Dans la première moitié de l’époque moderne, période de troubles politiques et religieux ainsi que de découvertes géographiques ouvrant de nouveaux débouchés commerciaux, la question du chapeau et des autres couvre-chefs est abordée sur les plans technique, commerciaux, à la fois dans la capitale, à la Cour, dans le royaume et à l’étranger, esthétiques avec l’évolution des formes et des décors (broderies, panaches, enseignes) mais aussi sociaux (manières et fonctions de leur port). Ce commerce, transformé par le castor et l’obligation sociale du port d’un couvre-chef, dans le contexte particulier du Paris de l’époque, a un impact fort sur l’évolution des fortunes des chapeliers de la ville et sur les garde-robes des Parisiens et des gens de la Cour. Sans vestige archéologique, les informations, éparses, se trouvent par exemple chez les moralisateurs et les auteurs de l’époque, chez des graveurs français tel qu’Abraham Bosse, chez des peintres flamands comme Jan Miense Molenaer, ou dans les archives judiciaires, comme possibles motifs demeurtres. Loin de n’être qu’un accessoire vestimentaire, le couvre-chef à l’époque moderne est un élément essentiel dans la définition de l’humanité d’un individu et de sa sociabilité : c’est par lui qu’il indique son appartenance nationale, son âge, sa fortune, son métier, son rang social ou sa maîtrise des codes de civilité, notamment par rapport à l’institution médiévale du salut. Cette importance du couvre-chef est remise en cause sur les plans politique et religieux par les Protestants mais aussi par la découverte de nouvelles sociétés dont le rapport au vêtement relativise l’approche européenne traditionnelle. / In the first half of the early modern period, time of political and religious troubles, and of great geographical discoveries that opened new trade opportunities, we approached the subject of hat and headdresses history in their technical, commercial (in the capital, the Court, the kingdom and abroad), esthetical (evolutions of forms, embroideries, feathers, hat badges) and social ways (manners and signification of wearing them). In the peculiar Parisian context of this period, this trade, changed by the apparition of beaver and the social obligation to have everybody’s head covered, has a deep impact not only on the evolution of the Parisian hatters’ wealth but also on Parisians’ and Courtiers’ wardrobes themselves. Without headdresses preserved, details about them are scattered in documentary sources: for example, we can find them in the writings of authors and moralizing people, in engravings of French people like Abraham Bosse, in works of Flemish painters like Jan Miense Molenaer, but also in criminal archives where they can be sometimes even motives of murder! Far from just being clothing accessories, headdresses in the early modern period are essential to socialize and characterize human beings: through them, we can grasp national identity, age, wealth, profession, social status and knowledge of civility rules (especially to raisesomebody’s cap to someone, a tradition established from medieval times). Also, at that time, their importance is reconsidered because of the challenge by the Protestants about their social significance and by the discovery of new societies with other relation to clothes, which put the traditional and European approach into perspective.

Mitochondria are essential eukaryotic organelles, acting as the sites for numerous crucial metabolic and signalling pathways. The biogenesis of mitochondria requires efficient targeting of several hundreds of proteins from the cytosol, to their varied functional locations within the organelle. The translocation of localized proteins across the inner membrane, and their subsequent folding is achieved by the ATP-dependent function of mitochondrial Hsp70 (mtHsp70). It is a bonafide member of the Hsp70 chaperone family, which are involved in a multitude of functions, together aimed at protein quality control and maintenance of cellular homeostasis. These varied functions of Hsp70 proteins require binding to exposed hydrophobic patches in substrate polypeptides thus preventing non-productive associations. The interaction with substrates occurs through the substrate-binding domain (SBD) and is regulated by the ATPase activity of the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD), through a series of conformational changes. Conversely, substrate binding to the SBD also stimulates ATP hydrolysis, and thereby the core activities of the two domains are regulated by mutual allosteric signalling. This mechanism of bidirectional inter-domain communication is indispensable for Hsp70 function, which is characterized by cycles of substrate binding and release, coupled to cycles of ATP binding and hydrolysis. The process of allosteric regulation in Hsp70 proteins has been comprehensively investigated, especially in the bacterial homolog, DnaK. However, the in vivo functional significance of inter-domain