Il est maintenant admis que l’activité anti-tumorale du TNF implique une destruction de la vascularisation de la tumeur par induction d’apoptose des cellules endothéliales. Si le traitement au TNF en thérapie humaine permet des rémissions complètes, il n’est applicable qu’aux membres isolés de la circulation systémique car les doses requises de TNF sont létales pour le patient. Mettre en évidence les mécanismes qui contrôlent l’apoptose de la cellule endothéliale devrait permettre de développer de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques favorisant l’effet thérapeutique du TNF tout en évitant le choc septique qu’il engendre. Nous avons abordé cette question en utilisant le modèle de la cellule endothéliale d’aorte bovine (BAEC) stimulée au TNF afin d’étudier les mécanismes qui contrôlent le processus apoptotique et ce au cours des phases précoces de celui-ci. D’une part, nous avons identifié par une approche pharmacologique au moins trois voies de contrôle négatif d’induction de mort cellulaire par le TNF dans les cellules endothéliales : la première faisant intervenir une des protéines kinases C, une seconde la PI3-kinase et une troisième la protéine kinase p38. Cette dernière semble spécifiquement activée par le TNF et pourrait donc constituer une nouvelle cible pharmacologique visant à sensibiliser les cellules endothéliales de la vascularisation de la tumeur à l’action apoptotique du TNF. D’autre part nous avons mis en évidence et identifié par une approche protéomique au moins deux protéines montrant une rapide diminution de phosphorylation lorsque les cellules endothéliales sont stimulées par le TNF en présence de cycloheximide. Ces deux événements semblent en aval de l’activation d’une protéase de la famille des caspases. La première protéine est la sous-unité régulatrice de type II alpha (RIIα) de la protéine kinase A. Cependant, la relation entre cette déphosphorylation et le processus d’apoptose n’a pas pu être mise en évidence, une stimulation de l’activité PKA n’affectant pas l’induction d’apoptose des BAEC. La seconde est la protéine HDGF, connue pour être sur-exprimée dans certains cancers, mais dont la régulation par phosphorylation ainsi que son implication éventuelle lors du processus apoptotique n’avaient encore jamais été envisagées. Enfin, nous avons voulu mettre en évidence le rôle potentiel de la protéine hnRNP K qui subit une modification post-traductionnelle précoce lors de l’apoptose des BAEC. Notre étude, menée après surexpression de la protéine étiquetée, suggère une modification autre qu’une dégradation. Cependant, il ne nous a pas été permis de lui attribuer un rôle puisque la surexpression de cette protéine n’affecte pas l’apparition de différents marqueurs associés à l’apoptose.

No description available.

