Des études épidémiologiques ont démontré que l’exposition aux pesticides tels que le chlordécone augmente le risque du cancer, en particulier de la prostate. Il avait été précédemment montré au laboratoire que le chlordécone possède des propriétés pro-angiogéniques impliquant la libération de NO et la production de VEGF suite à l’activation du récepteur aux oestrogènes de type alpha (ERα). Les processus angiogéniques pouvant impliquer les espèces réactives de l’oxygène (EROs), produites notamment par la mitochondrie, l’objectif de ce travail a été d’évaluer la contribution de la biogenèse mitochondriale et du stress oxydatif dans l’angiogenèse induite par le chlordécone.Les résultats obtenus montrent que la biogenèse mitochondriale n’est pas essentielle pour la réponse angiogénique du chlordécone puisqu’elle n’est retrouvée que pour de forte concentration de chlordécone. Les mécanismes mis en jeu ont été identifiés au niveau des cellules endothéliales humaines. Ils impliquent une régulation spatio temporellede la production des EROs impliquant dans un premier temps la NADPH oxydase, elle même capable de stimuler la production mitochondriale d’EROs via la voie impliquant la NO synthase. Le chlordécone serait par ailleurs capable de favoriser la localisation périnucléaire des EROs afin de favoriser la production de VEGF. L’ensemble de ces effets implique le récepteur aux oestrogènes. Ce travail a donc permis d’identifier les mécanismes cellulaires impliqués dans la modulation de l’angiogenèse par le chlordécone. Ces mécanismes moléculaires pourraient contribuer à identifier de nouvelles cibles permettant de réguler les processus angiogéniques et la tumorigenèse induites par ce toxique. / Epidemiological studies report that exposure to pesticides like chlordecone increases risk of prostate cancer and tumorigenesis. We have reported recently that the pro-angiogenic effect of chlordecone involving NO release and VEGF production is mediated through activation of α isoform of the estrogen receptor (ERα). Since mitochondria and ROS have been implicated inthe process of angiogenesis, this study aims to determine the contribution of mitochondrial biogenesisand oxidative stress in chlordecone-induce dangiogenesis. Firstly, our results indicate that mitochondrial biogenesis is not essential for chlordecone angiogenic response. We also identified the molecular mechanism involved; chlordecone induces endothelial cells angiogenesis by a spatiotemporal regulation of ROS production involving NADPH oxidase then mitochondrial O2 -via a NO sensitive pathways through activation of ERα.These findings propose that a molecular mechanism may partly explain the epidemiological evidence implicating chlordecone as risk factor of prostatic cancer.

The resistance to tamoxifen, a drug used in the adjuvant therapy for hormone sensitive breast cancer, represents a major clinical obstacle. Although various mechanisms leading to tamoxifen resistance have been described and intensively studied, a significant number of patients still become resistant to the treatment and eventually relapse. Tamoxifen therapy has been shown to enrich tumors with cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are naturally resistant, and have self-renewal ability and the potential to form secondary tumors. Metabolic rewiring, altered iron metabolism and upregulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters have been shown to be important in the maintenance of CSC phenotype. Therefore, we investigated these mechanisms as possible contributors to tamoxifen resistance in vitro in two tamoxifen resistant (Tam5R) cell lines that we established. We show that Tam5R cells have dramatically disassembled and less active mitochondrial supercomplexes (SCs) and higher level of mitochondrial superoxide, together with a fragmented mitochondrial network. Such dysfunction of mitochondria results in the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and metabolic rewiring towards glycolysis. Importantly, cells lacking functional mitochondria are significantly more resistant to tamoxifen, supporting...

