O sistema SOS controla a expressão de diversos genes, muitos envolvidos com o reparo de DNA. Caulobacter crescentus vem emergindo como um modelo alternativo interessante para o estudo de mecanismos de reparo de DNA. Temos como objetivos realizar uma análise funcional de genes de função desconhecida regulados por SOS, e investigar a indução de SOS por antibióticos beta-lactâmicos em C. crescentus. Análises funcionais dos genes CC_3424 e CC_3467 mostraram que deleções nestes genes resultam em fenótipo de sensibilidade à mitomicina C (MMC). CC_3424 possui similaridade com glioxalases e CC_3467 com endonucleases. Acreditamos que CC_3467 atue no reparo de ligações intercadeia no DNA, e que CC_3424 atue detoxificando a MMC das células. Estudos dos efeitos biológicos da indução do sistema SOS mostram que a cefalexina (CFE) induz este regulon em concentrações subinibitórias. Células tratadas com CFE apresentam mais danos oxidativos do tipo 8-oxoguanina. Estes resultados mostram que concentrações subinibitórias de CFE resultam em estresse oxidativo em C. crescentus. / The SOS response controls the expression of several genes, many of which are involved in DNA repair mechanisms. Caulobacter crescentus has emerged as an alternative bacterial model for DNA repair. As aims, we will undertake a functional analysis of some of the genes regulated by the SOS response, and will investigate the SOS induction by beta-lactam antibiotics in C. crescentus. Functional analysis of the genes CC_3424 and CC_3467 showed that deletions in these genes result in a phenotype of sensitivity to mitomycin C (MMC). CC_3424 has similarity to glyoxalase and CC_3467 to endonucleases. We believe that the CC_3467 gene plays a role in the repair of interstrand crosslinks in the DNA, while CC_3424 acts in MMC cellular detoxification. Studies of biological effects of SOS induction showed that subinibitory concentrations of cephalexin (CFE) induce the SOS regulon. Cells treated with CFE have higher concentrations of 8-oxoG oxidative damage. These results show that subinibitory concentrations of cephalexin leads to cellular oxidative stress in C. crescentus.

La réplication fidèle de l’ADN au cours du cycle cellulaire est essentielle au maintien de l’intégrité du génome à travers les générations. Toutefois, de nombreux éléments peuvent perturber et compromettre la réplication et donc cette intégrité. La mitomycine C (MMC) est une molécule génotoxique utilisée en chimiothérapie. Elle forme des liaisons covalentes entre les deux brins d’ADN, ce qui est un obstacle à la bonne réplication de l’ADN. La rencontre de la fourche de réplication avec une liaison covalente entre les deux brins d’ADN va aboutir à une cassure double brin. Escherichia coli (E.coli) est un modèle d’étude très étendu car facile d’utilisation, permettant d’aborder des notions complexes. E coli possède divers mécanismes pour réparer ces lésions dont le régulon SOS. Le régulon SOS est un ensemble de gènes sous contrôle d’un promoteur réprimé par la protéine LexA. En réponse à des dommages à l’ADN, LexA est dégradé et les gènes du régulon sont activés.En utilisant une technique de biologie moléculaire qui permet de quantifier l’interaction entre deux chromatides sœurs restées cohésives derrière la fourche de réplication (étape appelée cohésion des chromatides sœurs), nous avons montré qu’en réponse à des cassures double brin générées par la MMC, la cohésion entre les chromatides sœurs nouvellement répliquées est maintenue. Ce phénomène est dépendant de RecN, une protéine induite de façon précoce dans le régulon SOS. RecN est une protéine de type SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes), un groupe de protéines impliqué dans la dynamique et la structure du chromosome. En parallèle, des techniques de microscopie confocale et de marquage du chromosome par des protéines fluorescentes ont permis de montrer que la protéine RecN est impliquée dans une condensation globale du nucléoide suite à un traitement par la MMC. Cette condensation du nucléoide s’accompagne d’un rapprochement des chromatides sœurs ségrégées. Ces deux phénomènes, médiés par RecN pourraient permettre une stabilisation globale des nucléoides et favoriser l’appariement des chromatides sœurs pour permettre la recombinaison homologue.De façon intéressante, l’inhibition de Topoisomérases de type II (Topoisomerase IV et Gyrase) permettent de restaurer le phénotype d’un mutant recN en viabilité et en