The overall objective of this research was to investigate the status of tumor necrosis factor-?? (TNF-??), and molecules associated with its signaling, in the pathological state of hepatic steatosis. The effect of NSAID piroxicam, a cancer preventive agent also known to affect TNF-?? signaling on hepatic steatosis, was also investigated. The biological state of the tissue was assessed by examining the expression of TNF-?? signaling molecule in whole tissue, as well as in hepatic lipid raft. Lipid rafts are dynamic assemblies of cholesterol and sphingolipids, microdomains that form in the exoplasmic leaflet of the biological membranes shown to play a role in compartmentalization, modulation and integration of the cell signaling. In the present research, Zucker obese rats were used as a model of human obesity and insulin resistant state. These rats exhibit hepatic steatosis in adulthood similar to those noted in obese individuals. Female Zucker obese and lean rats (5 weeks old) were fed a semisynthetic diet with or without piroxicam (150 ppm). Zucker lean counterparts served as control. After 8 weeks of feeding, rats were euthanized and liver from each animal was collected. Liver tissue from each animal was processed for histology and biochemical analysis which included lipids and proteins (COX-1 and 2, TNF-??, TNF-RI and RII, IKK-??, I??B-?? and NF-??B). Liver histology and the level of total lipids confirmed that Zucker obese rats had hepatic steatosis, which was further augmented by piroxicam treatment. Whole tissue protein expression, using western blot, showed that the steatotic liver differed from non-steatotic livers by having lower levels of TNF-RII. TNF-RII showed a trend which was inversely proportional to the pathological state of the tissue. The obese-piroxicam liver had the lowest level of TNF-RII and lean livers had the highest (p<0.05). The total NF-??B level was higher in the obese and obese-piroxicam groups compared to the lean or lean-piroxicam groups (p<0.05). Piroxicam treatment lowered the level of NF-??B in obese and lean livers. I??B-?? was higher in obese livers than in lean livers. The nuclear level of NF-??B by western blot analysis showed the same pattern as noted in the whole tissue homogenate. However, the difference in the level between obese and lean was marked. The obese nuclei contained two to three fold higher levels of NF-??B protein than the lean liver nuclei. I??B-?? level was significantly higher in the obese liver tissues and nuclei than their lean counterparts. While transcriptionally active NF-??B was higher (p<0.05) in the obese livers than in the lean livers, the difference between obese and lean groups was not as significant as that noted for the level of NF-??B assessed by western blot. This suggests that the proportion of active NF-??B present in the nuclear fraction is much higher in the lean than in the obese nuclei. Lipid raft was extracted and identified successfully from obese and lean livers. The total caveolin and flotillin levels were significantly higher in the liver lipid rafts of the obese-piroxicam than that of the other groups. This is the group that also exhibited higher steatosis. Piroxicam treatment significantly decreased the level of caveolin in the lean liver and significantly increased the level of flotillin in the obese liver. While COX-1 was not detectable, however, the level of COX-2 and TNF-RII in lipid raft was opposite to the level noted in the whole tissue homogenate. TNFRII was highest in the obese-piroxicam lipid raft and lowest in the lean-piroxicam lipid raft. TNF-RII, COX-2, I??B-?? and NF-??B proteins were the molecules profoundly affected by the pathological state of the tissue and piroxicam treatment. This research is the first to report the presence of I??B-?? in the nuclear compartment with a higher level in the nuclei and whole tissue in the obese liver than in the lean liver. This research demonstrates that TNF-?? to NF-??B axis is altered in steatotic liver, and analysis of lipid rafts in steatotic and non-steatotic liver demonstrates that lipid rafts play a distinct role in modifying the biological availability of key proteins in the pathological state of liver steatosis.

TNF-a is an important cytokine mediator of inflammation which suggests that inhibition of TNF-a activity may provide potential for clinical application. Recent data indicated that treatment of both human and mouse cells with Kavain significantly modulates P. gingivalis- and LPS-induced TNF-α expression. In order to obtain a selective analog with optimized biological activity and structural physico-chemical properties of Kavain, Kavain analogs were designed and synthesized and found one Kavain analogue (named Kav001) that is similar to Kavain but soluble and does not induce a significant toxicity. Both studies in vitro and in vivo treatment by Kav001 showed stronger biological function as compared to Kavain. Furthermore, most mouse bone marrow macrophages up-regulated Bcl-6 while down-regulating LITAF expression after treatment with Kav001 for 36 h. Consequently, this led to an extension of macrophage pseudopods due to its immune response to P.g. infection/ LPS stimulation. we further found that Kav001 not only inhibits TNF-α, but also IL-1β, IL-6, caspase 1 and neutrophil infiltration in response to LPS. However, this phenomenon cannot be observed when macrophages were treated with LPS plus Kavain. We believe that Kav001 may mediate a novel link between Kav001 and LPS-induced inflammation and may be used as a key inhibitor to LPS-induced inflammation/inflammatory disease.

