Les cavéoles sont des invaginations en forme de coupelle à la membrane plasmique. Ces organelles multifonctionnelles jouent entre autres, un rôle clé dans la mécano-protection et la signalisation cellulaire. En effet, les cavéoles ont la faculté de s’aplanir en réponse à l’augmentation de la tension membranaire, afin de protéger la cellule des contraintes mécaniques. Les cavéoles jouant un rôle clé dans la signalisation cellulaire, nous avions émis l’hypothèse que le cycle mécano-dépendent de désassemblage/réassemblage des cavéoles constitue un interrupteur mécanique de certaines voies de signalisation. Ce projet consiste à élucider le mécanisme moléculaire responsable du contrôle de la voie de signalisation JAK-STAT par la mécanique des cavéoles. Dans ces travaux, nous avons pu démontré que la cavéoline-1 (Cav1), un constitutant essentiel des cavéoles est libérée et devient hautement mobile au niveau de la membrane plasmique. Considérant les propriétés de signalisation de Cav1, Nous avons testé l’effet du désassemblage des cavéoles sur la signalisation cellulaire. Un criblage à haut débit, nous a permis identifié la voie de signalisation JAK- STAT stimulée par l’IFN-α comme voie modèle pour cette étude. En effet, la transduction du signal JAK-STAT induit par l’IFN-α est modulée par la mécanique des cavéoles. Afin de disséquer le mécanisme moléculaire responsable du contrôle de la signalisation JAK-STAT par la mécanique des cavéoles, nous avons déterminé le rôle de Cav1 dans ce contrôle. Nous avons observé que Cav1 est un régulateur négatif de la phosphorylation de STAT3 dépendante de la kinase JAK1. De plus, nous avons démontré que Cav1 interagit avec JAK1 en fonction de la tension membranaire. Nous avons également démontré que cette interaction Cav1-JAK1 fait intervenir le « scaffolding domain » de Cav1 (CSD), et que celui-ci est responsable de l’abolition de l’activité kinase de JAK1. Par conséquent, l’interaction de Cav1 avec JAK1 empêche l’activation de STAT3 par la kinase JAK1. Ces résultats démontrent que les cavéoles sont des organelles de mécano-signalisation, qui, lors d’un stress mécanique, libèrent de la Cav1 non cavéolaire capable d’inactiver la kinase JAK1, empêchant ainsi, la transduction du signal JAK-STAT. / Caveolae are small cup-shaped plasma membrane invaginations. These multifunctional organelles play a key role in cell mechanoprotection and cell signaling. Indeed our laboratory reported that caveolae have the ability to flatten out upon membrane tension increase, protecting cells from mechanical strains. Since caveolae play a key role in cell signaling we hypothesized that the mechano-dependent cycle of caveolae disassembly/reassembly may constitute a mechanical switch for signaling pathways. In this project, we elucidated the molecular mechanism underlying the control of JAK-STAT signaling by caveolae mechanics. We showed that caveolin-1 (Cav1), an essential caveolar component is released and become highly mobile at the plasma membrane under mechanical stress. Considering that caveolae are important signaling hubs at the plasma membrane, we addressed the effects of the mechanical release of Cav1 on cell signaling. Using high throughput screening, we identified the JAK-STAT signaling pathway as a candidate. To further dissect the molecular mechanism underlying the control of JAK-STAT signaling by caveolae mechanics, we addressed the role of Cav1 in the control of JAK-STAT signaling stimulated by IFN-α. We found that Cav1 was a specific negative regulator of the JAK1 dependent STAT3 phosphorylation. Furthermore, the level of Cav1 interaction with JAK1 depended on mechanical stress. We could show that Cav1-JAK1 interaction was mediated by the caveolin scaffolding domain (CSD), abolishing JAK1 kinase activity, hence, interfering with STAT3 activation upon IFN-α stimulation. Altogether our results show that caveolae are mechanosignaling organelles that disassemble under mechanical stress, releasing non-caveolar Cav1, which binds to the JAK1 kinase and inhibits its catalytic activity, preventing thereby JAK-STAT signal transduction.

The integrin family of cell surface receptors is evolutionary conserved and found in all multicellular animals. In humans 8-alpha and 18-beta integrins are non-covalently associated into 24 dimers. Integrins mediate cell-extracellular matrix and cell-cell interactions and participate in cell signalling. This ideally places integrins to regulate vital processes such as cell adhesion, migration, differentiation and cytoskeleton dynamics. Integrins also play a fundamental role in regulating cell survival and anoikis. In this thesis molecular mechanisms employed by integrins to induce signal transduction, independently or through crosstalk with other receptors, were characterised. Rictor-mTOR (mTORC2) was required for Akt Ser473 phosphorylation in response to β1 integrin-mediated adhesion as well as EGF-, PDGF- or LPA-stimulation of MCF7 cells. ILK and PAK were dispensable for Akt Ser473 phosphorylation upon β1 integrin-engagement or EGF-stimulation. PAK was needed when this phosphorylation was induced by PDGF or LPA. β1 integrin-promoted cell survival during serum starvation conditions was mTORC2 dependent, indicating the importance of Akt Ser473 phosphorylation. mTORC2 was also required for Akt Ser473 phosphorylation induced upon heparanase treatment of cells. Heparanase preferred PI3K catalytic subunit p110α for the upstream lipid phosphorylation required for Akt activation. Interaction between this subunit and Ras was needed for optimal Akt phosphorylation upon heparanase exposure. Cell adhesion strongly promoted heparanase signalling, which was more efficient in β1 integrin-expressing fibroblasts compared to cells lacking this subunit. The cooperative signalling between integrins and heparanase involved FAK and PYK2 since simultaneous silencing of these kinases suppressed heparanase-triggered Akt activation. Furthermore, the resistance of cells to apoptosis induced by H2O2 or serum starvation was promoted by heparanase.  Integrin stimulation by adhesion or cyclic stretching showed divergent downstream signalling responses. Cell attachment on integrin-specific ligands lead to robust phosphorylation of several intracellular integrin-effectors, e.g. p130CAS, FAK, Akt and ERK 1/2. However, mechanical cell stretching only triggered prominent phosphorylation of ERK 1/2. Signalling induced at early stages of integrin-mediated cell adhesion occurred independently of intracellular contraction. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during adhesion and cell stretching influenced integrin signalling. Inhibition of mitochondrial ROS production blocked adhesion-induced Akt phosphorylation. In contrast, stretch-induced ERK 1/2 phosphorylation was elevated when extracellular ROS was scavenged. These results indicate that the two types of integrin stimuli generate signals by different mechanisms.