Pan, Wenliang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-163). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

La synthèse des protéines est un mécanisme central de la vie cellulaire dont la compréhension est un enjeu du domaine biomédical. Les études en molécule unique permettent d’observer chaque système réactionnel individuellement et donnent accès à des évènements asynchrones difficilement observables en mesure d’ensemble, tels la traduction de protéines.Cette thèse présente les premiers résultats en molécule unique sur la traduction par un ribosome eucaryote (mammifère). Nous observons les systèmes traductionnels grâce à des marqueurs fluorescents liés à des oligonucléotides pouvant s’hybrider sur les séquences d’ARN traduites. L’observation de ces marqueurs est faite par microscopie de fluorescence en onde évanescente (TIRF), les ARN étant fixés sur une lamelle de microscope. En lisant l’ARN, le ribosome détache les marqueurs, et leurs instants de départs donnent des informations sur le passage du ribosome à différentes positions sur l’ARN. Cette méthode permet d’obtenir des données cinétiques sur un grand nombre de systèmes traductionnels en parallèle pouvant alors être interpolées par des lois de probabilité. Nous obtenons par cette méthode des mesures de la cinétique in vitro de l’élongation eucaryote et nous observons un délai dû à une initiation non-canonique. En effet, nous complexons le ribosome sur l’ARN grâce à une structure de type IRES. Dans nos conditions d’expérience, l’incorporation d’un acide aminé prend environ une seconde tandis que cette structure induit un retard à la traduction de plusieurs dizaines de secondes. Ces résultats ouvrent des perspectives d’étude cinétique dans des cas plus complexes tels le franchissement de structures secondaires de l’ARN. / Protein synthesis is a central mechanism of cellular life and understanding it is a challenge in biomedical research. Single molecule studies permit each reactive system to be observed individually and provide access to asynchronous events difficult to observe in ensemble experiments, such as protein translation.This thesis presents the first results on single molecule eukaryotic (mammalian) translation. We observe the translational systems using fluorophores linked to oligonucleotides annealed to the RNA translated sequences. The observation of these fluorophores is done by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, the RNA being attached to a microscope slide. When reading the RNA, the ribosome unzips the fluorescent oligonucleotides and their departure times provide information about the position of the ribosome at different locations on the RNA strand. This method provides kinetic data on a large number of parallel translational systems that can be fitted using probability laws.With this method, we measure the in vitro kinetics of eukaryotic elongation and we reveal a delay due to a non-canonical initiation of the ribosome. Indeed, in our experiments, the ribosome is initially complexed on an RNA structure called Internal Ribosome Entry Site. In our experimental conditions, each incorporation of an amino acid in the nascent protein takes about one second while the IRES structure induces a delay of several tens of seconds on the first incorporation. These results open new perspectives for kinetic studies in more complex configurations such as the passage of the ribosome through RNA secondary structures.

L’identité des cellules souches et des progéniteurs neuraux, comme celle de tout type cellulaire, est caractérisée par des signatures moléculaires spécifiques qui dépendent de l’environnement dans lesquelles les cellules se trouvent. Ainsi, il est primordial d’étudier ces cellules dans un contexte in vivo. Le toit optique du poisson zèbre est un modèle idéal pour ce type d’étude. En effet, c’est une large partie du cerveau moyen localisée en position dorsale et qui présente la particularité de croitre de manière orientée tout au long de la vie de l’animal grâce aux cellules neuroépitheliales présentes à sa périphérie (dans la « peripheral midbrain layer », PML). De plus, les progéniteurs neuroépithéliaux, les progéniteurs lents et les cellules post-mitotiques sont localisées dans des domaines adjacents du toit, conséquence de sa croissance orientée. Chaque population cellulaire est marquée par des profils d’expression particuliers. Ainsi, une recherche dans la base de données ZFIN nous a permis d’identifier environ 50 gènes ayant une forte expression dans les cellules de la PML (progéniteurs neuroépithéliaux). De façon intéressante, beaucoup de « gènes PML » codent pour des facteurs de la biogenèse des ribosomes. L’accumulation de ce type de transcrits dans les progéniteurs lents était surprenante. Ainsi, au cours de mon doctorat, j’ai étudié le rôle spécifique des facteurs de la biogenèse des ribosomes dans le maintien des cellules neuroepithéliales de la PML. En effet, bien qu’il soit généralement admis que la biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus essentiel dans toutes les cellules, il a été récemment démontré que plusieurs facteurs nécessaires à la synthèse des ribosomes ont un rôle tissu-spécifique. Par exemple, Notchless est requis pour la survie de la masse cellulaire interne de