The tumour necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily is a group of cytokines that orchestrate a variety of functions, both in the development of the architecture of immune organs and of the immune response. The mammalian TNF superfamily consists of 19 ligands and 29 receptors, whereas in the chicken only 10 ligands and 15 receptors are present. Chickens do not develop lymph nodes, possibly due to the absence of the lymphotoxin genes (TNF superfamily members) in their genome. New members of the chicken TNF superfamily have recently been identified in the genome, namely chicken receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (chRANKL), its signalling receptor, chRANK, and its decoy receptor, osteoprotegerin (chOPG). In mammals, RANKL and RANK are transmembrane proteins expressed on the surface of Th1 cells and mature dendritic cells (DC), respectively. OPG is expressed as a soluble protein from osteoblasts and DC, regulating the interaction between RANKL and RANK. To investigate the bioactivity of this triad of molecules, the extracellular soluble domains of chRANKL and chRANK and full-length chOPG were identified and cDNAs cloned. ChRANKL, chRANK and chOPG mRNA are ubiquitously expressed across non-lymphoid and lymphoid tissues and immune cells in the chicken. Similar to mammals, chRANK and chOPG mRNA expression levels are upregulated in mature bone marrow-derived DC (BMDC). ChRANKL transcription is regulated by Ca2+-mobilisation and is further enhanced by the activation of the protein kinase C pathway, as seen in mammals. The biological activities of chRANKL, chRANK and chOPG were investigated by the production of recombinant soluble fusion proteins. The extracellular, TNF-homology, domain of chRANKL (schRANKL) was sub-cloned into a modified pCI-neo vector expressing an in-frame isoleucine zipper to encourage trimer formation. FLAG-tagged schRANKL produced in COS-7 cells predominantly forms homotrimers and chOPG is expressed as homodimers, both signatures of their mammalian TNF superfamily orthologues. SchRANKL enhances the mRNA expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in mature BMDC and BM-derived macrophages (BMDM). Pre-incubation with soluble chRANK-Fc or chOPG-Fc blocked the schRANKL-mediated increase in pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNA expression levels in BMDC. Expression of surface markers on BMDC and BMDM were not affected by schRANKL treatment. SchRANKL enhances the survival rates of BMDC and BMDM and can drive osteoclast differentiation from monocyte/macrophage progenitor cells. The chRANKL signalling receptor, chRANK, does not contain an intracellular catalytic domain but requires the binding of intracellular TNF receptor-associated factors (TRAF) to initiate signalling. TRAFs are a family of seven proteins (TRAF1-7) grouped due to their highly conserved RING domains, zinc finger domains, TRAF-N and TRAF-C domains. ChRANK possesses four of the five TRAF peptide-binding motifs found in mammalian RANK. The "missing" chRANK TRAF peptide-binding motif is TRAF6-specific, a vital protein for RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenesis. All seven members of the mammalian TRAF family are present in the chicken genome. To investigate the conservation of RANK-specific TRAF signalling proteins, chicken TRAF2 (chTRAF2), chTRAF5, chTRAF6 and a newly found member, chTRAF7, were identified and their cDNAs cloned. ChTRAF5, chTRAF6 and chTRAF7 had mRNA expression patterns, in non-lymphoid and lymphoid tissues and in a number of immune cells, similar to their orthologues in mammals. Interestingly, chTRAF2 has two variants, the full-length chTRAF2 and a novel isoform (chTRAF2S) lacking exon 4. ChTRAF2S lacks a portion of zinger finger one, all of zinc finger two and a portion of zinc finger three, producing a protein with a hybrid of zinc fingers 1 and 3 and intact zinc fingers 4 and 5. RT-PCR analyses indicated differential expression of both of the chTRAF2 isoforms in a number of non-lymphoid and lymphoid tissues, splenocyte subsets and in a kinetic study of ConA-stimulated splenocytes. ChTRAF2S is biologically active compared to chTRAF2, inducing higher levels of NF-κB activation. Co-transfections indicate that chTRAF2 may regulate chTRAF2S bioactivity as no synergistic effect was identified when cells were transfected with both isoforms. Knowledge gained from this study will help work to further dissect the interactions between chRANKL-expressing T cells and chRANK-expressing DC to drive Th1 immune responses and to understand how the chicken mounts an effective immune response while expressing a minimal essential repertoire of the TNF superfamily.