cohésion des chromatides sœurs. Les Topoisomérases sont des protéines qui prennent en charge les liens topologiques générés par la réplication et la transcription). Les liens topologiques non éliminés par les Topoisomerases permettraient de garder les chromatides sœurs cohésives et favoriser la réparation, même en l’absence de RecN.De plus, une expérience de RNA seq (séquençage de tout le transcriptome de la bactérie) a révélé que dans un mutant recN, le régulon SOS est moins induit que dans les cellules sauvages. Ceci va de pair avec une déstructuration des foci de réparation RecA. Il est possible que le rapprochement des chromatides sœurs médié par RecN permettrait de stabiliser le filament RecA et donc l’induction du SOS.L’ensemble de ces résultats suggère que RecN, une protéine de type SMC, permet de maintenir la cohésion entre les chromatides sœurs nouvellement répliquées, favorisant la réparation de cassures double brins par recombinaison homologue. / Maintaining genome integrity through replication is an essential process for the cell cycle. However, many factors can compromise this replication and thus the genome integrity. Mitomycin C is a genotoxic agent that creates a covalent link between the two DNA strands. When the replication fork encounters the DNA crosslink, it breaks and creates a DNA double strand break (DSB). Escherichia coli (E.coli) is a widely used model for studying complex DNA mechanisms. When facing a DNA DSB, E. coli activates the SOS response pathway. The SOS response comprises over 50 genes that are under the control of a LexA-repressed promoter. Upon a DSB induction, RecA, a central protein of the SOS response will trigger the degradation of LexA and all the SOS genes will be expressed.We have developed a novel molecular biology tool that reveals contacts between sister chromatids that are cohesive. It has been shown in the lab (Lesterlin et al. 2012) that during a regular cell cycle, the two newly replicated sister chromatids stay in close contact for 10 to 20 min before segregating to separate cell halves thanks to the action of Topoisomerase IV. This step is called sister chromatid cohesion. We have used this molecular biology tool to study sister chromatid cohesion upon a genotoxic stress induced by mitomycin C (MMC). We have shown that sister chromatid cohesion is maintained and prolonged when the cell is facing a DSB. Moreover, this sister chromatid cohesion is dependent on RecN, an SOS induced structural maintenance of chromosome-like (SMC-like) protein. In the absence of RecN, the proximity between both sister chromatids is lost and this has a deleterious effect on cell viability. By tagging the chromosome with fluorescent proteins, we have revealed that RecN can also mediated a progressive regression of two previously segregated sister chromatids and this is coordinated with a whole nucleoid compaction. Further studies showed that this genome compaction is orderly and is not the result of a random compaction in response to DNA damage.Interestingly, inhibiting TopoIV in a recN mutant fully restores viability and sister chromatid cohesion suggesting that RecN’s action is mainly structural. Preserving cohesion through precatenanes is sufficient to favor repair and cell viability even in the absence of RecN.An RNA-seq experiment in a WT strain and a recN mutant revealed that the whole SOS response is downregulated in a recN mutant. This suggests that RecN may have an effect on the induction of the SOS response and thus RecA filament formation. This is in good agreement with the change in RecA-mcherry foci formation we observed. In the WT strain, the RecA-mcherry foci are defined as described in previous work. However, in the recN, the RecA-mcherry foci seemed to form bundle like structures. These RecA bundles were previsously described by Lesterlin et al. in the particular case of a DSB occurring on a chromatid that has already been segregated from its homolog. This could mean that in the absence of recN, the sister chromatids segregate and RecA forms bundle like structures in order to perform a search for the intact homologous sister chromatid.Altogether, these results reveal that RecN is an essential protein for sister chromatid cohesion upon a genotoxic stress. RecN favors sister chromatid cohesion by preventing their segregation. Through a whole nucleoid rearrangement, RecN mediates sister chromatid regression, favoring DNA repair and cell viability.

