Les plaquettes jouent un rôle primordial dans le processus d'hémostase. Elles sont générées à partir des mégacaryocytes (MK) présents dans la moelle osseuse. En plus des compartiments vésiculaires classiques de la voie d'endocytose et de dégradation vers les lysosomes, les plaquettes possèdent deux compartiments sécrétoires additionnels, les granules alpha et denses. Ces granules sont générés au cours de la maturation des MK à partir des corps multivésiculaires (MVB) et contiennent des molécules essentielles aux fonctions plaquettaires. Un défaut dans la production ou le remplissage de ces granules est à l'origine de symdromes hémorragiques. Malgré des études montrant l'implication de certaines protéines du trafic vésiculaire, les mécanismes moléculaires qui contrôlent la biogenèse et la maintenance des granules plaquettaires dans les MK ainsi que les mécanismes de tri des cargos qu'ils contiennent, ne sont pas complètement élucidés. Au cours de ces dernières années les phosphoinositides (PI) sont apparus comme des acteurs majeurs du trafic vésiculaire en régulant de la localisation de certaines protéines. Cependant, peu de choses sont connues à ce jour quant au rôle de ces lipides dans la biogenèse et le trafic des granules plaquettaires dans les MK. Au cours de ma thèse, j'ai étudié le rôle d'un des membres de la famille des PI, le phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate (PtdIns5P), ainsi que deux enzymes responsables de sa synthèse : la 3-phosphatase MTM1 (mutée dans la myopathie centronucléaire, CNM) et la lipide kinase PIKfyve, dans le contrôle de la dynamique des granules. Mes résultats montrent que MTM1 est présente dans les MK et les plaquettes et est localisée en partie sur les granules denses. Cependant, cette phosphatase n'est pas essentielle pour la production et l'activation plaquettaire. En effet, les souris MTM1 KO ne présentent pas de défaut du nombre plaquettaire, ni d'agrégation et de sécrétion suite à une stimulation par la thrombine ou le collagène. Nous montrons la présence d'autres membres de la famille des myotubularines dans les plaquettes et les MK différenciés, ce qui pourrait expliquer une redondance de fonction. De façon intéressante, nous montrons que la détection de MTM1 à partir de faible quantité de sang (<100 ?l) pourrait déboucher sur la mise au point d'un test diagnostic rapide pour la détection de la CNM. Mes travaux ont été focalisés par la suite sur PIKfyve. En utilisant la lignée leucémique mégacaryoblastique MEG-01 différenciée, je montre pour la première fois que le PtdIns5P est localisé dans les compartiments endosomes tardifs ainsi que dans les granules alpha et denses. Dans ces cellules, PIKfyve contrôle plus de 50% du PtdIns5P. De façon remarquable, l'inhibition pharmacologique de PIKfyve ou son invalidation par siRNA entraine une perte d'identité des granules avec la formation de granules élargis qui présentent à la fois des marqueurs de granules denses et alpha et bloque totalement leur mobilité. Ces données ont été confirmées dans des MK primaires de souris. L'addition de PtdIns5P exogène sur les MEG-01 restaure le phénotype normal des granules démontrant que PIKfyve, par l'intermédiaire du PtdIns5P, contrôle l'intégrité des granules qui est donc un phénomène actif et les mécanismes de fusion/fission des vésicules affectant le tri des cargos. De plus, l'inhibition de PIKfyve dans les plaquettes isolées affecte leur agrégation et leur sécrétion, montrant que PIKfyve et le PtdIns5P peuvent agir d'une part lors de la biogénèse des plaquettes dans les MK et d'autre part sur le fonctionnement des plaquettes. Dans leur ensemble, mes travaux placent PIKfyve et son produit lipidique, le PtdIns5P, comme des acteurs majeurs de la maintenance et l'identité des granules plaquettaires. / Platelets play a major role in homeostasis processes. They are generated from megakaryocytes (MKs) in the bone marrow. In addition to the classic vesicular compartments of the endocytic and degradation pathway toward lysosomes, platelets have two additional specialized secretory compartments, the dense and alpha granules. These granules are made during MK maturation from multivesicular bodies (MVB) and contain molecules that are essential to platelet functions. Defect in the production of these granules or absence of their cargos is the cause of hemorrhagic syndromes. Despite many studies showing the implication of vesicle trafficking proteins, the molecular mechanisms controlling the biogenesis and maintenance of the granules and cargo sorting are not completely understood. In recent years, phosphoinositides (PIs) have emerged as key actors in vesicular trafficking playing a role of important spatial regulators of many proteins. However, little is known about the role of these lipids in the biogenesis and the trafficking of platelet granules in the MK.During my thesis, I have studied the role of one the member of the PI family, the phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate (PtdIns5P), and of two enzymes responsible of its synthesis : the 3-phosphatase MTM1(mutated in the Centronuclear myopathy, CNM) and the lipid kinase PIKfyve, in the control of granules dynamic. My results show that MTM1 is present in MK and platelet and that platelet MTM1 localizes in part on dense granules. However, the phosphatase is not mandatory for platelet production and activation. Indeed, the knock-out of MTM1 in mice has no effect on platelet count, aggregation and secretion following thrombin or collagen stimulation. We show the presence of other members of the myotubularins family in platelet and differentiated MK, which can explain a redundancy in functions. Interestingly, we show that MTM1 detection from small amount of blood (<100 ?l) could lead to the development of a rapid diagnostic test for the detection of the CNM. My work was next focalized on PIKfyve. Using the differentiated leukemic megakaryoblastic cell line MEG-01 as a cell model, I showed for the first time that PtdIns5P is localized on late endosome and on alpha and dense granules. In these cells, PIKfyve controls more than 50% of cellular PtdIns5P. Remarkably, pharmacological inhibition of PIKfyve or its invalidation by siRNA leads to a loss of granules identity with the formation of enlarged granules containing both alpha and dense granules markers, and totally blocks their mobility. These data were also confirmed on primary mice MK. Addition of exogenous PtdIns5P on MEG-01 cells restores the normal phenotype of granules showing that PIKfyve, via PtdIns5P, controls granules integrity, an active phenomenon, and the fusion/fission mechanisms that affect cargos sorting. Furthermore, PIKfyve inhibition in isolated platelet affects their aggregation and secretion, showing that PIKfyve and the PtdIns5P may act on the biogenesis of platelets in MK and also on the function of mature platelets. In conclusion, my Ph.D. work shows that PIKfyve and its product PtdIns5P are major actors in platelet granules maintenance and integrity.