communication in the eukaryotic mtHsp70 system and the mechanism of its regulation remain unexplored. Furthermore, the complex physiological implications of impairment in allosteric communication and their correlation with diverse disease conditions, including Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and Parkinson’s disease (PD), are yet to be elucidated. Based on this brief introduction, the primary research objectives set out in the present thesis were to: 1. uncover the regulation of ligand-modulated allosteric communication between the two domains of mtHsp70; and its in vivo significance in the context of protein import into the organelle. (Chapter 2) 2. understand the role of mtHsp70 in progression of Parkinson’s disease; and to study the modulation of α-synuclein toxicity by the protein quality control function of the mtHsp70 chaperone network. (Chapters 3 and 4) We have employed a battery of genetic and biochemical approaches to investigate the above questions using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mtHsp70 protein, Ssc1; an essential protein that is involved in a plethora of critical functions in this eukaryotic model system. Objective 1: Structural studies, primarily in bacterial DnaK, have yielded mechanistic insights into its interactions with ligands and cochaperones, as well as conformational transitions in different ligand-bound states. In recent years, the availability of crystal structures of full-length DnaK and detailed information from NMR studies and single-molecule resolution spectroscopic analyses (both DnaK and eukaryotic Hsp70s), have significantly contributed to our understanding of the inter-domain interface, critical residues and contacts, and the energetics of the entire process of ligand-modulated conformational changes. Although eukaryotic mtHsp70s have a high degree of conservation with DnaK, they possess significant differences in their conformational and biochemical properties. They are essential for a vast repertoire of physiological functions, which are distinctly different from their bacterial counterpart. Using a combined in vivo and in vitro approach, we have uncovered specific structural elements within mtHsp70s, which are required for allosteric modulation of the chaperone cycle and maintenance of in vivo functions of the protein. Foremost, we demonstrate that a conserved SBD loop, L4,5 plays a critical role in inter-domain communication, and multiple mutations in this loop result in significant growth and protein translocation defects. The mutants are associated with a specific set of altered biochemical properties, which are indicative of impaired inter-domain communication. Using the loop L4,5 mutant, E467A as a template for genetic screening, we report a series of intragenic suppressor mutations, which are capable of correcting a distinct subset of the altered properties, and thereby leading to restoration of in vivo functions, including growth, preprotein import and mitochondria biogenesis. The suppressors modify the altered conformational landscape associated with E467A, and also provide us with information regarding unique aspects governing the regulation of allosteric communication, especially in physiological contexts. Strikingly, they reveal that restoration of communication in the NBD to SBD direction is sufficient for function, when the protein is primed in a high ATPase activity state. In this unique scenario, the requirement for ATPase stimulation upon substrate binding is rendered unnecessary, thereby making conformational changes in the SBD to NBD direction, dispensable for function. Further, we provide evidence to show that loop L4,5 functions synergistically with the linker region, working in tandem for organization of the inter-domain interface and propagation of communication. Together, our analyses provide the first insights into regulation of allosteric inter-domain communication in vivo and their implications in mitochondrial protein translocation and organelle biogenesis. Objective 2: Point mutations in the loop L4,5 have been associated with Myelodysplastic syndrome. Additionally, a mutation isolated in clinical cases of Parkinson’s disease was found to be impaired in allosteric communication. These observations further highlight the importance of efficient inter-domain communication in mtHsp70 in the complex physiological scenario of eukaryotic cells. Independent clinical screens of PD patients have revealed unique point mutations in the mtHsp70 and a strong association of the gene locus with the disease progression. This is also correlated with decreased mtHsp70 levels in affected neurons and the interactions of this protein with established PD-candidate proteins like α-synuclein and Dj-1. Further, mitochondrial dysfunction is a common phenomenon associated with neurodegenerative disorders. To understand the specific role of mtHsp70 in PD, we have developed a yeast model for studying the disease variants in isolation from