Le cancer bronchique non à petites cellules (CBNPC) est particulièrement chimiorésistant. Aucun marqueur robuste de chimiorésistance n'a été validé dans ce type de cancer. Nous avons cherché à décrire dans ce travail des marqueurs innovants de résistance à la chimiothérapie à base de platine dans les CBNPC. Après avoir étudié les caractéristiques cliniques et moléculaires habituelles des patients réfractaires à la chimiothérapie, nous avons étudié le rôle de la voie Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) dans le CBNPC et son impact en termes de chimiorésistance. Nous avons ainsi montré que cette voie de signalisation, connue comme liée aux cellules souches cancéreuses, est corrélée au caractère réfractaire à la chimiothérapie. L'expression de Gli2 est associée à la progression tumorale, à la survie sans progression et à la survie globale. Nous avons également démontré une corrélation entre l'activation de la voie Shh et la transition épithélio-mésenchymateuse, qui est liée à l'agressivité tumorale, le pouvoir métastasiant et la chimiorésistance. Nous avons aussi validé le rôle de la voie Shh dans la prolifération tumorale et la chimiorésistance dans un autre modèle de cancer thoracique, le mésothéliome pleural malin. Enfin, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'expression de hPAF1C (human polymerase II-associated factor 1 complex), facteur suractivé dans les cellules souches cancéreuses et lié à l'activation de la voie Shh. Nous avons montré que l'expression de hPAF1C est associée à un mauvais pronostic et à la prolifération tumorale par interaction avec c-Myc. Ces résultats soulignent le rôle important de la voie Shh dans le CBNPC en termes de chimiorésistance et d'agressivité tumorale. / Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is known to be chemoresistant. Few robust markers of chemoresistance have been validated so far in this type of cancer. We have described in this work new innovative markers of resistance to cisplatin-based chemotherapy in NSCLC. After the study of usual clinical and molecular caracteristics of patients who were refractory to chemotherapy, we have then explored the role of the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway in NSCLC and its impact in term of chemoresistance. We have shown that Shh pathway, closely linked with cancer stem cells, was correlated with the refractory property to chemotherapy. Positive Gli2 immunohistochemistry score was associated with tumor progression et progression-free survival. We have also demonstrated a correlation between Shh activation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, known to be linked with tumor aggressiveness, metastatic ability and chemoresistance. We have then validated the great role of Shh pathway in tumor proliferation and chemoresistance in another thoracic cancer, known to be chemoresistant, the malignant pleural mesothelioma. At last, the impact of ceancer stem cells on tumor aggressiveness and prognosis has been demonstrated through the study of the expression of hPAF1C (human polymerase II-associated factor 1 complex), described as overactivated in cancer stem cells and linked to Shh pathway activation. We have shown that hPAF1C expression was associated with poor prognosis and with tumor proliferation through an interaction with c-Myc. These results underline the major role of Shh pathway and cancer stem cells in SNCLC in term of chemoresistance and tumor aggressiveness.

The near-threatened southern African hedgehog, Atelerix frontalis (A. Smith, 1831) is divided into two subspecies based on its disjunct distribution of two allopatric populations. This is despite reservations because its nature and extent of geographic variation remains virtually unknown. The present study, therefore, represents the first analysis of geographic variation within A. frontalis and is based on a multidisciplinary approach involving traditional and two-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis of the cranium and mandible, and molecular data in order to test the validity of the subspecies designations. The results of all univariate and multivariate analyses of both traditional and geometric morphometric data were congruent and provide evidence for a north-westerly–south-easterly clinal pattern of variation with cranial configuration being positively correlated with both latitude and longitude. These results are supported by Neighbour-joining, Maximum Likelihood, and Maximum Parsimony analyses of Cyt-b and ND2 data that revealed no variation across a 377 bp and 1034 bp region sequenced for each gene, respectively, while a 377 bp control region sequenced revealed low levels of variation between representatives of the two recognized subspecies (0.54 % pairwise sequence divergence). These results together with the lack of pronounced steps in the clinal pattern of variation suggest that the recognition of subspecies within A. frontalis may be untenable such that its disjunct distribution may represent a recent divergence event. If this is the case, then the results in this study may have implications in the conservation management strategies for A. frontalis, since it could be argued that one disjunct population could act as a source population for the other. However, it is recommended that prior to the implementation of conservation management plans for the species, further studies involving a wide range of alternative systematic techniques need to be undertaken first in order to gain a better understanding of the nature and extent of geographic variation within A. frontalis. These suggested studies should focus on comprehensive sampling and analyses involving a range of environmental and/or climatic variables in an attempt to identify factors that may explain the disjunct distribution and the clinal pattern of variation within the southern African hedgehog. / Dissertation (MS)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Loss of the finite cochlear hair cells of the inner ear results in sensorineural deafness. Human cochlear hair cells do not regenerate, and there is no cure for deafness. Our laboratory has established a three-dimensional culture system for deriving functional sensory hair cells from human pluripotent stem cells. A major limitation of this approach is that derived hair cells exhibit a morphological and gene expression phenotype reflective of native vestibular hair cells. Previous studies have shown that establishment of localized domains of gene expression along the dorso-ventral axis of the developing otic vesicle is necessary for proper morphogenesis of both auditory and vestibular inner ear structures. Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling has been shown to play a key role in specification of the ventral otic vesicle and subsequent cochlear development. Here, SHH treatment was pursued as a potential strategy for inducing a patterning phenotype permissive to cochlear induction in vitro. Single-cell RNAsequencing analysis revealed that while treatment with the SHH pathway agonist Purmorphamine reduced expression of markers for the vestibular-yielding dorsal otic vesicle, upregulation of ventral otic marker genes was modest. More strikingly, the number of otic progenitors exhibiting a neuroprogenitor phenotype increased in response to Purmorphamine treatment. These results suggest that SHH pathway modulation in early-stage inner ear organoids may bias their differentiation toward a neural lineage at the expense of an epithelial lineage. The present study is the first to evaluate the patterning phenotype of human stem cell derived otic progenitors, and sheds light on the transcriptomic profile at this critical point of inner ear development. This study may also cultivate future efforts to derive cochlear cell types as well as inner ear neural cell types from human pluripotent stem cells, and contribute to the establishment of a more complete in vitro model of inner ear development. / 2021-08-21

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