Insulin signalling is an essential process in humans by which the level of plasma glucose is maintained within the physiologically healthy range. Insulin activates the phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) signalling pathway that generates the phospholipid messenger PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, which in turn enhances the activity of two important proteins, AKT and Rac1. This then leads to increase the presence of the glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) at the plasma membrane that enhances the intake of glucose, particularly in skeletal muscle cells and adipocytes. Insulin signalling also triggers interconversion of several other phosphoinositides (PIs) which play pivotal roles in different steps of glucose regulation. PtdIns5P is an important PI that is robustly increased after insulin treatment in the skeletal muscle cell line, L6 myotubes. Many of PtdIns5P`s functions are not fully understood. To gain more knowledge of the role of PtdIns5P in insulin signalling in muscle cells, the PtdIns5P kinase phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinase a (PIP4K2a) was over-expressed in L6 myotubes as a way of removing PtdIns5P, and the consequences in insulin signalling were studied. Although PtdIns5P is converted by PIP4K2a to PtdIns(4,5)P2 which is a precursor of the potent PI PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, previous studies revealed that the increase in PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 induced by insulin in control cells is diminished in cells overexpressing PIP4K2a, for unknown reasons. Additionally, although the phosphorylation of the serine/threonine protein kinase AKT was not affected in these L6 cells, glucose uptake was attenuated. The current study investigates the possible causes of attenuating glucose uptake in PIP4K overexpressing myotubes by examining the small GTPase Rac1 which plays an important role in the cytoskeleton re-arrangement that is necessary for GLUT4 translocation. Furthermore, the possible roles of PI phosphatases that may cause the disturbance on the levels of PIs in response to insulin were evaluated. Additionally, the potential role of PtdIns5P in Rac1 activation in L6 myotubes was further investigated by delivering synthetic PtdIns5P using a carrier-based delivery approach. The results showed that the attenuation of glucose uptake documented in previous studies occurred as a result of a defect in the process of translocating GLUT4 from intracellular storage to the plasma membrane. Rac1 activity was significantly reduced in cells expressing PIP4K2a. Quantifying the level of PIs suggested that PIP4K2a expression increases the removal of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 by the PI 5-phosphatase, SKIP. Silencing the expression of SKIP by siRNA restored the level of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 but Rac1 activity and the attenuation GLUT4 translocation were not rescued possibly as a result of removing PtdIns5P by PIP4K2a. On the other hand, exogenous delivery of PtdIns5P in L6 myotubes activates both Rac1 and GLUT4 translocation in the absence of insulin. However, activating GLUT4 translocation by the exogenous PtdIns5P requires PI3K activity since redistribution of GLUT4 to the plasma membrane is inhibited by the PI3K inhibitor, wortmannin. Removing PtdIns5P reduces Rac1 activity and stimulates SKIP that inhibits PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 increase which attenuates GLUT4 translocation and hence glucose uptake. These results emphasise the critical role played by PtdIns5P which seems to serve as a regulator of insulin signalling, both directly and/or by regulating other enzymes involved in the metabolism of PIs.

Phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate (PtdIns5P) is the least well-characterised member of the phosphoinositide family of essential regulatory phospholipids. PtdIns5P levels are altered within cells in response to a number of stimuli and evidence is accumulating to suggest that it possesses important functions in cellular signalling. However, the physiological role of this lipid remains imperfectly understood. Previous studies have shown that PtdIns5P is elevated in adipocytes in response to insulin, and microinjection of PtdIns5P into these cells promotes plasma membrane insertion of the insulin-regulated glucose transporter GLUT4 (Sbrissa et al., 2004). This finding suggests a potential role of PtdIns5P as a mediator in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, a process essential for efficient glucose homeostasis. As approximately 75% of postprandial glucose disposal is carried out by skeletal muscle, it is important to investigate the role of PtdIns5P in the response of this tissue to insulin. Therefore, this work has used differentiated myotubes of the rat muscle cell line, L6, to explore the effects of altered PtdIns5P levels on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. This cell model had not been previously used in the laboratory so it first required characterisation. Here insulin is shown to stimulate a transient increase of PtdIns5P in L6 myotubes, indicative of a signalling role in response to insulin. This project developed several tools to further investigate this potential role for PtdIns5P in the insulin response of myotubes. One such development was the successful overexpression of the PtdIns5P 4-kinase PIP4KIIalpha in these cells, which was able to abolish the insulin-stimulated PtdIns5P rise. This correlated with a loss of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (upon PIP4KIIalpha expression). Interestingly, artificial elevation of PtdIns5P in L6 myotubes increases glucose uptake in the absence of stimulation. This phenomenon appears to result from the activation of PI3-kinase signalling, as it is abolished by the PI3-kinase inhibitor wortmannin, and involves activation of the PI3-kinase effector Akt. These results are consistent with the idea that insulin-stimulated PtdIns5P production contributes to the robust PI3-kinase/Akt activation necessary for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in muscle.