eIF2α by PKR. In contrast to murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), DCs resist to protein synthesis inhibition induced in response to cytosolic dsRNA. Nevertheless, GADD34 expression does not have a major impact on global protein synthesis. Importantly, GADD34 was shown to be absolutely required for type I-IFN and IL-6 production by MEFs and DCs in response to dsRNA. This observation has important implications in linking pathogen detection with the integrated stress response pathways. The importance of this link is further underlined by the extreme susceptibility of GADD34-deficient fibroblasts and neonate mice to Chikungunya virus infection.

The failure to balance protein synthesis, folding, and degradation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leads to the accumulation of unfolded proteins, leading to ER stress. Cells respond to this stress by activating a response signaling pathway known as the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). One of the branches of the UPR induces the phosphorylation of eIF2α (Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2) to attenuate global protein synthesis, allowing for a chance to clear misfolded and unfolded proteins. This phosphorylation of eIF2α is opposed by a phosphatase, containing a catalytic subunit, Protein Phosphatase 1, and a scaffolding protein, either GADD34 or CReP. Inhibition of eIF2α phosphatases has shown to promote survival in cell types by prolonging the effects of the UPR. This research focuses on understanding the gene expression patterns and localization of UPR specific genes with the presence of constant ER stress. Zebrafish are an ideal model for this research because they are a good mimic of what happens in humans and provide the ability to study gene expression and localization patterns at different stages during ER stress and its recovery. The eIF2α phosphatases were shown to have a protective effect on apoptosis when overexpressed in acute ER stress but were shown to have a protective effect on apoptosis when knocked out in chronic ER stress. We sought to determine the flow of gene expression of these phosphatases as well as other UPR specific genes, such as BiP and CHOP, to determine the contradictory effects of acute versus chronic ER-stress induced apoptosis. We studied the changes in gene expression for these genes in zebrafish embryos by isolating RNA and performing RT-qPCR after the induction of ER stress with pharmacological drugs across multiple time points. There was increased gene upregulation and mRNA localization to the fin epidermis and eye of GADD34, CReP, and BiP in acute ER stress from 2 hours to 6 hours, and these genes steadily declined in chronic ER stress from 24 hours to 48 hours. CHOP is a late-phase pro-apoptotic protein whose gene expression was upregulated in chronic ER stress from 12 hours to 48 hours. This data was also supported by mRNA localization studies performed by conducting whole mount in-situ hybridization on zebrafish embryos treated with ER stress inducers for 4 hours and 24 hours. Our results indicate that all UPR genes examined are affected by ER stress and their expression patterns are dependent on the time length of ER stress induction, allowing us to get a more in-depth working model of this branch of the UPR signaling pathway in zebrafish.