No description available.

Idarubicin (IDA) and mitomycin C (MC) are clinically effective quinone-containing anticancer agents used in the treatment of several human cancers. Quinone-containing anticancer drugs have the potential to undergo bioreduction by oxidoreductases to reactive species, and thereby exert their cytotoxic effects. In the present study, we investigated, for the first time, the potential of IDA, in comparison to MC, to undergo reductive activation by NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (P450R), NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase (b5R) and P450R-cytochrome P4502B4 (CYP2B4) system by performing both in vitro plasmid DNA damage experiments and enzyme assays. In addition, we examined the potential protective effects of some antioxidants against DNA-damaging effects of IDA and MC resulting from their reductive activation. To achieve these goals, we obtained P450R from sheep lung, beef liver and PB-treated rabbit liver microsomes, b5R from beef liver microsomes and CYP2B4 from PB-treated rabbit liver microsomes in highly purified forms. The plasmid DNA damage experiments demonstrated that P450R is capable of effectively reducing IDA to DNA-damaging species. The effective protections provided by antioxidant enzymes, SOD and catalase, as well as scavengers of hydroxyl radical, DMSO and thiourea, revealed that the mechanism of DNA damage by IDA involves the generation of ROS by redox cycling of IDA with P450R under aerobic conditions. The extent of DNA damages by both IDA and MC were found to increase with increasing concentrations of the drug or the enzyme as well as with increasing incubation time. IDA was found to have a greater ability to induce DNA damage at high drug concentrations than MC. The plasmid DNA experiments using b5R, on the other hand, showed that, unlike P450R, b5R was not able to reduce IDA to DNA-damaging reactive species. It was also found that in the presence of b5R and cofactor NADH, MC barely induced DNA strand breaks. All the purified P450Rs reduced IDA at about two-fold higher rate than that of MC as shown by the measurement of drug-induced cofactor consumption. This indicates that IDA may be a more potent cytotoxic drug than MC in terms of the generation of reactive metabolites. The results obtained from enzyme assays confirmed the finding obtained from plasmid DNA experiments that while MC is a very poor substrate for b5R, IDA is not a suitable substrate for this enzyme unlike P450R. The reconstitution experiments carried out under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions using various amounts of CYP2B4, P450R and lipid DLPC revealed that reconstituted CYP2B4 produced about 1.5-fold and 1.4-fold rate enhancements in IDA and MC reduction catalyzed by P450R alone, respectively. The present results also showed that among the tested dietary antioxidants, quercetin, rutin, naringenin, resveratrol and trolox, only quercetin was found to be highly potent in preventing DNA damage by IDA. These results may have some practical implications concerning the potential use of P450R as therapeutic agent on their own in cancer treatment strategies. Selective targeting of tumor cells with purified P450R by newly developed delivery systems such as using polymers, liposomes or antibodies may produce greater reductive activation of bioreductive drugs in tumor cells. Consequently, this strategy has a high potential to increase the efficacy and selectivity of cancer chemotherapy.