other players of the multifactorial disease, and in complete absence of the wild type protein. We generated two analogous PD-mutations in Ssc1, R103W and P486S; which recapitulated the symptoms of mitochondrial dysfunction in affected neurons, including cell death, inner membrane depolarization, increased generation of ROS, and respiratory incompetence. At the molecular level, we observed an increased aggregation propensity of R103W, while P486S exhibited futile enhanced interaction with J-protein cochaperone partners thereby resulting in loss of chaperoning activity and impaired mitochondrial protein quality control. Remarkably, these altered biochemical properties mimicked similar defects in the human mtHsp70 variants, therefore, affirming the involvement of mtHsp70 in PD progression. To further investigate the relevance of impaired mitochondrial protein quality control in PD, we have explored whether mtHsp70 can act as a genetic modifier of α-synuclein toxicity. It is known that α-synuclein can act as an unfolded substrate for the Hsp70 chaperone system and also deposits as intracellular aggregates in PD-affected brains. Intriguingly, it is known to translocate into mitochondria under conditions of neuronal stress in spite of lacking a canonical mitochondrial signal sequence. Utilizing our yeast-PD model, we find that targeting of α-synuclein A30P disease variant into mitochondria leads to a severe mitochondrial dysfunction phenotype in the wild type Ssc1 background, but not the P486S mutant background. This results in multiple cellular manifestations, which are reversed upon overexpression of the Ssc1 chaperone. Significantly, increasing the J-protein cochaperone availability also leads to reversal of the mutant-associated defects. However, the simultaneous overexpression of both together does not additively improve the protective effects; highlighting the importance of the relative availability of chaperone and cochaperone proteins in preventing aggregation. Our analyses further reveal that while both the wild type and P486S Ssc1 proteins are equally capable of delaying aggregation of α-synuclein, only the wild-type chaperone is better able to prevent aggregation in the presence of its J-protein cochaperone, leading to accumulation of soluble oligomeric species. These observations raised the intriguing possibility, that the reduced chaperoning ability of the proline to serine PD-mutant is, in fact, a compensatory adaptation, favoring the aggregation of α-synuclein over its more toxic soluble oligomeric form. We verify this hypothesis with the aggregation kinetics of A30P α-synuclein, whose intrinsically lower aggregation tendency results in a pronounced delay in aggregation with the wild-type chaperone, thereby strongly favoring the toxic oligomeric species and correlating with the observed lethality in yeast cells. In conclusion, our study provides a model of α-synuclein aggregation-related toxicity and its modulation by the extent of protein quality control within the mitochondrial matrix, through the action of the mtHsp70 chaperone network.

The development of plant flowers represents a complex process controlled by numerous mechanisms. The creation of double homozygous mutant of both β subunits (sometimes also referred to as basic transcription factor 3) of nascent polypeptide associated complex in Arabidopsis thaliana (further referred to as nacβ1 nacβ2) caused quite a strong defective phenotype including abnormal number of flower organs, shorter siliques with a reduced seed set, and inferior pollen germination rate together with a lower ovule targeting efficiency. Previously, NAC complex was described to be formed as a heterodimer composed of an α- and β-subunit, which binds ribosome and acts as a chaperone in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In plants, NACβ is connected to stress tolerance and to plant development as a transcription regulator. However, little is known of NAC heterodimer function in plants. In this thesis, yeast two hybrid system (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays were used to verify the NAC heterodimer formation in A. thaliana and to establish any potential interaction preferences between both NACβ paralogues and five NACα paralogues. To deepen the understanding about molecular mechanisms behind the nacβ1 nacβ2 phenotype, flower bud transcriptome of the nacβ1 nacβ2 double homozygous mutants...