l’embryon préimplantatoire de souris. Récemment, des expériences de knock-out conditionnel chez la souris ont montré que Notchless était nécessaire au maintien des cellules souches hématopoïétiques et intestinales, mais pas à celui des cellules différenciées. En effet, en absence de Notchless dans les cellules souches, la grosse sous-unité ribosomique (60S) ne peut pas être exportée hors du noyau et s’accumule. Au contraire, dans les cellules différenciées, où Notchless n’est pas indispensable, cette accumulation n’est pas observée. J’ai commencé une étude fonctionnelle basée sur la surexpression conditionnelle de la forme dominante-négative du gène notchless homolog 1 (nle1, homologue poisson zèbre du gène Notchless mammifère). Selon mon hypothèse, les progéniteurs lents de la PML (Slow amplifying progenitors, SAPs) pourraient avoir besoin de Notchless pour la maturation de la sous-unité 60S, contrairement aux cellules différenciées qui pourraient survivre après la délétion de ce gène. Des expériences sont encore en cours, mais nous avons déjà pu démontrer que nle1 joue un rôle crucial dans la survie des progénitéurs neuroépithéliaux de la PML. En parallèle, j’ai étudié des lignées de poisson-zèbre mutantes pour des gènes codants pour des composants du complexe de snoRNP (box C/D small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein : Fibrillarine, Nop56, Nop58). Les trois mutants présentent des phénotypes similaires, en particulier une apoptose massive et une dérégulation du cycle cellulaire dans l’ensemble du toit optique à 48 heures de développement. Étonnamment, ces résultats sont en faveur d’un arrêt du cycle cellulaire à la transition G2/M. Ainsi, cette étude pourrait permettre de mettre en évidence de nouveaux mécanismes d’arrêt du cycle cellulaire lors de défauts de biogenèse des ribosomes. L’ensemble de ces résultats montrent comment les facteurs de la biogenèse des ribosomes (tout comme le processus) contribue à la régulation fine de l’homéostasie cellulaire, et donc à la détermination de l’identité des cellules progénitrices. / In neural stem cells (NSCs) and neural progenitors (NPs), as in other cell types, cell identity is characterized by specific molecular signatures that depend on the environment provided by neighboring cells. Thus, it is important to study progenitor cells in vivo. The zebrafish optic tectum (OT) is a suitable model for that purpose. Indeed, this large structure of the dorsal midbrain displays life-long oriented growth supported by neuroepithelial cells present at its periphery (in the peripheral midbrain layer, PML). Moreover, neuroepithelial progenitors, fast-amplifying progenitors and post-mitotic cells are found in adjacent domains of the OT, as a consequence of its oriented growth. Each cell population is marked by concentric gene expression patterns. Interestingly, a datamining of the ZFIN gene expression database allowed us to identify around 50 genes displaying biased expression in PML cells (neuroepithelial progenitors). Interestingly, many “PML genes” code for ribosome biogenesis factors. The accumulation of transcripts for such ubiquitously expressed genes in SAPs was very surprising so during my thesis I examined whether ribosome biogenesis may have specific roles in these neuroepithelial cells, while improving our knowledge. Indeed, although it is generally admitted that ribosome biogenesis is essential in all cells, it has been shown quite recently that several components of the ribosome biogenesis have tissue restricted roles. For example, Notchless is required for the survival of the inner cell mass in the preimplantation mouse embryo. More recently, conditional knock-out experiments in mice showed that Notchless is necessary for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells and intestinal stem cells, but not for committed progenitors and differentiated cells. Indeed in the absence of Notchless in stem cells, the immature 60S subunit cannot be exported from the nucleus and accumulates. This does not happen in differentiated cells where Notchless is dispensable. I started a functional study based on the conditional overexpression of a dominant-negative form of the gene notchless homolog 1 (nle1, the zebrafish homolog of the mammalian gene Notchless). My hypothesis was that the PML slow-amplifying progenitors (SAPs) may require Notchless for the maturation of the 60S subunit, but not the differentiated cells which could survive also after the deletion of this gene. Experiments are still underway. So far we could demonstrate that nle1 has a crucial role in SAPs. I studied zebrafish mutants for genes coding for the components of the box C/D small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein (snoRNP) complex (Fibrillarin, Nop56, Nop58). Mutants displayed a similar phenotype with massive apoptosis and a deregulation of the cell cycle in the whole tectum at 48hpf. Our data suggest a cell cycle arrest at the G2/M transition, highlighting novel possible mechanisms of cell cycle arrest upon impaired ribosome biogenesis. All together, these data highlight how ribosome biogenesis factors and the whole ribosome biogenesis contribute to the fine regulation of cell homeostasis thereby contributing to the determination of progenitor cell identity.

核糖體抑活蛋白 (RIPs) 屬於糖苷酶的一種，能從23S或28S核糖體核糖核酸中的sarcin-ricin環(sarcin-ricin loop, SRL)移除一個特定的腺嘌呤，引致核糖體失效。由於核糖體蛋白協助RIP到達SRL，因此它們對RIP的核糖體特認性是極大的重要。雖然各RIPs的份子結構及催化活動非常相似，它們的核糖體特認性和效力存著很大的迥異。此外，現時還未能找出只有少數RIPs能同時抑制原核和真核生物的核糖體的原因。我們試圖從玉米核糖體抑活蛋白 (Maize RIP) 和真核生物的核糖體以及志賀毒素 (Shiga toxin) 和原核生物的核糖體的相互作用的研究中去解釋以上的現象。 / 我們發現Maize RIP提供一個前所未見的區域與核糖體蛋白P2結合，並展示RIPs的結構大大限制了它們與核糖體蛋白的相互作用的性質和強度，從而影響RIPs在核糖體上的效力。另外，我們發現志賀毒素跟細菌的核糖體的相互作用比跟真核生物核糖體的相互作用弱，並可能跟細菌核糖體蛋白L7/L10有交聯。我們在蓖麻毒蛋白 (Ricin) 的碳端 (C-terminus) 加上人類免疫缺陷病毒-(HIV-1) 蛋白酶特認的肽以增加 ricin 對HIV-1蛋白酶的特認性，並希望此研究結果有助於應用相類的策略到其他RIPs上。 / Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are N-glycosidases that inactivate ribosome by removing a specific adenine from the sarcin-ricin loop (SRL) of 23S or 28S ribosomal RNA. Ribosomal proteins are critical for determining the ribosome specificity of RIPs as they assist RIPs to get access to the SRL. Ribosome specificity and potency of RIPs are highly varied although their tertiary structures and catalytic depurination are highly alike. Moreover, it is still unsolved why only a few RIPs acquiring the ability to inhibit both prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomes. We attempted to elucidate the phenomena by investigating the interactions of maize RIP with eukaryotic ribosome and shiga toxin with prokaryotic ribosome. / Here we showed maize RIP presents a novel docking site to interact with ribosomal protein P2 and demonstrated the structure of RIPs imposes a large constraint on the nature and strength of the interaction with ribosomal protein which in turn affect the potency of RIPs on the ribosome. Shiga toxin was found to interact with prokaryotic ribosome weaker than the eukaryotic ribosome and crosslinked to the bacterial ribosomal protein L7/L10. Additionally, we increased the HIV-1 specificity of ricin A chain by incorporating the HIV-1 protease specific peptide to the C-terminus of the toxin and hope our findings would help to extend similar scheme to other RIPs in the future. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Wong, Yuen-Ting. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-159). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / 摘要 --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p. iv - viii / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction of ribosome-inactivating proteins / Chapter 1.1 --- Nomenclature and distribution of ribosome-inactivating proteins --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Enzymatic activity of ribosome-inactivating proteins and their biological role --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Structure and catalytic centre of ribosome-inactivating proteins --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Ribosome specificity of RIPs and their interaction with ribosome --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- Cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of ribosome-inactivating proteins --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6 --- Antiviral activity of RIPs --- p.9 / Chapter 1.7 --- Cellular trafficking of ribosome-inactivating proteins --- p.10 / Chapter 1.8 --- Application and therapeutic use of ribosome-inactivating proteins --- p.10 / Chapter 1.9 --- Evolution of RIPs --- p.11 / Chapter 1.10 --- Other activities of RIPs --- p.12 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Characterization of the interaction between RIPs and rat liver ribosome and its correlation with the potency of RIPs / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Nature of interaction between RIPs and eukaryotic ribosome --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- RIPs interact with specific ribosomal proteins --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- RIPs demonstrate different specificity towards ribosomes --- p.16 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Introduction of maize RIP --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Interaction between maize RIP and ribosome --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2 --- Objectives and significance --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3 --- Materials and Methods / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Cloning and site-directed mutagenesis of RIPs --- p.23 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Protein expression and purification --- p.23-26 / Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- Maize RIP and variants / Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- His-myc-MOD and His-MOD / Chapter 2.3.2.3 --- Trichosanthin (TCS) / Chapter 