Les pathologies vésicales sont nombreuses et nécessitent la plupart du temps un traitement médicamenteux. Il peut alors être administré par voie intravésicale, augmentant son efficience et limitant les effets indésirables systémiques. Nous nous sommes intéressés à quatre thérapeutiques : l’alun de potassium, le chlorhydrate de lidocaïne, l’hemisuccinate de méthylprednisolone, la mitomycine C et le bacille de Calmette et Guérin (BCG) en application locale directement dans la vessie. La perméabilité de l’aluminium à travers la vessie a été étudiée au travers d’un cas clinique et des expériences ex vivo ont été réalisées pour définir les paramètres de perméabilité et proposer un algorithme de prédiction de la quantité d’aluminium absorbée dans l’organisme après irrigation intravésicale à l’alun de potassium. Cet algorithme dépend du poids du patient, de la durée de l’irrigation et du volume de la solution utilisée en irrigation vésicale. Des études de perméation ont aussi été réalisées pour le chlorhydrate de lidocaïne, l’hemisuccinate de méthylprednisolone, la mitomycine C et le BCG afin de sécuriser l’emploi de ces thérapeutiques par voie intravésicale. Les études réalisées permettent de prédire, selon les caractères physico-chimiques des molécules, la pénétration dans la membrane vésicale. Une nouvelle formulation galénique réalisée à base d’un gel thermosensible a été étudiée pour optimiser les thérapeutiques intravésicales. Des études de perméation ont été faites avec la nouvelle formulation galénique. Pour finir, une culture de cellules cancéreuses urothéliales a été mise au point et un test de viabilité a été réalisé pour la mitomycine C et le BCG / Bladder diseases are numerous and mostly require medication. Drugs can be administered by intravesical route, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing systemic side effects. We are interested in four drugs: potassium alum, lidocaine hydrochloride, methylprednisolone hemisuccinate, mitomycin C and bacillus Calmette- Guérin (BCG). Mathematical modelling of drug transport through bladder wall is proposed considering scarce literature on this route of administration. The permeability of aluminum through bladder wall was studied through a clinical case and ex vivo experiments were performed to propose a simplified algorithm for the calculation of aluminium dose absorbed in patient with impaired renal function as function of volume of 1% alum solution in the bladder, duration of intravesical irrigation and patient body weight. Permeation studies were also conducted for lidocaine hydrochloride, methylprednisolone hemisuccinate, mitomycin C and BCG to secure intravesical administration of these drugs. Practical outcome of this study could drive compounding optimisation towards improvement of safety and efficacy in patient undergoing intravesical administration. A new pharmaceutical formulation including hrydrogel has been studied in an attempt to improve treatment administered by intravesical route. Permeation studies were made with the new formulation. Finally, an urothelial cancer cells culture has been developed and a viability test was performed with mitomycin C and BCG

The study of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) will allow for increased understanding of regulation and lead to insight regarding the mechanisms governing growth, development, health, and disease. The aim of this study was to characterize the de novo in silico predictions of Arabidopsis CREs. Eight synthetic and 30 native promoter-constructs containing an eGFP/GUS reporter protein were generated for cold, genotoxic, heat, osmotic, and salt stress; the circadian clock; ABA signaling; root and epidermis tissue. Constructs were stably transformed into A. thaliana Col-0 and the effects of the CREs were evaluated by in planta stress or tissue assays using GUS expression levels. Results reveal a novel genotoxic element that specifically directs GUS expression in rosette leaves during genotoxic stress. Results also look promising for novel epidermis and root-specific elements. Results of these assays validate the de novo prediction pipeline's ability to identify novel and known CREs related to abiotic stress.

The study of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) will allow for increased understanding of regulation and lead to insight regarding the mechanisms governing growth, development, health, and disease. The aim of this study was to characterize the de novo in silico predictions of Arabidopsis CREs. Eight synthetic and 30 native promoter-constructs containing an eGFP/GUS reporter protein were generated for cold, genotoxic, heat, osmotic, and salt stress; the circadian clock; ABA signaling; root and epidermis tissue. Constructs were stably transformed into A. thaliana Col-0 and the effects of the CREs were evaluated by in planta stress or tissue assays using GUS expression levels. Results reveal a novel genotoxic element that specifically directs GUS expression in rosette leaves during genotoxic stress. Results also look promising for novel epidermis and root-specific elements. Results of these assays validate the de novo prediction pipeline's ability to identify novel and known CREs related to abiotic stress.