No description available.

L’arthrose est la plus fréquente des maladies articulaires pour laquelle aucun traitement efficace n’est aujourd’hui disponible. Elle est caractérisée par une destruction du cartilage et de ses composants, dont font partie les protéoglycanes. Les principaux protéoglycanes cartilagineux sont les sulfates de chondroïtines, qui sont de longs polysaccharides linéaires hétérogènes composés d’unités disaccharidiques répétitives constituées d’un acide-D-glucuronique et d’une N-acétyl-D-galactosamine. Dans le but d’étudier la biosynthèse de ces composés et ainsi de mieux comprendre le mécanisme d’action des enzymes qui y sont impliquées, la synthèse chimique d’oligosaccharides de chondroïtines et de sulfates de chondroïtines biotinylés a été réalisée. Grâce à une méthodologie efficace et innovante basée sur une hydrolyse acide d’un polymère de sulfates de chondroïtines, des intermédiaires clés ont rapidement été obtenus. Une stratégie d’élongation les utilisant a ensuite été appliquée pour conduire à une première famille de sept oligosaccharides non sulfatés (du disaccharide à l’octasaccharide). Deux nouvelles familles d’oligosaccharides de sulfates de chondroïtines A et C, sulfatés de façon homogène ont été préparées, à partir d’un précurseur commun par stratégie divergente. Pour la première fois, deux oligosaccharides de sulfate de chondroïtine A, présentant une sulfatation hétérogène, ont également été synthétisés. Ces travaux ont mené à la préparation de treize oligosaccharides biotinylés finaux. / Osteoarthritis is the most frequent articular disease but until now no treatment exists. It is characterized by a destruction of cartilage and its components as proteoglycans. Major cartilage’s proteoglycans are chondroitin sulfate, which are linear and heterogeneous polysaccharides composed of disaccharidic repeating units constituted of a D-glucuronic acid and an N-acetyl-D-galactosamine. In order to study biosynthesis of those compounds and so to better understand working mechanism of the implicated enzymes, chemical syntheses of biotinylated chondroitin and chondroitin sulfate oligomers have been achieved. Thanks to an efficient hydrolysis of a starting chondroitin sulfate polymer, key building blocks were quickly obtained. An elongation strategy using them has been then applied to give a first family of seven non sulfated oligosaccharides (from disaccharide to octasaccharide). Two new families of chondroitin sulfate A and C oligosaccharides, with homogeneous sulfation have been prepared from a common precursor by divergent strategy. For the first time, two chondroitin sulfate A oligosaccharides with an heterogeneous sulfation have been synthetized. This work has led to thirteen final biotinylated oligosaccharides.

No description available.

PCNA and RPA are required for DNA mismatch repair (MMR), but their rolesin the pathway are not fully understood. Using an affinity pull-down approach, weshow that (1) increased PCNA binding to DNA heteroduplexes is associated withthe appearance and accumulation of excision products; and (2) RPAphosphorylation occurs when DNA polymerase ?? binds to the DNA substrate. Wetherefore hypothesize that PCNA plays an important role in mismatch-provokedexcision and that RPA phosphorylation plays an important role in DNA resynthesis.To determine the role of PCNA in MMR, mismatch-provoked and nick-directedexcision was assayed in a cell-free system in the presence of the PCNA inhibitor,p21CIP1/WAF. We show that whereas PCNA is essential for 3' directed excision, it isdispensable for the 5' directed reaction, suggesting a differential role for PCNA inMMR. We further find that the PCNA-dependent pathway is the only pathway for3' directed excision, but there are at least two pathways for 5' directed excision,one of which is a PCNA-independent 5' excision pathway. To determine if RPAphosphorylation facilitates DNA resynthesis, a gap-filling assay was developedusing both a cell-free system and a purified system, and we demonstrate that RPAphosphorylation stimulates DNA polymerase ??-catalyzed resynthesis in bothsystems. Kinetic studies indicate that phosphorylated RPA has a lower affinity forDNA compared with un-phosphorylated RPA. Therefore, the stimulation ofresynthesis by phosphorylated RPA is likely due to the fact that phosphorylationpromotes the release of RPA from DNA, thereby making DNA template availablefor resynthesis.

No / TCDD-inducible poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (TIPARP; also known as PARP7 and ARTD14) is a mono-ADP- ribosyltransferase that has emerged as an important regulator of innate immunity, stem cell pluripotency, and transcription factor regulation. Characterizing TIPARP’s catalytic activity and identifying its target proteins are critical to understanding its cellular function. Here we describe methods that we use to characterize TIPARP catalytic activity and its mono-ADP-ribosylation of its target proteins.