2.3.2.4 --- Shiga toxin chain A [E167AE170A] (StxA) / Chapter 2.3.2.5 --- Ricin chain A (RTA) / Chapter 2.3.2.6 --- Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) / Chapter 2.3.2.7 --- C-terminal His-tagged MOD, TCS and RTA / Chapter 2.3.2.8 --- His-SUMO-protease / Chapter 2.3.2.9 --- P2 and its variants / Chapter 2.3.2.10 --- Protein concentration and storage / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Purification of rat liver ribosome --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- In vitro pull-down assay with ribosome --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- On-resin crosslinking and mass spectrometry --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- Crosslinking assay and western blotting --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.7 --- In vitro pull-down assay with P2 --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.8 --- In vitro pull-down assay with P2 and its variants --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.9 --- Surface Plasmon Resonance --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.10 --- N-glycosidase activity assay and quantitative PCR --- p.30 / Chapter 2.3.11 --- Cytotoxicity on 293T --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.12 --- Cellular uptake of RIPs and western blotting --- p.32 / Chapter 2.4 --- Results / Chapter 2.4.1 --- In vitro pull-down assay with ribosome --- p.32 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- On-resin crosslinking and mass spectrometry of crosslinked proteins --- p.37 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Crosslinking assay and western blotting --- p.40 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- In vitro pull-down assay with P2 --- p.43 / Chapter 2.4.5 --- Sensorgram of binding between P2 and Maize RIP variants --- p.44 / Chapter 2.4.6 --- N-glycosidase activity of maize RIP variants --- p.45 / Chapter 2.4.7 --- Cytotoxicity of maize RIP variants --- p.48 / Chapter 2.4.8 --- In vitro pull-down assay with P2 and its variants --- p.49 / Chapter 2.4.9 --- Surface Plasmon Resonance of P2 and various RIPs --- p.52 / Chapter 2.4.10 --- N-glycosidase activity assay and quantitative PCR --- p.55 / Chapter 2.4.11 --- Cytotoxicity of RIPs to 293T --- p.57 / Chapter 2.5 --- Discussion --- p.59 / Chapter 2.6 --- Conclusion --- p.72 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Identifying prokaryotic ribosomal protein(s) interacting with shiga toxin / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Background of shiga toxin --- p.74 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Trafficking and activation of shiga toxin --- p.75 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Intoxication by Shiga toxin --- p.76 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Dual specificity on ribosome --- p.77 / Chapter 3.2 --- Objectives and significance --- p.78 / Chapter 3.3 --- Materials and methods / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Cloning of Shiga toxin and ribosomal proteins --- p.79 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Expression and purification --- p.79-80 / Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- His-SUMO StxA, His-StxA, and His-StxA [E167Q] / Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Ribosomal proteins / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Isolation of E. coli ribosome and rat liver ribosome --- p.80 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Pull-down assay of prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosome --- p.81 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Size-exclusion chromatography of RIPs and prokaryotic ribosome --- p.81 / Chapter 3.3.6 --- Pull-down assay of StxA with HepG2 and C41 lysate --- p.82 / Chapter 3.3.7 --- Two-dimensional electrophoresis --- p.82 / Chapter 3.3.8 --- Mass spectrometric analysis of pull-down assay --- p.83 / Chapter 3.3.9 --- Crosslinking of StxA with r-proteins --- p.84 / Chapter 3.4 --- Results / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Cloning of wild-type shiga toxin --- p.84 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Pull-down with prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosome --- p.85 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Size-exclusion chromatography of RIPs and prokaryotic ribosome --- p.88 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Pull-down assay of StxA with HepG2 and C41 lysates --- p.90 / Chapter 3.4.5 --- Crosslinking of StxA with r-proteins --- p.97 / Chapter 3.5 --- Discussion and conclusion --- p.99 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Engineering ricin A chain for increasing its specificity toward Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.104 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Human immunodeficiency virus --- p.104 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Current drugs for HIV --- p.105 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Anti-HIV mechanism of RIPs --- p.105 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Engineering cytotoxic protein into HIV-1 specific toxin --- p.107 / Chapter 4.2 --- Objectives and significance --- p.109 / Chapter 4.3 --- Materials and methods / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Design and cloning of RTA HIV-1 specific variants --- p.109 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Cloning, expression and purification of ricin variants --- p.112 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Purification of HIV-1 protease --- p.112 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- HIV-1 protease induced cleavage of RTA variants --- p.113 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Cytotoxicity on 293T and JAR --- p.114 / Chapter 4.4 --- Results / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Purity check of RTA variants --- p.114 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- HIV-1 protease induced cleavage of RTA variants --- p.115 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Cytotoxicity on 293T and JAR --- p.119 / Chapter 4.5 --- Discussion --- p.124 / Chapter 4.6 --- Conclusion --- p.126 / Concluding remarks and future prospect --- p.127 / Appendices / Appendix 1 --- p.128 - 132 / Appendix 2 --- p.133 - 134 / Appendix 3 --- p.135 - 138 / Appendix 4 --- p.139 - 145 / Bibliography --- p.146 - 159

In the future, the 25 as internal loop region of Pro-RIP can be modified for the optimized recognition of proteases of other HIV strains. This approach opens a new opportunity for the anti-HIV application of maize RIP and other related type III RIPs. A modified maize RIP may also be applied to target other viruses and pathogens, for examples, hepatitis C and malaria, which are dependent on pathogen-encoded proteases for replication. / In this study, we provide an account on the generation of HIV-1 protease-sensitive maize RIP variants by first incorporating the HIV-1 protease recognition sequences to the internal inactivation region of the Pro-RIP. Among the five variants, three variants were cleaved and activated by HIV-1 protease in vitro and in vivo, resulting in an active two-chain form with N-glycosidase activity comparable to the fully active maize RIP. In addition, the variants inhibited viral replication in human T lymphocytes (C8166) infected by two T-tropic HIV-1 strains, HIV-1IIIB and HIV-1 RF/V82F/I84V, and their cytotoxicity towards uninfected cells was similar to the non-activated precursor (TAT-Pro). In comparison to TAT-Pro, variants TAT-Pro-HIV-MA/CA and Pro-TAT-Pro-HIV-p2/NC had 2- to 70-fold increase in the inhibition of p24 antigen production in the HIV-infected cells with low cytotoxicity towards uninfected C8166 cells. / Maize RIP is classified as a type III RIP. It is synthesized in the endosperm of maize as an inactive precursor (Pro-RIP), which contains a 25-amino acid internal inactivation region. During germination, a two-chain activated form (MOD) is generated by endogenous proteolysis of the internal inactivation region, whereas the two chains (16.5 and 8.5 kDa) are tightly associated without disulfide linkage. Our group has solved the crystal structures of both the Pro-RIP and MOD and found that this internal inactivation region is on the surface of the N-terminal domain in Pro-RIP . The removal of this internal inactivation region increases the inhibition of protein synthesis of rabbit reticulocyte lysate by over 600 folds. The presence of the internal inactivation region has led us to derive a novel strategy to enhance the specificity of maize RIP towards HIV-infected cells while minimizing its cytotoxic effect on normal cells. / Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are RNA N-glycosidases which cleave the N-glycosidic bond of adenine-4324 at the alpha-sarcin/ricin (SR) loop of 28S rRNA. The depurination of the SR loop results in the inhibition of protein synthesis by impairing the binding of EF-1 or EF-2 to ribosomes. RIPs are therefore highly cytotoxic and have been used as abortificiant, anti-cancer and anti-HIV agents, either alone or as a component of immunotoxins. Many type I and II RIPs, such as MAP30, GAP30, DAP30, pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) and ricin, have been reported to possess anti-HIV activity by inhibiting viral replication in vitro and in vivo though the anti-HIV mechanism is still unclear. / Law, Ka Yee. / Adviser: Pang-Chui Shaw. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-04, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-144). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

