Le LIF (Leukemia Inhibitory factor), une cytokine de la famille de l’Interleukine 6, permet le maintien de la pluripotence des cellules souches embryonnaires murines (CSEm) in vitro. Dans le but de comprendre les mécanismes d’action du LIF dans ce modèle d’étude, une analyse sur puces à ADN a été réalisée et a permis d’identifier trois « signatures LIF » : les gènes « Pluri » (pour Pluripotence), dont le niveau d’expression relatif chute suite au retrait de cette cytokine, et deux catégories de gènes « Lifind » (pour LIF induit) dont le niveau d’expression relatif augmente suite à un ajout de LIF après une culture de 24 ou 48 heures sans cette cytokine. Nous avons mis au point des tests fonctionnels permettant d’étudier la fonction des gènes cibles du LIF dans notre modèle d’étude. Ainsi, nous avons mis en évidence le rôle d’un gène « Pluri », Mras/Rras3, une petite GTPase de la famille Ras, dans la régulation de l’expression d’une part de marqueurs de pluripotence, tels que Oct4 et Nanog et d’autre part de marqueurs de différenciation, tels que Lef1 et Fgf5. / LIF (Leukemia Inhibitory factor), a cytokine Interleukin 6 family, allows maintaining the pluripotency of murine embryonic stem cells (mESC) in vitro. To understand the mechanisms of action of the LIF in this model, a microarray analysis was conducted and identified three « signatures LIF » : the « Pluri » (for Pluripotency) genes, whose the relative level of expression falls following the withdrawal of this cytokine, and two classes of « Lifind » (for LIF induced) genes, whose the relative expression level increases as a result of LIF addition after a culture of 24 or 48 hours without this cytokine. We have developed functional tests to study the function of the target genes of LIF in our study model. Thus, we have investigated the role of a « Pluri » gene, Mras/Rras3, a small GTPase of the Ras family, in the regulation of the expression on the one hand of markers of pluripotency, such as Oct4 and Nanog, and on the other hand of differentiation markers, such as Lef1 and Fgf5.

Tumours are not autonomous transformed cell populations, but rather a society composed of both malignant and normal, including immune, cells that together foster tumour growth and development. Tumour-associated macrophages have been reported to enhance tumour growth, progression and metastasis. In high-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, prototypically the B-cell neoplasm, Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), infiltrating macrophages engulf large numbers of apoptotic tumour cells. Evidence suggests that apoptotic BL cells can condition the tumour microenvironment to promote lymphoma development by selectively attracting macrophages while inhibiting neutrophil infiltration and by stimulating macrophages to produce the B-cell growth and survival factor. Tumour cells grow in a hypoxic and nutrient-deficient environment and the resultant cellular stress can induce apoptosis. It is therefore possible that hostile environmental conditions in the tumour also contribute to the generation of a pro-tumour microenvironment. This thesis describes investigations which examined this hypothesis. BL cells were cultured at high density to mimic conditions of metabolic stress existing in the tumour environment. Cell-free supernatants from such stressed BL cells demonstrated potent chemoattractive activity for mononuclear phagocytes. Supernatants from BL cells that were protected from apoptosis by over-expression of bcl-2 had similar ability, confirming that chemoattractant release was apoptosis-independent. The observation that apyrase and suramin could inhibit the chemotactic activity of these supernatants suggested that nucleotides might be the apoptosis-independent chemoattractant. Detection of ATP in stress supernatants by bioluminescence assay was consistent with this proposal. Significantly, supernatants from BL cells and those transfected with bcl-2 were both found to inhibit neutrophil migration, suggesting the occurrence of a neutrophil migration inhibitory factor whose release was apoptosis-independent. Furthermore, stress supernatants could promote BL cell proliferation in vitro, which was apoptosis and cell line-independent. In order to study the role of TAM in the tumour microenvironment, a novel macrophage model was devised using mouse embryonic stem cells (ES cells). Cells derived from ES cells generated in vitro expressed macrophage-specific markers and were free of dendritic cells and undifferentiated ES cells. ES cell-derived macrophages (ESDM) could migrate towards apoptotic BL cells and engulf them. However, ESDM migrated to stress supernatants with decreasing efficiency as they matured. Preliminary data indicated that the phagocytic ability of ESDM to engulf apoptotic cells increased as they matured, consistent with distinct roles for circulating monocytes and tissue macrophages with regard to this function. Considering the high yields and purities of ESDM described here, together with their non-malignant nature and genetic versatility these cells should provide a superior source of undifferentiated mononuclear phagocytes with which to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying tumour infiltration and microenvironmental conditioning by TAM. In conclusion, this work suggests that under conditions of pre-apoptotic stress, BL cells have the capacity to regulate their micro-environment upstream of their apoptosis programme to promote net tumour growth through paracrine signals that attract supportive macrophages and inhibit destructive neutrophils and through release of autocrine/juxtacrine tumour growth factors.

Stress Inducible Protein 1 (STIP1) é uma co-chaperonina crucial no desenvolvimento murino. Nesse contexto, estudamos as funções reguladas por STIP1 usando células-tronco embrionárias murinas (CTEm). Nosso estudo mostrou um papel regulador para STIP1 na via JAK/STAT3, incluindo os fatores de transcrição NANOG, OCT4 e SOX2, caracterizando STIP1 como agente regulador na auto-renovação e pluripotência em CTEm. Adicionalmente, STIP1 modula a diferenciação em CTEm, uma vez sua expressão é requerida na formação de corpos embrioides (EBs) normais. Adicionalmente, ensaios de formação de teratoma mostraram inibição na formação do tumor e defeitos na diferenciação já que a formação de tecidos do mesoderma foi favorecida. Além disso, foi revelada a importância de STIP1 na proliferação celular já que sua ausência afetou a função, a qual foi parcialmente resgatada com tratamento de STIP1 exógena. Desse modo, nosso trabalho revela um papel crucial para STIP1 nas CTEm, caracterizando novas funções na compreensão do papel da co-chaperonina no desenvolvimento inicial em mamíferos. / Stress Inducible Phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) is a crucial co-chaperonin in mice development. In this context, we studied the functions regulated by STIP1 using murine embryonic stem cells (CTEm). Our study shows a regulatory role for STIP1 in JAK/STAT3 pathway, including the transcription factors NANOG, OCT4 and SOX2, characterizing STIP1 as a regulatory agent in self-renewal and pluripotency in CTEm. In addition, an essential role of STIP1 in differentiation was demonstrated since its expression is required in embryoid bodies (EBs) formation with appropriate size and morphology. Moreover, teratoma formation assays showed inhibited tumor formation and defects in differentiation when formation of mesoderm was favored. Furthermore, were revealed the importance of STIP1 in cell proliferation, since its absence affects the function which was partially rescued after treatment with exogenous STIP1. Thus, our work reveals a central role for STIP1 in CTEm, characterizing new functions to understand the biological role of the co-chaperonin in early mammalian development.