L’interface hôte/microbiote intestinal est un système d’interactions complexes dont le déséquilibre est associé au développement des maladies inflammatoires chroniques. Les traitements anti-TNFα sont très efficaces dans ces maladies, mais seulement chez certains patients. L’objectif de ce travail était de rechercher un lien entre composition du microbiote intestinal et réponse aux traitements anti-TNFα dans deux types de maladies inflammatoires chroniques, les spondyloarthrites et les maladies inflammatoires chroniques de l’intestin. Nous avons retrouvé des variations de la composition du microbiote intestinal après traitement par anti-TNFα chez des patients atteints de spondyloarthrite et avons identifié un nœud taxonomique prédictif de la réponse thérapeutique à trois mois. Ce nœud taxonomique, l’ordre des Burkholderiales, étant ainsi un biomarqueur potentiellement utilisable en pratique clinique, nous avons déposé une demande de brevet européen, qui est en cours d’instruction. Ce travail a été poursuivi par un nouveau protocole de recherche clinique incluant des patients atteints de spondyloarthrites mais aussi de maladies inflammatoires chroniques intestinales. Ce protocole est financé par le CHU de Bordeaux dans le cadre de l’Appel d’Offre Interne. Il permettra de valider les hypothèses de notre premier travail, en réalisant notamment des PCR quantitatives utilisant des amorces spécifiques de l’ordre des Burkholderiales. Nous avons de plus retrouvé in vitro pour la première fois à notre connaissance une modulation de la croissance bactérienne chez Bacteroides fragilis en réponse au TNFα humain. / The host/gut microbiota interface is a system of complex interactions whose imbalance is associated with the development of chronic inflammatory diseases. Anti-TNFα treatments are very effective in these diseases, but only in some patients. The purpose of this work was to find a link between the composition of the intestinal microbiota and clinical response to anti-TNFα treatments in two types of chronic inflammatory diseases, spondyloarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. We found variations in the composition of the intestinal microbiota after treatment with anti-TNFα in patients with spondyloarthritis and identified a taxonomic node predictive of the therapeutic response at 3 months. This taxonomic node, the Burkholderiales order, being a biomarker potentially usable in clinical practice, we have filed a European patent application, which is currently under investigation. This work was continued by a new clinical research protocol including patients with spondyloarthritis but also with inflammatory bowel diseases. This protocol is funded by the Bordeaux University Hospital as part of the internal call for tenders. It will validate the hypotheses of our first work, notably by performing quantitative PCRs using specific primers targeting the order of Burkholderiales. In vitro, we have also found for the first time, to our knowledge, a modulation of bacterial growth in Bacteroides fragilis in response to human TNFα.