Three novel, synthetic biarylheterocycles bearing imidazole terminal groups had previously been discovered with high cytotoxicity (IC50 16¿640 nM) against a number of human tumour cell lines. Notably, this biological activity was independent of duplex DNA binding affinity. The compounds were tested in the NCI 60-cell line panel and COMPARE analysis suggests they have a novel mechanism of action, targeting the product of a ¿gene-like sequence¿ of unidentified function. The identity of likely protein targets was explored using a chemical proteomic strategy. Bespoke affinity matrices for chromatography were prepared in which test compounds were attached to a solid support through a biotin tag. A synthetic route to hit compounds containing a biotin moiety in place of one of the imidazole sidechains was developed. Chemosensitivity studies confirmed that the biotinylated compounds retained their activity showing IC50 = 6.25 ¿M in a susceptible cell line, compared with > 100 ¿M for an insensitive cell line. The biotinylated ligands were complexed to a streptavidin-activated affinity column and exposed to cell lysates from the susceptible cell lines. Bound proteins were eluted from the column and separated using SDS-PAGE. Proteins were characterised by MALDI MS and MS/MS and identified using Mascot database searches. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A2/B1 was found to selectively bind to the affinity probes. / Yorkshire Cancer Research, BMSS, School of Life Sciences and the Frank Hudson Memorial Fund

No description available.

Three novel, synthetic biarylheterocycles bearing imidazole terminal groups had previously been discovered with high cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ 16-640 nM) against a number of human tumour cell lines. Notably, this biological activity was independent of duplex DNA binding affinity. The compounds were tested in the NCI 60-cell line panel and COMPARE analysis suggests they have a novel mechanism of action, targeting the product of a 'gene-like sequence' of unidentified function. The identity of likely protein targets was explored using a chemical proteomic strategy. Bespoke affinity matrices for chromatography were prepared in which test compounds were attached to a solid support through a biotin tag. A synthetic route to hit compounds containing a biotin moiety in place of one of the imidazole sidechains was developed. Chemosensitivity studies confirmed that the biotinylated compounds retained their activity showing IC₅₀ = 6.25 μM in a susceptible cell line, compared with > 100 μM for an insensitive cell line. The biotinylated ligands were complexed to a streptavidin-activated affinity column and exposed to cell lysates from the susceptible cell lines. Bound proteins were eluted from the column and separated using SDS-PAGE. Proteins were characterised by MALDI MS and MS/MS and identified using Mascot database searches. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A2/B1 was found to selectively bind to the affinity probes.

L’arthrose est un processus menant à la dégénérescence du cartilage articulaire dont l’un des principaux composants est un protéoglycane (PG) : l’aggrécane. Il est constitué de glycosaminoglycanes (GAGs), essentiellement le sulfate de chondroitine (CS), liés de façon covalente à un squelette peptidique par l’intermédiaire d’une zone de liaison tétrasaccharidique commune aux principaux types de GAGs (CS et sulfate d’héparane (HS)). La biosynthèse des PGs met en jeu l’action séquentielle de O-glycosyltransférases qui additionnent spécifiquement chaque unité saccharidique. Lors de cette biosynthèse, encore mal connue, la zone de liaison subit des modifications (sulfatation et phosphorylation) qui peuvent être importantes pour la polymérisation des PGs en faveur des CS ou des HS.L’objectif de ce travail était de synthétiser, pour la première fois, une collection complète de trisaccharides biotinylés diversement monosulfatés ou non de la zone de liaison des PGs ainsi que des tétrasaccharides biotinylés (zone de liaison et amorces de CS) dans le but de déterminer le rôle des différentes sulfatations possibles dans la biosynthèse des PGs par les O-glycosyltransférases. / Osteoarthritis is a process leading to the degeneration of articular cartilage in which one of the major component is the proteoglycan (PG) aggrecan. It is composed of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), mainly chondroitin sulfate (CS), covalently linked to a peptide backbone through the tetrasaccharide linkage region which is common to the two principal types of GAGs (CS and heparan sulfate (HS)). The PGs biosynthesis involves the sequential action of O-glycosyltransferases that add specifically each saccharide unit. In this biosynthesis, still poorly understood, the linkage region undergoes changes (sulfation and phosphorylation) that may be important for the polymerization of PGs in favor of the CS or the HS.The objective of this work was to synthesize, for the first time, a full collection of biotinylated trisaccharides variously monosulfated or not of the linkage region of PGs and biotinylated tetrasaccharides (linkage region and first aminosugar of CS), in order to determine the role of the possible sulfation within the biosynthetic pathway of PGs by the O-glycosyltransferases.

The purpose of this thesis was to demonstrate device functionality of 3-D paper-based, multiplex platforms, µPADs, without the use of coupling agents between layers. Previously, these platforms were fabricated with double-sided tape and cellulose powder to try to augment proper fluid routing, but difficulties with this method occurred. An acrylic housing unit with strategically placed pressure tabs was designed to aid horizontal and vertical fluid routing through the platform, thus eliminating the inconsistencies associated with coupling agents. Channel characterization studies, a COMSOLTM simulation, and development time studies were performed to aid device design and demonstrate device functionality. The implementation of this µPAD platform as a diagnostic instrument was validated via lateral flow immunoassays utilizing both biotinylated antibodies and biotinylated aptamers as capture reagents. Successful detection of the target analyte, IgE, as well as successful fluid routing through multiple layers of membrane was demonstrated by immunoassays performed on 3-D, multiplex platforms. Another important result determined the aptamers’ ability to detect IgE to be statistically the same as the antibodies’ ability; thus confirming aptamers as viable capture reagent alternatives to antibodies in lateral flow assays. Overall, this research project was performed to develop and validate via experiment a prototype paper-based microfluidic diagnostic device, µPAD, with the capability to detect multiple biomarkers on one platform.