MicroRNAs are noncoding RNAs inducing sequence-specific posttranscriptional inhibition of gene expression and represent the major class of small endogenous RNAs in mammalian cells. Over 2,500 of human microRNAs potentially regulating more than 60% of human protein-coding genes have been identified. MicroRNAs participate in the majority of cellular processes, and their expression changes in various diseases, including cancer. Currently, there is no efficient small chemical compound available for the modulation of microRNA pathway activity. At the same time, small chemical compounds represent excellent tools for research of processes involving RNA silencing pathways, for biotechnological applications, and would have a considerable therapeutic potential. The presented work represents a part of a broader project, whose ultimate goal is: (i) to find a set of small molecules allowing for stimulation or inhibition of RNA silencing and (ii) to identify crosstalks between RNA silencing and other cellular pathways. This thesis summarizes results from the first two phases of the project, the development of high-throughput screening assays and the high- throughput screening (HTS) of available libraries of small compounds. To monitor the microRNA pathway activity, we developed and optimized one biochemical...

Les CDK/cyclines jouent un rôle majeur dans la progression du cycle cellulaire et dans le maintien de la prolifération des cellules cancéreuses, constituant ainsi des biomarqueurs clés et des cibles pharmacologiques attractives. Plus particulièrement, l’activité de CDK4/cycline D, kinase responsable de la progression de la phase G1 et de la transition G1/S, est dérégulée dans de nombreux cancers dont le mélanome. Cette hyperactivation est associée à des mutations, à l’amplification ou à la surexpression de CDK4, cycline D, p16INK4a ou encore pRb.Comme aucune approche sensible et directe n’existe pour évaluer l’activité de CDK4/cycline D dans des conditions physiologiques et pathologiques, le premier objectif de ma thèse a consisté à développer un biosenseur fluorescent permettant d’étudier cette kinase in vitro et in cellulo. Une fois caractérisé et validé in vitro, le biosenseur a été appliqué à la détection d’altérations de CDK4/cycline D dans des biopsies de peau humaine et de xénogreffes de mélanome dans des essais fluorescents d’activité kinase, ainsi que dans des cellules cancéreuses vivantes par microscopie de fluorescence et vidéo microscopie.Par ailleurs, peu d’inhibiteurs sont actuellement disponibles pour inhiber CDK4/cycline D et la plupart d’entre eux ciblent la poche de fixation de l’ATP. C’est pourquoi le second objectif de ma thèse a consisté à identifier des inhibiteurs non compétitifs de l’ATP, soit par élaboration rationnelle de peptides, soit par criblage de petites molécules. A cette fin, deux biosenseurs fluorescents ont été développés qui permettent d’identifier respectivement des composés ciblant l’interface entre CDK4 et cycline D ou des inhibiteurs allostériques capables de perturber la dynamique conformationnelle de CDK4. Des essais de criblage par fluorescence réalisés avec ces biosenseurs ont conduit à l’identification de touches qui ont été validées et caractérisées in vitro et dans des essais de prolifération cellulaire, et qui constituent des candidats prometteurs pour une chimiothérapie sélective du mélanome. / CDK/cyclins play a central role in coordinating cell cycle progression, and in sustaining proliferation of cancer cells, thereby constituting established cancer biomarkers and attractive pharmacological targets. In particular, CDK4/cyclin D, which is responsible for coordinating cell cycle progression through G1 into S phase, is a relevant target in several cancers including melanoma, associated with mutation of CDK4, cyclin D, p16INK4a and pRb.As there are no sensitive and direct approaches to probe CDK4/cyclin D activity in physiological and pathological conditions, the first goal of my thesis has consisted in engineering a fluorescent biosensor to probe this kinase in vitro and in cellulo. Once characterized and validated in vitro, the biosensor was applied to detect CDK4/cyclin D alterations in biopsies from human skin and melanoma xenografts in fluorescence-based activity assays, and in living cancer cells by fluorescence microscopy and timelapse imaging.Moreover, only few inhibitors are currently available to target CDK4/cyclin D and most of them bind the ATP pocket. As such, the second major goal of my thesis project has consisted in identifying non-ATP competitive inhibitors, either through rational design of peptides or by screening small molecule libraries. To this aim, two fluorescent biosensors were engineered which discriminate compounds that target the interface between CDK4 and cyclin D, or that perturb the conformational dynamics of CDK4, respectively, from ATP-pocket binding compounds. Fluorescence-based screening assays performed with these biosensors lead to identification of hits, which were validated and characterized in vitro and in cell proliferation assays, and which constitute promising candidates for selective chemotherapy in melanoma.