Aquest treball aprofundeix en el coneixement de les funcions que el sistema TNF-TNFR desenvolupa en la unitat materno-fetal en el part normal i en el part amb risc o signes d'infecció. D'una banda s'analitzen els perfils d'expressió dels receptors del TNF-a p55 i p75 presents en els diferents compartiments de la unitat materno-fetal i de l'altre es determina la concentració plasmàtica del TNF-a i també dels dos receptors en nounats amb signes d'infecció, analitzant si la determinació d'aquestes citocines pot ser utilitzada com a marcador de la sèpsia neonatal precoç i factor pronòstic de l'evolució clínica. Per últim s'ha determinat la influència del polimorfisme -308 pb del gen TNF-a en la prematuritat idiopàtica i en la ruptura prematura de membranes. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que el part normal representa una situació fisiològica en la qual s'observa un increment del clivatge dels receptors solubles del TNF-a i una disminució dels receptors de membrana tant en sang perifèrica materna com en sang de cordó, en comparació amb les dones control no embarassades. Aquests canvis fisiològics poden proporcionar un mecanisme de protecció conferint una major capacitat per tamponar l'efecte nociu d'un excés de TNF-a durant la gestació. En el context d'una infecció intrauterina es produeix un augment de les concentracions dels receptors solubles del TNF-a en sang perifèrica materna, en sang de cordó i en líquid amniòtic, la qual cosa suggereix que aquests receptors tenen una funció homeostàtica, atenuant els efectes nocius de l'excés de TNF-a associat al part patològic. En el nadó la producció de TNF-a i dels seus receptors solubles és màxima en presència de signes clínics i/o biològics d'infecció durant les primeres 24 hores de vida. La determinació simultània de les concentracions plasmàtiques de TNF-a i dels receptors solubles sTNFR-p55 i p75 és un factor pronòstic de l'evolució clínica. Existeix una associació entre l'al·lel TNFA2 i una major susceptibilitat a presentar parts prematurs precedits d'una ruptura prematura de membranes. Aquesta associació no és independent de l'haplotip de l'HLA A1, B8, DRB1*03. L'al·lel TNFA2 i l'haplotip HLA A1, B8, DRB1*03 poden ser uns marcadors útils per a identificar dones amb major risc de patir ruptura prematura de les membranes fetals preterme. / The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the TNF-TNFR system in the materno-fetal unit during both, the normal labor and the labor with risk or signs of infection. The first objective was to analyze TNFR-p55 and p75 expression profiles in the different materno-fetal compartments. The second objective was to determine the plasmatic TNF-a and TNFR levels in newborns with signs of infection and to analyze the usefulness of TNF-a and TNFR as markers of early onset neonatal sepsis and prognostic factors of clinical outcome. Finally, we analyzed the influence of -308 pb TNF-a polymorphism in the idiopatic preterm birth and in preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes. The results showed that the normal labor represents a physiologic condition characterized by an increase in the soluble TNFR levels and a decrease of TNF-a membrane receptors expression in both maternal peripheral blood and in cord blood in comparison with non-pregnant women. These physiologic changes may provide a protection mechanism conferring a better capacity to buffering the deleterious effects of excessive TNF-a production during gestation. In the context of an intrauterin infection, sTNFR's levels increase in maternal peripheral blood, in cord blood, and in amniotic liquid suggesting a homeostatic function for these soluble receptors attenuating the deleterious effects of excessive TNF-a production associated with the pathologic labor. In the newborns TNF-a and sTNFR's reach the highest levels in presence of clinical and/or biological signs of infection in the first 24 h of life. The simultaneous determination of plasmatic TNF-a and sTNFR's levels is a prognostic factor of clinical outcome. Finally, our results demonstrate an association between TNFA2 allele and preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes. This association is not independent of HLA-A1, B8, DR3 haplotype. TNFA2 allele and the extended haplotype A1, B8, DR3 may serve as useful markers to identify women at risk for preterm premature rupture of membranes.

No description available.

First published online: 2012-03-10 / 名古屋大学博士学位論文 学位の種類 : 博士(医学)(課程) 学位授与年月日:平成24年4月27日 森谷隆氏の博士論文として提出された

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute inflammatory disease characterized by persistent inflammation of the coronary arteries. KD is characterized by the release of cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and is thought to be initiated by a superantigen (SAg). The Lactobacillus casei cell wall extract model of KD demonstrates a critical requirement for TNFα and its receptor during pathogenesis, although the precise effect of TNFα is unknown. A persistent T cell infiltrate in the coronary artery disagrees with established fates of SAg activated cells, which undergo apoptosis. In this work, TNFα was found to promote the survival of SAg-reactive T cells. The results demonstrate that TNFα regulates B7.2 molecule expression on antigen presenting cells, and that TNFα indirectly promotes the survival of SEB-stimulated T cells by driving costimulation. These observations demonstrate how TNFα prevents T cell apoptosis and lend support to KD therapies which target TNFα and B7.