No description available.

The sensitivity of Notch signaling pathway to metabolism has been proposed in several recent studies but it is unclear if the changes in fly diet composition can directly lead to changes in Notch phenotype in vivo. In this work we show that activity of Notch pathway is sensitive to amino acids via the TOR pathway. In addition we will test a candidate protein as a sensor for amino acid level in the fat body of Drosophila melanogaster but also independently in other tissues.

No description available.

The Notch receptor is part of a highly conserved signaling pathway shared in Drosophila, C. elegans and mammals. Extensive studies of Notch signaling have revealed its participation in the development of diverse organ systems including brain, blood cells, blood vessels, gut, and skin. Many genetic modifiers of the Notch signaling pathway have been identified, including some which act at the membrane and others in the nucleus. One such member is Deltex, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, which was originally identified as a modifier of Notch in a Drosophila genetic screen. In early lymphoid development, Deltex has been demonstrated functionally to antagonize Notch signaling but the precise molecular mechanism for this functional antagonism between Notch and Deltex is not understood. However, in Drosophila, recent data supports the formation of a trimeric complex between Deltex, Kurtz and Notch that promotes Notch ubiquitin-mediated proteosomal degradation. Beta-arrestin1 is one of the closest mammalian homologues of Kurtz and functions as an adaptor protein in a variety of cellular processes such as endocytosis, ubiquitination and nuclear shuttling. We hypothesize that a similar interaction occurs in mammalian cells between Notch, beta-arrestin1 and Deltex to negatively modulate the Notch signaling pathway. Our data reveal a physical interaction between beta-arrestin1 and the Notch receptor. We could not, however, detect an interaction between Deltex and beta-arrestin1 by co-immunoprecipitation. We also demonstrate that Notch and beta-arrestin1 physically associate with both a membrane-bound form of activated Notch, as well as the intracellular form of Notch after membrane cleavage. Using RNA interference, as well as overexpression of beta-arrestin1, we demonstrate that beta-arrestin1 negatively regulates a Notch/CSL dependant reporter assay. We also show that the presence of Deltex enhances the negative modulation of the Notch signaling pathway mediated by beta-arrestin1. Therefore, we reveal a new Notch interacting protein and a novel role for beta-arrestin1 in the Notch signaling pathway. / Medicine, Faculty of / Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