Die Erkrankung Huntington s Chorea ist eine autosomal dominant vererbte Erkrankung, die gewöhnlich im mittleren Lebensabschnitt beginnt und unausweichlich zum Tode führt. In unserem Bestreben, Proteine zu identifizieren, welche an Prozessen "Upstream" oder "Downstream" des krankheitsverursachenden Proteins Huntingtin beteiligt sind, wurde das Proteom eines sehr gut etablierten Mausmodells mit Hilfe der Großgel 2D-Elektrophorese untersucht. Es konnte zum ersten Mal auf Proteinebene nachweisen werden, dass die Expression von zwei Serinproteasehemmern, alpha1-Antitrypsin und Contraspin und darüber hinaus eines Chaperons, alphaB-Kristallin, im Verlauf der Erkrankung abnimmt. Reduzierte Expression von alpha1-Antitrypsin und Contraspin konnte in Gehirn, Leber, Herz und Testes nahe dem Endstadium der Erkrankung nachgewiesen werden. Hier ist es wichtig festzustellen, dass die Expressionsabnahme von alpha1-Antitrypsin im Gehirn der Abnahme in der Leber im Herzen und in den Testes vorangeht. Eine verminderte Expression des Chaperons alphaB-Kristallin wurde nur im Gehirn gefunden. Für ein weiteres Protein, das Major Urinary Protein, wurde eine verminderte Expression in der Leber und im Urin von betroffenen Mäusen festgestellt. Damit konnte demonstriert werden, dass die Erkrankung auf Proteinebene auch ein Protein, das im Gehirn von transgenen Mäusen nicht vorkommt, beeinflusst. Bei Untersuchungen am Menschen wurde in drei Gehirnregionen von Postmortem-Gehirnen von Huntington s Chorea Patienten eine veränderte Expression von alpha1-Antitrypsin festgestellt. Wenn gewährleistet werden kann, dass die Konzentration von alpha1-Antitrypsin und alphaB-Kristallin während Huntington s Chorea im Gewebe nicht absinkt, könnte dies vielleicht neuronalen Zelltod verhindern und somit bei der Verzögerung des Krankheitsverlaufs nutzbringend eingesetzt werden. / Huntington disease is an autosomal dominantly inherited disease that usually starts in midlife and inevitably leads to death. In an effort to identify proteins involved in processes upstream or downstream of the disease causing huntingtin, the proteome of a well-established mouse model was studied by large-gel 2D electrophoresis. It could be demonstrated for the first time at the protein level that two serin protease inhibitors, alpha1-antitrypsin and contraspin and the chaperone alphaB-crystallin decrease in expression over the course of disease. Importantly, the alpha1-antitrypsin decrease in the brain precedes that in liver, heart and testes in mice. Reduced expression of alpha1-antitrypsin and contraspin could be detected in the brain, liver heart and testes close to terminal disease. Decreased expression of the chaperone alphaB-crystallin was found exclusively in the brain. Reduced expression of the liver specific major urinary proteins not found in the brain, was seen in affected mice, demonstrating that the disease exerts its influence on a protein not present in the brain of transgenic mice at the protein level. When investigating three human brain regions obtained post-mortem from Huntington s disease patients, alpha1-antitrypsin expression was also altered. Maintaining alpha1-antitrypsin and alphaB-crystallin availability during the course of Huntington s disease might prevent neuronal cell death and therefore could be useful in delaying the disease progression.

O. oeni est une bactérie lactique responsable de la fermentation malolactique des vins. Un des mécanismes impliqués dans la survie de O. oeni dans ce milieu requière la synthèse de la protéine de stress de faible masse moléculaire (sHsp) Lo18. Cette sHsp exerce une activité de chaperon sur des substrats protéiques et lipidiques.Des variations de pH (5 à 9) ont permis de moduler l'oligomérisation de Lo18 in vitro et de démontrer que sa plasticité oligomérique est un élément clé pour ses activités. Des observations de la sHsp par microscopie électronique ont montré que Lo18 s'organise à pH 5 en un 16-mère composé de deux anneaux superposés ayant comme structure de base probable un dimère.La réponse adaptative de O. oeni a également été caractérisée suite à des stress fluidifiant sa membrane plasmique. Une étude transcriptomique a révélé une augmentation du taux de transcrits pour des gènes dont les produits interviennent dans la biosynthèse des acides gras membranaires saturés et insaturés lors d'un stress à l'alcool benzylique. Des approches physiologique, moléculaire et structurale ont permis de proposer un modèle décrivant l'action chronologique de Lo18 en lien avec ses deux activités de chaperon en réponse à un stress éthanol. Dès l'application du stress, Lo18 est fortement synthétisée et agit préférentiellement à la membrane sous une forme quaternaire simplifiée. O. oeni modifie alors sa composition en acides gras membranaires, affectant ainsi l'affinité de Lo18 pour la membrane ainsi que ses activités.Les résultats obtenus permettent non seulement, de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement et le rôle de Lo18 dans la réponse au stress de O. oeni mais aussi de mettre en exergue les mécanismes d'adaptation préservant l'intégrité de sa membrane cellulaire, élément essentiel dans la survie et la performance des ferments malolactiques dans le vin

La poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation est une modification post-traductionnelle des protéines catalysée par une famille d’enzymes : les poly(ADP-ribose) polymérases. Parmi les plus étudiées, PARP-1 et PARP-2 interviennent dans l’organisation, l’expression et le maintien de l’intégrité du génome. Nous avons initié l'étude d'un nouveau partenaire de PARP-1 préalablement identifié par double-hybride, et encore peu étudié à ce jour : HMG2L1 (High-Mobility Group protein 2 Like-1). La protéine humaine de 601 acides aminés contient un domaine HMG (High-Mobility Group) normalement impliqué dans l’interaction avec l’ADN. Quelques études ont montré que HMG2L1 régule la transcription en agissant comme co-régulateur négatif ou positif. Dans un premier temps, nous avons caractérisé le lien entre PARP-1 et HMG2L1. L’interaction avec PARP-1 a été confirmée in-vivo et in vitro. Nous avons montré que HMG2L1 pouvait également interagir avec PARP-2. HMG2L1 est poly(ADP-ribosyl)ée par PARP-1 et PARP-2, de même qu’elle est capable d’interagir avec le poly(ADP-ribose). La construction de formes tronquées de HMG2L1 en fusion avec la GFP nous a permis de montrer que le domaine N-terminal – en amont du domaine HMG – est impliqué dans ces interactions. Ce domaine N-terminal est très électropositif et intrinsèquement désordonné ce qui lui confère de nombreuses potentialités d’interactions. L’expression des fusions GFP dans des cellules HeLa nous a permis de montrer la localisation nucléaire et nucléolaire de HMG2L1, comme c’est le cas pour PARP-1 et PARP- 2. En outre, HMG2L1 colocalise avec UBF (Upstream Binding Factor), le facteur de transcription de l’ARN polymérase I responsable de la transcription des ARN ribosomaux. La surexpression de GFP-hHMG2L1 entraîne un stress nucléolaire caractérisé par l’inhibition de la transcription des ADNr et la formation de coiffes nucléolaires. Nous avons également entrepris une recherche de partenaires de HMG2L1 par spectrométrie de masse. De nombreuses protéines nucléolaires, impliquées dans la biogenèse des ribosomes ou la maturation des ARNs ont été identifiées, suggérant un rôle de HMG2L1 dans ces processus. Nous avons montré que la protéine purifiée interagit avec l’ADN via son domaine HMG principalement, et qu’elle interagit avec l’ARN via son domaine N-terminal. Mais surtout, nous avons mis en évidence une activité ARN-chaperonne, qui peut être régulée par le poly(ADP-ribose). La localisation de HMG2L1, son réseau d’interaction ainsi que son activité chaperonne nous laissent à penser qu’elle pourrait être impliquée dans des processus de maturation des ARN, régulés par la poly(ADPribosyl)ation. / Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation is a post-translational modification of proteins mediated by a family of enzymes called poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases. Among the best studied, PARP-1 and PARP-2 are both implicated into the transcription, organization and integrity of genome. We have initiated the characterization of a new PARP-1 partner previously identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen, and still poorly studied: HMG2L1 (High-Mobility Group protein 2 Like-1). The human protein of 601 amino acids contains one HMGbox domain normally implicated in the recognition of DNA. Some studies have reported the role of HMG2L1 in the regulation of transcription by acting as a negative or positive coregulator. First, we characterized the link between PARP-1 and HMG2L1. We confirmed the interaction between both proteins in vivo and in vitro. We also showed that HMG2L1 couldinteract with PARP-2. HMG2L1 is poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated by PARP-1 and PARP-2, and is able to interact with poly(ADP-ribose). The construction of GFP-fused truncated versions of HMG2L1 allowed us to show that the N-terminal part – upstream to the HMGbox – is responsible for all these interactions. This N-terminal domain is highly electropositive and intrinsically disordered conferring a lot of interactions potentialities. The expression of the GFP-fused proteins in HeLa cells allowed us to localizeHMG2L1 into the nucleus and the nucleolus, like PARP-1 and PARP-2. Moreover, HMG2L1 colocalizes with UBF (Upstream Binding Factor), the transcription factor responsible for the transcription of ribosomal ARNs by RNA polymerase I. The overexpression of GFPhHMG2L1 leads to a nucleolar stress illustrated by the inhibition of transcription and the formation of nucleolar caps. We also undertook a proteomic study to find new partners of HMG2L1. We found a huge amount of nucleolar proteins, involved in ribosome biogenesis or RNA maturation, suggesting that HMG2L1 could be involved in these processes. Finally, we demonstrated the ability of the purified protein to interact with DNA mostly through its HMGbox domain and RNA through its N-terminal domain. Moreover, we discovered that HMG2L1 is endowed with a RNA-chaperone activity, that can be regulated by poly(ADP-ribose). Taken together, the localization of HMG2L1, its interacting partners and its RNA chaperone activity allow us to make the assumption that HMG2L1 could be implicated in RNA maturation processes, regulated by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation.