Le syndrome de Bardet-Biedl (BBS) est considéré comme l’une des causes les plus fréquentes de rétinopathie pigmentaire dite syndromique. Il a été démontré une connexion entre les protéines BBS et les structures du cil primaire. Le cil primaire est un organelle formé par une fine évagination de la membrane plasmique soutenu par une ossature de microtubules. Dans la rétine, le photorécepteur (PR) est une cellule ciliaire composée d’un segment interne et d’un segment externe reliés par un cil primaire modifié. Au cours de ce travail, nous avons mis en évidence que le stress du réticulum endoplasmique est à l’origine du processus apoptotique car un défaut ciliaire dans le PR entraine l’accumulation de protéines dans le segment interne et déclenche une réponse au stress cellulaire appelé unfolded protein response. Nous avons développé un traitement pharmacologique modulant ce stress cellulaire afin de ralentir l’apoptose des PR dans un modèle murin BBS. Cette approche pharmacologique a montré son efficacité dans le maintien et la fonctionnalité des PR. Elle pourrait potentiellement être applicable à d’autres ciliopathies rétiniennes. / Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is one of the most frequent cause of syndromic retinitis pigmentosa. BBS proteins are related to primary cilium structure and function. The primary cilium is microtubule-based antenna-like structure at the surface of the cell. In the retina, the photoreceptor (PR) is a ciliated cell composed of an inner and an outer segment linked by a modified primary cilium. In this study, we demonstrated that endoplasmic reticulum stress induces unfolded protein response due to protein accumulation in the inner segment in case of ciliary defect in the PR leading to apoptosis. We designed a pharmacological treatment to alleviate PR apoptosis in a BBS mouse model. This pharmacological approach was efficient to protect PR from apoptosis and maintain their functionality. This treatment could be applicable to others retinal ciliopathies.

Thesis advisor: John Wing / Thesis advisor: Stephen Wicks / Molecular biology and genetics, single nucleotide polymorphism genetic mapping, phenotypic assays including behavioral assessment, and fluorescent microscopy of GFP-tagged proteins were used to study ciliary defects in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Mammalian cilia are multifunctional. Some of the physiological roles in which they are involved include sensing developmental signaling molecules and ligands as well as creating flows of mucus and cerebrospinal fluid that function as flow meters and mechanosensors. Due to the multifunctional nature of cilia, it is not surprising that many human diseases can be caused by ciliary defects. Bardet-Biedl Syndrome is a rare genetic ciliopathy characterized by retinal degeneration, polydactyly, obesity, cystic kidneys, mental retardation, and many other ailments. We have identified osm- 12/bbs-7 to be a C. elegans homologue of human BBS7, a gene known to cause Bardet-Biedl Syndrome when mutated. With the help of Michel Leroux’s group, I showed the BBS-7 protein to be localized to the base of cilia and to undergo intraflagellar transport along the ciliary axoneme. Our findings suggest that BBS- 7 plays a role in the assembly and/or functioning of the IFT complex. I also performed a mutagenesis and phenotypic screen for animals defective in the uptake of DiI into a subset of their ciliated neurons in order to identify new components involved in ciliogenesis and IFT. I describe an extended bulked segregant analysis (BSA) mapping methodology, which can save time and resources by filtering out alleles of previously known genes without performing time-consuming interval mapping. In addition, I identified one of the 11 dyefilling defective alleles from the screen to be a novel allele of dyf-3, which encodes a protein required for sensory cilia formation. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Biology.