Cardiac energy metabolism is the one of the most complex system in the body. To sustain life, but also to respond quickly to any sudden changes (e.g. running, emotional stress), the heart has developed a unique ability and has become a metabolic "omnivore". At physiological conditions, long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) present the major energetic source for the adult myocardium. However, the cardiac energy metabolism may be compromised during pathophysiological states. One of the most dangerous is, undoubtedly, ischaemia-reperfusion injury with its acute form, myocardial infarction. However, the adaptation to chronic hypoxia has been known for decades for its cardioprotective effect against I/R. Changes of cardiac energy metabolism induced by the adaptation have not been fully explored and the system conceals still too many secrets. This thesis has aimed to determine how adaptation to chronic hypoxia affects the cardiac metabolism of the rat LVs in the following set-ups: 1. The effect of chronic normobaric hypoxia (CNH; 3 weeks, 5500m) during a brief I/R protocol in vitro on the protein kinase B/hexokinase (Akt/HK) pathway, including the expression and phosphorylation of Akt, the expression and localization of HK, the expression of mitochondrial creatine kinase (mtCKS), and the level of Bcl-2 family...

Cette thèse étudie le remodelage métabolique des cellules cancéreuses. Trois modèles sont analysés par de nombreuses approches biochimiques et génétiques : (i) des cellules de poumon transduites avec une forme oncogénique de HRASG12V, (ii) des cellules HeLa soumises à une privation de glucose et (iii) des pièces chirurgicales de cancer du poumon. Sur chaque modèle, le remodelage métabolique observé met en jeu de nombreuses voies du catabolisme et de l’anabolisme, notamment la glutaminolyse et la biosynthèse de sérine. Ce travail révèle un rôle important des mitochondries dans ce remodelage, à la fois pour l’apport d’énergie et pour la synthèse d’antioxydants et d’acides aminés, mais aussi de phospholipides. J’ai montré l’impact étendu d’une simple mutation HRASG12V sur un très grand nombre de processus, révélant ainsi l’importance de la génétique dans le remodelage métabolique des cellules cancéreuses. Toutefois, la privation de glucose induit elle aussi un remarquable remodelage à de très nombreux niveaux, depuis l’épissage des ARN messagers jusqu’à la synthèse de sérine. Enfin, cette thèse identifie deux classes bioénergétiques de tumeurs du poumon, ouvrant de nombreuses perspectives pour le diagnostic et la compréhension de ce type de tumeurs, mais aussi pour proposer des stratégies thérapeutiques adaptées. Les résultats identifient des biomarqueurs et des cibles validées sur nos modèles in vitro. Les perspectives de cette thèse vont consister à la transposition de ces approches à la clinique. / This thesis investigates the metabolic remodeling of cancer cells. Three models are analyzed by different biochemical and genetic approaches: (i) lung cells transduced with oncogenic HRASG12V, (ii) HeLa cells challenged with glucose deprivation and (iii) surgical pieces of lung tumors. On each model the observed metabolic remodeling involves numerous catabolic and anabolic pathways, including glutaminolysis and serine biosynthesis. Our work revealed an important role of mitochondria in metabolic remodeling, both for the supply of energy and for the synthesis of antioxidants and amino acids, but also phospholipids. We show the extent of a single mutation HRASG12V on a very large number of metabolic processes, revealing the importance of genetics in the metabolic remodeling of cancer cells. However, glucose deprivation also induced a remarkable remodeling at many levels of cell metabolism, from the splicing of messenger RNAs to serine biosynthesis. In the third part, this thesis identified two bioenergetic classes of lung tumors, opening interesting opportunities for the diagnosis and understanding of this type of tumor, but also to propose appropriate therapeutic strategies. The results identify biomarkers and targets validated in our in vitro models. The outlook of this thesis will be to the implementation of these approaches in the clinic