As Proteínas Inativadoras de Ribossomos (RIPs) compreendem uma família de enzimas que inibem a síntese protéica através da depurinação de uma adenina específica do RNA ribossomal. Os membros desta família são classificados como RIPs do tipo I, quando possuem somente o RNA-N-Glicosidase e RIPs do tipo II quando além do domínio glicosidase, também apresentam um domínio de lectina. As RIPs foram mais estudadas em plantas, onde a ricina e a aglutinina, ambas RIP do tipo II de mamona (Ricinus communis), estão entre as primeiras descritas. O presente trabalho teve o objetivo de identificar parálogos da ricina e aglutinina, bem como RIPs do tipo I de mamona e analisar as suas relações filogenéticas. Além disso, validar o uso de 14 potenciais genes de referência para qRT-PCR em cinco estádios do desenvolvimento da semente de mamona. O padrão de expressão gênica por RT-qPCR de todas RIPs de mamona identificadas, também foram analisados nestes mesmos estádios. Um total de 18 genes de RIPs foi identificado em mamona (Rcom RIPs), dos quais 10 foram classificados como do tipo II e 8 do tipo I. As topologias das árvores filogenéticas sugerem que as Rcom RIPs foram originadas a partir de múltiplos eventos de duplicação gênica. Dois modelos evolutivos foram propostos para a radiação das Rcom RIPs, baseados em processos de fusão gênica associado ou não a eventos de duplicação parcial. Os genes Act 2/7, EF β, Ubi, TIP e UBC foram os que apresentaram perfil de expressão mais estável e foram selecionados para subsequente normalização dos dados de expressão das Rcom RIPs. Os genes que codificam as Rcom RIPI 3, 4, 5, 7 e 8 e as Rcom RIPII 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 e 8 são transcritos em sementes, sendo que a Rcom RIPII 1 (ricina) e a Rcom RIPII 2 (aglutinina) foram as mais expressas. O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo evolutivo das Rcom RIPs, o qual pode ser extrapolado para outras espécies de plantas. Este trabalho também demonstra o primeiro esforço para a padronização de genes de referência para RT-qPCR em mamona e o primeiro que apresenta a expressão outras Rcom RIPs, além da ricina e aglutinina. / Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) comprise a family of enzymes that inhibit protein synthesis, after depurination of an adenine-specific ribosomal RNA. The members of this family are classified as type I RIPs, which have a RNA-Nglycosidase domain and type II RIPs encompassing a RNA-N-glycosidase and a lectin domain.The RIPs were more studied in plants, where ricin and agglutinin, both type II RIP of castor bean (Ricinus communis), were the first to be described. This work aimed to: 1) identifine paralogous of ricin and agglutinin, as well as the type I RIPs of castor bean; 2) analyze their phylogenetic relationships; 3) validate the use of 14 potential housekeeping genes for qRT-PCR for five developmental stages of R. communis seeds; 4) analyze the pattern of gene expression by RTqPCR of all RIPs castor identified in these same stages. A total of 18 genes that encode RIPs were identified in castor bean (Rcom RIPs), 10 of which were classified as type II and 8 as type I. The phylogenetic trees topologies suggest that Rcom RIPs were originated from multiple events of gene duplications. Two evolutionary models have been proposed for the radiation of Rcom RIPs based on gene fusion processes associated or not to events of partial duplication. The genes Act 2/7, EF β, Ubi, TIP and UBC presented the more stable expression profile and were selected for further RT- qPCR normalization experiments. The Rcom RIPI 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and Rcom RIPI 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 genes are actively transcribed in seeds, whereas the Rcom RIPI 1 (ricin) and Rcom RIPI 2 (agglutinin) were the most expressed. This paper presents an evolutionary model of Rcom RIPs, which can be extrapolated to other plant species. Also, corresponds to the first effort to standardize housekeeping genes for RT-qPCR in castor bean and the first that shows the expression Rcom RIPs, other than ricin and agglutinin.