In recent years, microarray technology has revealed the widespread presence of submicroscopic deletions and duplications throughout the human genome termed copy number variants (CNVs). CNVs have a profound effect on gene expression and are an important source of normal genetic variation. In addition, a small proportion of CNVs contribute to genetically simple and complex disease. This thesis focuses on the identification of pathogenic CNVs contributing to the etiology of diseases with "missing heritability" using a well-planned study design individually tailored to each disease cohort to optimize CNV detection and interpretation. We performed a genome-wide analysis for CNVs in five disease cohorts with genetic etiology: autism, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, clubfoot, and Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS). Our results indicate that CNVs likely account for a proportion of cases for each disease cohort reported in this thesis. Approximately 20% of our cohort of individuals with autism from trio pedigrees harbors a CNV known to confer risk to develop autism and we identified other novel and rare variants that may play a role in autism pathogenesis. We also characterized a duplication of 2p25.3 identified in two male half-siblings with autism and determined that their mother was somatic mosaic for the duplication. Our work provides evidence that this novel CNV disrupting the genes PXDN and MYT1L are the autism-causing mutation in this pedigree. A comparative cases experimental design was used in the study of AMD and glaucoma. While no common "risk CNVs" were identified for either eye disorder, we did identify several rare overlapping CNVs disrupting genes known to play a role in the eye that may confer risk to disease in a small proportion of individuals. In a fourth genetically complex disease, clubfoot, we identified a duplication of 17q23.2 disrupting the genes TBX4, NACA2, and BRIP1 that segregates with the autosomal dominant clubfoot phenotype in a large pedigree with 16 affected individuals. In addition, the duplication is within the linkage interval identified for this family. We also applied microarray technology to analyze the genomes of individuals with BBS, an autosomal recessive disorder, for the presence of CNVs in known BBS genes as well as CNVs that elucidate novel candidate genes for BBS. From 34 BBS patients with an unidentified mutation, we observed one CNV, a heterozygous deletion of BBS10, unmasking a BBS10 frameshift mutation. A promising BBS candidate gene also emerged from our studies, implicated by an intragenic deletion of the gene MARK3 predicted to result in a frameshift and premature truncation of the protein. Functional studies utilizing antisense morpholino gene knockdown in the zebrafish provide additional evidence that MARK3 is a BBS gene as knockdown of zebrafish mark3 results in a Kupffer's Vesicle defect and a melanosome transport delay, two cardinal BBS phenotypes in the zebrafish. In addition to identifying CNVs involved in disease, the work outlined in this thesis provides valuable insight into the study design and interpretation of a genome-wide analysis of CNV. This includes the appropriate use of controls and publicly available control databases, methods for enriching for CNVs in a patient cohort to maximize efficiency and discovery, and the importance of analyzing all patient cohorts with heritable disease for the presence of CNVs disrupting known disease genes and CNVs that implicate novel genetic candidates. As the reliability and resolution of CNV detection continue to improve, allowing detection of > 1,000 CNVs in each individual genome, it becomes more important than ever to have a well-defined study design for both the detection and interpretation of CNVs.

The identification of disease genes (genes that when mutated cause human diseases) is an important and challenging problem. Proper diagnosis, prevention, as well as care for patients require an understanding of disease pathophysiology, which is best understood when the underlying causative gene(s) or genetic element(s) are identified. While the availability of the sequenced human genome helped to lead to the discovery of more than 1,900 disease genes, the rate of disease gene discovery is still occurring at a slow pace. The use of genetic linkage methods have successfully led to the identification of numerous disease genes. However, linkage studies are ultimately restricted by available meioses (clinical samples) which result in numerous candidate disease genes. This thesis addresses candidate gene prioritizations in disease gene discovery as applied toward a genetically heterogeneous disease known as Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS). Specifically, the integration of various functional information and the development of a novel comparative genomic approach (Computational Orthologous Prioritization - COP) that led to the identification of BBS3 and BBS11. Functional data integration and application of the COP method may be helpful toward the identification of other disease genes.