L’arrêt cardiaque (AC) est un problème de santé publique dont la mortalité reste très élevée malgré les progrès de la réanimation. La majorité des décès à distance de la réanimation cardio-pulmonaire (RCP) initiale est la conséquence du syndrome post‑AC provoqué par les lésions cellulaires d'ischémie-reperfusion (I/R) qui touchent principalement le cœur et le cerveau. L’ouverture du pore de transition de perméabilité mitochondrial (PTP), en lien avec la cyclophiline D (CypD), est un déterminant majeur des lésions d'I/R. L’hypothermie thérapeutique est le seul traitement adjuvant de la RCP qui a démontré un bénéfice sur la survie des patients en limitant le syndrome post-AC. Ses mécanismes d’action complexes ne sont que partiellement compris. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons, dans un premier temps, utilisé notre modèle d'AC chez le lapin pour étudier les mécanismes mitochondriaux de l’hypothermie thérapeutique. Notre modèle a d'abord permis de mettre en évidence le rôle important joué par la température dans la gravité du syndrome post‑AC et les effets protecteurs de l’hypothermie sur le cœur et le cerveau. Notre travail montre également que l'hypothermie inhibe l’ouverture du PTP par un mécanisme dépendant de la CypD et agit sur une voie de signalisation cellulaire. Nous avons, dans un second temps, mis au point un nouveau modèle d'AC chez la souris déficiente en CypD montrant que l'inhibition complète du mécanisme dépendant de la CypD d'ouverture du PTP améliore le succès de la RCP ainsi que le pronostic à long terme des animaux traités par hypothermie thérapeutique. Ainsi, nos travaux contribuent à identifier les mécanismes d'action mitochondriaux de l’hypothermie thérapeutique ainsi que des pistes pour améliorer le pronostic des patients après un AC réanimé / Despite advances in resuscitation science, mortality after cardiac arrest (CA) remains very high. A substantial proportion of cardiac arrest deaths occur in patients following successful resuscitation and can be attributed to the development of post-CA syndrome caused by cellular ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury that primarily affect heart and brain cells. The opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PTP), promoted by cyclophilin D (CypD), is a major determinant of I/R injuries. Therapeutic hypothermia is the only adjuvant therapy to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) known to improve survival by limiting the post-AC syndrome. The mechanisms of action of therapeutic hypothermia are still poorly understood. In this present work, we used our model of CA in rabbit to study the role of the PTP in the mechanisms of action of therapeutic hypothermia. Our model first highlighted the important role played by temperature in the severity of post-AC syndrome and the protective effects of hypothermia on heart and brain injuries. Our work also determined that hypothermia inhibited PTP opening by a CypD-dependent mechanism and acted on a pro-survival signaling pathway. We then developed a new CA model using CypD-deficient mice showing that complete inhibition of the CypD-dependent mechanism of PTP opening improved success of CPR and long-term survival of hypothermia-treated animals. Thus, our work contributes to identifying the mitochondrial mechanisms of action of therapeutic hypothermia and ways to improve the prognosis of patients after CA

2013 DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCE Lukáš Novák Abstract Free-living microaerophilic protist Trimastix pyriformis is closely related to oxymonads which are the largest eukaryotic group without any known mitochondrion. In contrast to oxymonads, an enigmatic reduced mitochondrion has been found in the cell of T. pyriformis. In EST data of T. pyriformis, a number of genes has been identified whose products are putatively localized in the mitochondrion. Among these are genes for all the components of the glycine cleavage system, [FeFe]hydrogenases and the mitochondrial marker Cpn60. We performed experiments in order to determine the cellular localization of these proteins. Our results show that the glycine cleavage system is localized in the mitochondrion. Results of the experiments carried out in order to localize two hydrogenases suggest also the mitochondrial localization but are not fully convincing. The attempt to localize Cpn60 has failed. We have also identified a set of new genes in transcripts of T. pyriformis and Monocercomonoides sp. (Oxymonadida). These genes code for some components of the SUF system of FeS cluster synthesis and a peroxidase rubrerythrin. Key words: Trimastix, Monocercomonoides, mitochondrion, hydrogenosome, mitosome, hydrogenase, glycine cleavage system, SUF system.