A paracoccidioidomicose (PCM) é uma micose sistêmica de natureza profunda e granulomatosa, que afeta preferencialmente o tecido pulmonar causada pelo Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, um fungo que exibe dimorfismo térmico. O P. brasiliensis interage com células apresentadoras de antígenos (APCs), alterando suas principais funções biológicas. Entre as APCs, os macrófagos são células que desempenham um papel importante na indução e regulação da resposta imune e/ou inflamatória. São células do sistema fagocítico mononuclear que podem discriminar entre o que é próprio do organismo e os patógenos, através da expressão de receptores de reconhecimento padrão (PRR) que reconhecem padrões moleculares associados à patógenos (PAMPs), sendo células importantes no processo de fagocitose controlando o crescimento destes patógenos. Recentemente tem sido demonstrada a importância dos receptores Notch na regulação da atividade de macrófagos e do sistema imune. Os ligantes de Notch estão envolvidos nas locais inflamatórios de infecção devido ao aumento da expressão dos mesmos na superfície de células envolvidas neste processo. Considerando que a sinalização Notch pode estar envolvida na modulação da função de macrófagos, nós avaliamos se P. brasiliensis tem a capacidade de modular a ativação desta via e interferir na produção de citocinas pró-inflamatórias. Para isso, macrófagos J774, pré-estimulados com LPS ou não, foram interagidos com leveduras do fungo, seguido por análise de PCR em tempo real e citometria de fluxo, dosagem de citocinas e índice de fagocitose. Nossos dados revelaram que na presença do fungo existe aumento dos níveis de transcrição do receptor Notch 1 e diminuição da transcrição do ligante Delta 4 em macrófagos pré-estimulados com LPS. Entretanto, verificamos que o fungo sozinho não é capaz de induzir a transcrição de NF-κB, nem na presença do LPS, mas quando os macrófagos são estimulados com LPS e sofrem inibição da via de Notch existe aumento dos níveis de transcritos após interação com o fungo, sugerindo que esse fator é ativado na ausência de Notch. Nesse contexto de inibição de Notch, evidenciamos que a fagocitose de leveduras do fungo por macrófagos tornou-se mais eficiente, visto que houve aumento do índice de fagocitose na ausência de Notch. Foi possível verificar que o fungo tem a capacidade de promover a produção de IL-6 via TLR-Notch, fazendo-nos supor que essa citocina seja importante para o estabelecimento da doença ao ser benéfica para o fungo e prejudicar o hospedeiro. E concomitantemente ao aumento de IL-6 existe diminuição da produção de TNF-α. Com base nesses resultados, podemos sugerir que o P. brasiliensis utiliza a via de sinalização Notch como um mecanismo de escape. A interação entre as leveduras do fungo e os macrófagos promove a ativação dessa via, através do receptor Notch 1, induzindo maior produção de IL-6, citocina importante para o crescimento do fungo no hospedeiro, conjuntamente com a diminuição de TNF-α prejudicando a atividade fungicida dos macrófagos. / Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic mycosis and deep granulomatous in nature, which affects mainly the lung tissue caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, a fungus that exhibits thermal dimorphism. The P. brasiliensis interacts with antigen presenting cells (APCs), changing its main biological functions. Among the APCs, macrophages are cells that play an important role in the induction and regulation of the immune response and/or inflammatory response. They are cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system that can discriminate between what is characteristic of the organisms and pathogens, by expression of pattern recognition receptors (PRR) that recognizes the pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMPs), and are considered cells important in phagocytosis for controlling the growth of these pathogens. It has been recently demonstrated the importance of the Notch receptor in regulating the activity of macrophages and of the immune system. The ligands of Notch are involved in inflammatory sites of infection because there are increased expression of these ligands on cell surface involved in this process. Whereas the Notch signaling may be involved in modulating macrophage function, we evaluated whether P. brasiliensis has the ability to modulate the activation of this pathway and interfere with the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. For this, J774 macrophages, pre-stimulated with LPS or not, are interacted with yeast fungus, followed by Real Time PCR analysis and flow cytometry, cytokine and phagocytosis index. Our data showed that the presence of the fungus exists increased levels of transcription of the Notch 1 receptor, and a decrease in ligand Delta 4 transcription on macrophages pre-stimulated with LPS. However, we found that the fungus itself is not able to induce transcription NF-κB, even in the presence of LPS, but when macrophages are stimulated with LPS and suffer inhibition of the Notch signaling, exists increased levels of transcripts after interaction with the fungus, suggesting that this factor is activated in the absence of Notch. Within the context of inhibition of Notch, we found that phagocytosis of yeasts by macrophages become more efficient, since the increased rate of phagocytosis in the absence of Notch. It was verified that the fungus has the ability to promote the production of IL-6 via TLR-Notch, making us suppose that this cytokine is important for the establishment of the disease to be beneficial for the fungus and damage the host. And concurrently with increased IL-6 there is decreased production of TNF-α. Based on these results, we suggest that P. brasiliensis uses the Notch signaling pathway as an escape mechanism. The interaction between the yeasts with macrophages promotes the activation of this pathway, by means of a Notch 1 receptor, inducing increased production of IL-6 cytokine important for the growth of fungus on host, together with a reduction of TNF-α, contributing with a damaging fungicidal activity of macrophages.

Il est maintenant reconnu que la ségrégation latérale des composants de la membrane plasmique, ou compartimentation membranaire, joue un rôle important dans la régulation de la fonction de nombreuses protéines membranaires. Les tétraspanines constituent une famille de protéines intégrales à quatre régions transmembranaires possédant une capacité unique à s’associer entre elles et avec des nombreuses autres molécules de surface pour former un réseau d'interactions moléculaires, le « tetraspanins web ». Il a été proposé que via l’organisation de ce réseau, les tétraspanines joueraient un rôle dans la compartimentation membranaire des protéines auxquelles elles s’associent. Elles jouent également un rôle dans la compartimentation cellulaire en contrôlant le trafic de certaines des protéines associées. Le laboratoire a précédemment démontré que six tétraspanines conservées (Tspan5, 10, 14, 15, 17 et 33) de la sous-Famille des TspanC8 (caractérisées par la présence de huit cystéines dans le grand domaine extracellulaire) interagissent directement avec la métalloprotéase ADAM10 et régulent sa sortie du réticulum endoplasmique. Cette protéase ancrée à la membrane est responsable du clivage protéolytique de l'ectodomaine de diverses molécules de surface et est indispensable pour l'activation de la voie de signalisation NOTCH. Nous démontrons que Tspan5 et Tspan14 sont des régulateurs positifs de la voie de signalisation Notch et que Tspan15 est un régulateur négatif, agissant en amont de la γ-Sécrétase. Cette régulation négative est associée à un changement d’environnement membranaire ainsi qu’à une dynamique différente d’ADAM10 comme le montre un suivi de la protéase à l’échelle de la molécule unique. Par ailleurs, l’analyse par spectrométrie de masse quantitative a montré que la capacité d’ADAM10 à s’associer à des composants connus du réseau de tétraspanines était influencée par son interaction avec ces tétraspanines. Enfin, nous avons identifié une région de la cellule enrichie en CD9 qui contenait également ADAM10 lorsque Tspan5 est exprimée, mais ce n’est pas le cas avec Tspan15. Cette étude démontre que les différentes TspanC8 influencent différemment la capacité d’ADAM10 à cliver certains de ses substrats et illustre la capacité des tétraspanines à réguler l’activité de leurs protéines partenaires en contrôlant leur compartimentation membranaire. / It is now recognized that the lateral segregation of components of the plasma membrane or membrane compartmentalization, play an important role in the regulation of many membrane proteins functions. Tetraspanins are a family of integral membrane proteins with four transmembrane domains with a unique ability to associate with one another and with many other surface molecules to organize a molecular interactions network, the “tetraspanins web”. It was suggested that via the organization of this network, the tetraspanin play a role in membrane compartmentalization of proteins to which they associate. Tetraspanins also play a role in cellular compartmentalization by controlling the trafficking of some associated proteins. In the lab, it has been shown that six conserved tetraspanin (Tspan5, 10, 14, 15, 17 et 33) of the TspanC8 subgroup (characterized by the presence of eight cysteines in the large extracellular domain) interact directly with the metalloproteinase ADAM10 et mediates its exit from the endoplasmic reticulum. This membrane-Anchored metalloprotease mediated ectodomain shedding of various integral molecules and is essential for Notch signaling pathway activation. We demonstrate that both Tspan5 and Tspan14 are positive regulators of Notch signaling pathway, whereas Tspan15 appears as negative regulator, acting in upstream γ-Secretase. This downregulation is associated with a modification of membrane environment as well as different dynamics of ADAM10, as shown by monitoring of protease using single molecule tracking. Furthermore, quantitative mass spectrometry analysis revealed that ADAM10 ability to associate with known components of “tetraspanin web” was influenced by its interaction with these tetraspanins. Finally, we have identified a CD9 enriched cell area which also contained ADAM10 when Tspan5 is expressed but not with Tspan15.This study demonstrates that different TspanC8 influence differently the ADAM10 ability to cleave some of its substrates and illustrate the ability of tetraspanins to regulate the activity of their proteins partners by controlling their membrane compartmentalization.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2006. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

La mise en place du système musculo-(exo)squelettique de la drosophile est un modèle d’organisation particulièrement propice à l’étude des interactions tissulaires au cours du développement.Notre étude vise à, d’une part, comprendre la myogenèse appendiculaire à travers l’étude des interactions précoces entre les précurseurs de tendon et les myoblastes, et d’autre part, étudier les mécanismes de différenciation des précurseurs de tendons associés au disque de patte. Dans ce contexte nous avons adapté la méthode GRASP (GFP Reconstitution Across Synaptic Partners) ainsi que l’imagerie en temps réel à notre modèle pour démontrer l’existence des interactions cellulaires entre les précurseurs de tendons et les myoblastes, nous avons aussi mis au point une approche cellule-spécifique afin de trier les précurseurs de tendons et les myoblastes associés au disque de patte, ce qui nous a permis d’obtenir dans un premier temps les données transcriptomiques des précurseurs de tendons. J’ai également étudié l’impact de l’altération des précurseurs de tendon sur le comportement des myoblastes associés et inversement. Nos résultats montrent que l’altération du développement des tendons entraîne une désorganisation spatiale des myoblastes environnants. Dans la seconde partie de mon projet, je me suis intéressée à l’implication de la voie Notch et des gènes de la famille odd-skipped dans la différenciation et la morphogenèse des précurseurs de tendon. J’ai ainsi démontré que Notch est nécessaire et localement suffisant pour induire l’expression de stripe et que les gènes odd-skipped et stripe coopèrent en aval cette voie pour permettre l’invagination et l’élongation sous forme de tube des longs tendons internes de la patte. / The formation of the musculo-(exo)skeletal system in drosophila is a remarkable example of tissue patterning making it a suitable model for studying multiple tissue interactions during development.The aim of our study is to better understand appendicular myogenesis through the identification of early interactions between tendon and muscle precursors, and by investigating the mechanisms governing the specification of tendon cell precursors of the leg disc. In order to characterize the interaction between these two tissues, we adapted the GRASP method (GFP Reconstitution Across Synaptic Partners) and set up live imaging experiments to reveal cellular interactions between tendon precursors and myoblasts. We have also conducted a genome wide cell-specific analysis using Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) on imaginal discs which allowed us to perform a tendon cell specific transcriptional analysis.To test whether reciprocal muscle-tendon interactions are necessary for correct muscle-tendon development, I performed experiments to specifically interfere with the development of tendon or muscle precursors. By altering tendon precursors formation during the early steps of leg development, we affect the spatial localization of the associated myoblasts. These findings provide the first evidence of the developmental impact of early interactions between muscle and tendon precursors in the leg disc.In the second part of my project, I investigated the role of Notch pathway and odd-skipped genes in the differentiation and morphogenesis of tendon precursors. Thus, I have demonstrated that Notch signalling pathway is necessary and locally sufficient for the initiation of stripe expression, and that both odd-skipped genes and stripe are required downstream of Notch to promote morphological changes associated with formation of long tubular tendons.