Neonatal hydrocephalus is a common neurological disorder leading to expansion of the cerebral ventricles. This disease is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and is often fatal if left untreated. Hydrocephalus was first described over 2500 years ago by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, and remains poorly understood today. Current therapies still rely on invasive procedures developed over 60 years ago that are associated with high failure and complication rates. Thus, the identification of molecular mechanisms and the development of non-invasive medical treatments for neonatal hydrocephalus are high priorities for the medical and scientific communities. The prevailing doctrine in the field is that hydrocephalus is strictly a "plumbing problem" caused by impaired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. Recently, animal models with impaired cilia have provided insight into the mechanisms involved in communicating (non-obstructive) hydrocephalus. However, as a result of a poor understanding of hydrocephalus, no animal studies to date have identified an effective non-invasive treatment. The goal of this thesis project is to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease and to identify a non-invasive, highly effective treatment strategy. In Chapter 2, we utilize a novel animal model with idiopathic hydrocephalus, mimicking the human ciliopathy Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS), to examine the role of cilia in hydrocephalus. We find that these mice develop communicating hydrocephalus prior to the development of ependymal "motile" cilia, suggesting that this phenotype develops as a result of dysfunctional "primary" cilia. Primary cilia are non-motile and play a role in cellular signaling. These results challenge the current dogma that dysfunctional motile cilia underlies neonatal hydrocephalus and implicate a novel role for primary cilia and cellular signaling in this disease. Chapter 3 focuses on identifying the link between primary cilia and neonatal hydrocephalus. In this chapter, we report that disrupting the molecular machinery within primary cilia leads to faulty PDGFRα signaling and the loss of a particular class of neural progenitor cells called oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). We find that the loss of OPCs leads to neonatal hydrocephalus. Importantly, we identify the molecular mechanism underlying both the loss of OPCs and the pathogenesis of neonatal hydrocephalus. Chapter 4 explores the therapeutic potential of targeting the defective cellular signaling pathways to treat neonatal hydrocephalus. By targeting the faulty signaling, we restore normal development of oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and curtail the development of hydrocephalus. This work challenges the predominant view of hydrocephalus being strictly a "plumbing problem" treatable solely by surgical diversion of CSF. Here, we propose that hydrocephalus is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can be ameliorated by non-invasive means. Importantly, we introduce novel molecular targets and a non-invasive treatment strategy for this devastating disorder. To our knowledge, we are the first to successfully treat neonatal hydrocephalus in any model organism by targeting neural progenitor cells.

Cilia are finger-like projections that extend from the surface of most cells. These microtubule-based structures serve important mechanical or sensory functions. Motile cilia have been implicated in fluid movement whereas the non-motile primary cilia have been shown to play a role in sensory signal transduction. There exists a dichotomy in the field that primary cilia have only sensory function and motile cilia only have mechanical function. The central question of this thesis project is "what are the structural and functional components of airway motile cilia and are these cilia sensory?" In Chapter 2, the role of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) proteins in maintaining the structure and function of airway motile cilia is examined. We found that BBS proteins localize to the cilium and to ciliary-related structures in human airway epithelia. Using mutant mice we found that BBS proteins play an essential role in motile cilia structure and the loss of BBS proteins results in reduced ciliary beat. These proteins have previously been shown to play a role in primary cilia structure and function, and our studies indicate a novel function for BBS proteins. Chapter 3 examines the sensory role of motile cilia. Our data show that bitter taste receptors and components of the bitter taste signal transduction pathway localize to the motile cilia or to the ciliated cells. Ciliated cells also show an increase in intracellular calcium in response to bitter compounds, accompanied by a corresponding increase in cilia beat. The increase in intracellular calcium originates at the ciliated cells and is propagated to adjacent cells. Chapter 4 delves into the possibility that every motile ciliated cell also contains a single, primary cilium. Using immunostaining and Smoothened as a marker for primary cilia, we found that every group of motile cilia contains a single Smoothened-positive cilium. Furthermore, downstream components of the Sonic Hedgehog pathway are also present in ciliated cells. Chapter 6 is a summary chapter including possible explanations for observed outcomes and plans for future experiments. Our results indicate that the divide between primary and motile cilia may not be as great as has been previously thought.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Medicine, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

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京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(薬科学) / 甲第24205号 / 薬科博第158号 / 新制||薬科||17(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院薬学研究科薬科学専攻 / (主査)教授 中山 和久, 教授 井垣 達吏, 教授 土居 雅夫 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM

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