We can meet pathological hypoxia in the cases of hearth attack, ischemic stroke, but also during tumor invasion, thanks to insufficient angiogenesis. The activation of HIF- 1 factor during hypoxic conditions is crucial for the cell survival. This factor modulates energetic metabolism in favor of fast progressing glycolysis (with the contribution of glutaminolysis) which provides to cell enough ATP and "building blocks", while suppressing Krebs cycle and respiration because of shortage of oxygen. The thesis studies energetic metabolism of HepG2 cells (derived from liver carcinoma) which are cultivated in the media with various energetic substrates, i. e. glucose or galactose (always together with glutamine and pyruvate) under the hypoxic conditions (5% O2). HepG2 cells use particularly oxidative metabolism for ATP and "building blocks" production under the normoxic conditions while hypoxic environment causes metabolic shift in glycemic condition. Interestingly, cells cultured in galactose (glutamine) didn't switch the energy metabolism from oxidative to aerobic glycolysis such as cells cultivated in glucose, although HIF-1 factor was stabilized. We found that enhanced activity and integrity of mitochondria, enhanced maximal capacity and reserve capacity of respiration chain correlates with...

Mitochondria are multifunctional organelles playing a key role in energy metabolism and cell death induction. Mitochondria, and specifically their respiratory chain, are also the main producers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells. Metabolism can be affected by the state of cellular proliferation and certain ROS-inducing agents have an antiangiogenic effect based on the preferential elimination of proliferating endothelial cells (EC). Therefore, in this work we investigated, whether mitochondria could be responsible for different sensitivity of proliferation and confluent EC to cell death. We mainly focused on systems that regulate ROS level and apoptosis: respiratory chain (ROS production), antioxidant defense (ROS detoxification) and Bcl-2 family of proteins (apoptosis regulation). First, we treated EC with functional and nonfunctional respiratory chain with various oxidative stress- and apoptosis-inducing agents and determined ROS production and susceptibility to apoptosis in proliferating and confluent cells. Our results show that functional respiratory chain greatly increases the susceptibility of proliferating cells to ROS induction and apoptosis, whereas in qiescent cells it protects against cell death. Given these findings, we assessed the activity of respiratory chain in proliferating...

Liver mitochondria play a crucial role in intermediary metabolism and main metabolic pathways. We evaluated the pharmacological effect on liver mitochondria in vitro using two novel anticancer drugs: 3-bromopyruvate and α-tocopheryl succinate. Metabolic influence on liver mitochondria was performed in vivo by high fat and high cholesterol diet. Toxicity of both drugs was evaluated in cell cultures of hepatocytes isolated from rat and mouse liver. The effect of anticancer drugs on liver mitochondrial functions in vitro was studied on suspensions of isolated liver mitochondria, tissue homogenate and permeabilized hepatocytes. Mitochondrial respiration was measured using high-resolution respirometry. 3-bromopyruvate caused morphological and functional damage of primary rat and mouse hepatocytes in cell cultures; this toxic effect was accompanied by an increase of reactive oxygen species production and mitochondrial dysfunction. 3-bromopyruvate decreased the oxygen consumption of mitochondria energized by substrates for complex I and complex II. α-Tocopheryl succinate caused a decrease of succinate-dependent respiration in all experimental models both in coupled and in uncoupled states. The most pronounced effect of α-tocopheryl succinate was apparent in isolated mitochondria and the least pronounced...

The resistance to tamoxifen, a drug used in the adjuvant therapy for hormone sensitive breast cancer, represents a major clinical obstacle. Although various mechanisms leading to tamoxifen resistance have been described and intensively studied, a significant number of patients still become resistant to the treatment and eventually relapse. Tamoxifen therapy has been shown to enrich tumors with cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are naturally resistant, and have self-renewal ability and the potential to form secondary tumors. Metabolic rewiring, altered iron metabolism and upregulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters have been shown to be important in the maintenance of CSC phenotype. Therefore, we investigated these mechanisms as possible contributors to tamoxifen resistance in vitro in two tamoxifen resistant (Tam5R) cell lines that we established. We show that Tam5R cells have dramatically disassembled and less active mitochondrial supercomplexes (SCs) and higher level of mitochondrial superoxide, together with a fragmented mitochondrial network. Such dysfunction of mitochondria results in the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and metabolic rewiring towards glycolysis. Importantly, cells lacking functional mitochondria are significantly more resistant to tamoxifen, supporting...