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are proteinaceous metabolic compartments found in a wide range of bacteria, whose function it is to encapsulate pathways for the breakdown of various carbon sources, whilst retaining toxic and volatile intermediates formed from substrate breakdown. Examples of these metabolic processes are the 1,2- propanediol-breakdown pathway in Salmonella enterica (Pdu microcompartment), as well as the ethanolamine breakdown pathway in Clostridium difficile (Eut microcompartment). Some of the major challenges to exploiting BMCs as a tool in biotechnology are understanding how enzymes are targeted to microcompartments, as well as being able to engineer the protein shell of BMCs to make synthetic microcompartments that allow specific enzyme pathways to be targeted to their interior. Finally, the metabolic burden imposed by the production of large protein complexes requires a detailed knowledge of how the expression of these systems are controlled. This project explores the structure and biochemistry of an essential BMC pathway enzyme, the acylating propionaldehyde dehydrogenase. With crystal structures of the enzyme with the cofactors in the cofactor binding site and biochemical data presented to confirm the enzyme's substrate. The project also focuses on the creation of synthetic biology tools to enable BMC engineering with a modular library of BMC shell protein parts; forward engineered ribosome binding sites (RBS) fused to BMC aldehyde dehydrogenase localisation sequences. The parts for this library were taken from the BMC loci found in Clostridium phytofermentans and Salmonella enterica. Using a synthetic biology toolkit will allow the rapid prototyping of BMC constructs for use in metabolic engineering. The shell protein parts were used to generate a number of transcriptional units, to assess the effect of overexpression of individual BMC shell components on the morphology of BMCs and the effect these had on their host chassis. Different strength forward engineered RBS and localisation constructs have been designed to assess the possibility of controlling the levels of heterologous proteins targeted to the interior of microcompartment shell to allow metabolic engineering of encapsulated pathways. Along with looking at overexpression of a single shell protein, to assess viability of BMCs as scaffold-like structures, recombinant BMCs can be explored for their utility in bioengineering and their potential role in generating biofuels.

Adult skeletal muscle is highly plastic and responds readily to environmental stimuli. One of the most commonly utilized methods to study skeletal muscle adaptations is immunofluorescence microscopy. By analyzing images of adult muscle cells, also known as myofibers, one can quantify changes in skeletal muscle structure and function (e.g. hypertrophy and fiber type). Skeletal muscle samples are typically cut in transverse or cross sections, and antibodies against sarcolemmal or basal lamina proteins are used to label the myofiber boundaries. The quantification of hundreds to thousands of myofibers per sample is accomplished either manually or semi-automatically using generalized pathology software, and such approaches become exceedingly tedious. In the first study, I developed MyoVision, a robust, fully automated software that is dedicated to skeletal muscle immunohistological image analysis. The software has been made freely available to muscle biologists to alleviate the burden of routine image analyses. To date, more than 60 technicians, students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty members, and others have requested this software. Using MyoVision, I was able to accurately quantify the effects of β-catenin knockout on myofiber hypertrophy. In the second study, I tested the hypothesis that myofiber hypertrophy requires β-catenin to activate c-myc transcription and promote ribosome biogenesis. Recent evidence in both mice and human suggests a close association between ribosome biogenesis and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Using an inducible mouse model of skeletal myofiber-specific genetic knockout, I obtained evidence that β-catenin is important for myofiber hypertrophy, although its role in ribosome biogenesis appears to be dispensable for mechanical overload induced muscle growth. Instead, β-catenin may be necessary for promoting the translation of growth related genes through activation of ribosomal protein S6. Unexpectedly, we detected a novel, enhancing effect of myofiber β-catenin knockout on the resident muscle stem cells, or satellite cells. In the absence of myofiber β-catenin, satellite cells activate and proliferate earlier in response to mechanical overload. Consistent with the role of satellite cells in muscle repair, the enhanced recruitment of satellite cells led to a significantly improved regeneration response after chemical injury. The novelty of these findings resides in the fact that the genetic perturbation was extrinsic to the satellite cells, and this is even more surprising because the current literature focuses heavily on intrinsic mechanisms within satellite cells. As such, this model of myofiber β-catenin knockout may significantly contribute to better understanding of the mechanisms of satellite cell priming, with implications for regenerative medicine.

Les facteurs de transcription FLI-1 et SPI-1/PU.1 appartiennent à la famille ETS et reconnaissent le même motif sur l'ADN GGAA. Leur activation est observée de manière récurrente dans les érythroleucémies murines induites par le virus de Friend. Ces observations suggèrent un rôle crucial de ces deux facteurs dans la transformation de la lignée érythrocytaire potentiellement par la dérégulation de gènes cibles communs. Mon travail de thèse a consisté à tester la contribution de ces deux facteurs au phénotype des cellules érythroleucémiques et à rechercher les gènes cibles directs communs.Nous avons pu montrer que FLI-1 et SPI-1/PU.1 ont des contributions additives au phénotype des cellules érythroleucémiques surexprimant les deux facteurs. Par une approche transcriptomique, nous avons identifié une grande proportion de gènes cibles directs communs à FLI-1 et à SPI-1/PU.1 impliqués dans différentes étapes de la biogenèse des ribosomes. La déplétion de ces facteurs induit une réduction de la biogenèse des ribosomes qui n'induit pas de stress ribosomique stabilisant p53. Néanmoins, nous avons mis en évidence une contribution spécifique de RPL11, un médiateur essentiel du stress ribosomique, à la différenciation des cellules érythroleucémiques induites par l'absence de ces facteurs.Nous avons mené en parallèle l'inventaire par ChIP-Seq des sites de recrutement de FLI-1 et de SPI-1/PU.1 sur le génome entier de 3 lignées érythroleucémiques indépendantes. Cette stratégie nous a permis de montrer que les régions de recrutement communes sont la conséquence de la proximité de consensus spécifiques et distincts et du recrutement de FLI-1 et de SPI-1/PU.1 sur leur propre consensus.

Isolée d'une bactérie, Streptomyces alboniger, la puromycine est un nucléoside antibiotique naturel présentant une analogie structurale avec l'adénosine terminale de l'extrémité 3' de l'ARNt aminoacylé. Cette similarité confère à cette molécule la faculté de pouvoir s'insérer dans le site A (actif) du ribosome et d'inhiber la synthèse des protéines. Cependant, du fait de la formation d'un produit toxique lors de sa métabolisation, la puromycine n'a jamais été employée à des fins thérapeutiques chez l'homme. Néanmoins, utilisée en tant qu'outil synthétique, elle a largement contribué à une meilleure compréhension du mécanisme du transfert peptidique. Au travers de cette thèse, six analogues carbobicycliques (deux en série ribo et quatre en série 2'-désoxy), mimant de façon optimale les conformations extrêmes nord ou sud de la puromycine, ont été synthétisés puis testés dans le ribosome. Outre confirmer que la présence d'un groupement 2'-hydroxyle améliorait l'activité inhibitrice, ces expériences in vitro ont apporté une preuve que, dans le site actif, le déplacement de l'équilibre conformationnel du ribofuranose de l'adénosine terminale de l'ARNt aminoacylé - analogue structural de la puromycine - en faveur de son conformère nord pourrait être directement impliqué dans la catalyse ribosomale du transfert peptidique. Par ailleurs, un projet annexe sur le développement de nouveaux antipaludiques potentiels a permis la synthèse, en série xylo, de la puromycine et de son métabolite naturel le puromycine aminonucléoside. Ces composés ont été testés sur les souches 3D7 et Dd2 du parasite Plasmodium falciparum.