Le mélanome cutané est l’affection de la peau la plus meurtrière. Afin de pouvoir être traité efficacement, ce cancer nécessite un diagnostic et une exérèse chirurgicale précoce des lésions primitives non-invasives. En effet, les patients atteints de métastases ont peu de chance de survivre car les lésions de mélanome développent rapidement des résistances aux thérapies et possèdent une forte propension à disséminer des métastases dans de nombreux organes. Le franchissement de la lame basale de la peau appelée jonction dermo épidermique est la première étape cruciale dans l’invasion précoce du mélanome cutané. Notre équipe étudie cette étape depuis plusieurs années et a démontré que l’expression de la tétraspanine 8 (TSPAN8) apparait lors de la progression de ce cancer et permet l’acquisition d’un phénotype invasif par les cellules tumorales. Plusieurs membres de la famille des protéines tétraspanines sont connus pour leurs implications dans divers cancers, mais notre connaissance de leurs régulations transcriptionnelles est encore assez réduite. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse ont permis d’identifier les premiers régulateurs transcriptionnels connus de TSPAN8, et également de commencer l’étude fonctionnelle de ces régulations sur l’invasion dépendante de TSPAN8 par le mélanome cutané. En particulier, nous montrons que l’invasion dépendante de TSPAN8 est entre autres régulée par le membre du complexe Mediator LCMR1/MED19 et par le suppresseur de tumeur p53. Ainsi, ces travaux apportent une meilleure compréhension de l’invasion précoce du mélanome cutané, ce qui devrait permettre une meilleure prise en charge des patients à l’avenir / Cutaneous melanoma is the deadliest skin condition. Curing this cancer requires an early diagnosis and surgical excision of the non-invasive primary lesions. Indeed, patients with metastasis have few chances to survive this cancer since the melanoma lesions rapidly develop treatment resistances, and can disseminate metastasis in numerous organs. Crossing the skin basal membrane called the dermal epidermal junction is the first crucial step of early melanoma invasion. Our team has studied the early invasion of melanoma for many years, and demonstrated for the first time the implication of Tetraspanin (TSPAN8) in melanoma early invasion. Indeed, the expression of this gene and the protein that it codes appears with the progression of melanoma and confers the tumor cells an invasive phenotype. Several members of the tetraspanin protein family are known for their implication in various cancers, yet their transcriptional regulation remains poorly understood. In the case of TSPAN8, nothing was known regarding its transcriptional regulation in melanoma. The experiments presented in this thesis allowed us to identify the first known regulators of TSPAN8 transcriptional expression, and also to begin the functional study of the regulators impact on TSPAN8 dependent invasion of human cutaneous melanoma. Amongst these regulators are the member of the Mediator Complex MED19/LCMR1 and the tumor suppressor p53. The results presented in the present manuscript allow a better understanding of cutaneous melanoma early invasion and should help improving the treatments against this cancer in the future

Le but de cette étude est de trouver un matériau catalytique pour la réduction catalytique sélective des NOx par les hydrocarbures (HC-SCR) dans l’échappement Diesel par une approche haut débit (HTE : high throughput experiments). Ce matériau doit être actif à basse température et stable hydrothermiquement à hautes températures. Une bibliothèque de 150 catalyseurs a été synthétisée. Les catalyseurs sont constituées d’Ag, Au, Cu supportés sur Al2O3, TiO2, ZrO2, CeO2 qui peuvent être dopés (Ga, Mo…). Ceux-ci sont testés en parallèle dans un dispositif constitué de 16 réacteurs (SWITCH-16) au cours réaction à température programmée (TPR) avec un flux modèle (100ppm NO / 350ppm C3H6 / 15% O2 /11% H2O). Le meilleur catalyseur 5%Ag/1%P/Al2O3, testé plus avant, montre une température de light-off de 50°C en dessous de celle d’un catalyseur commercial de référence et celui-ci est stable après un vieillissement de 16h à 750°C en présence d’eau. Ce catalyseur est ensuite enduit par voie sol-gel sur un monolithe (1*2 pouces et 300 cpsi) et testé sur un mini-pilote. Les tendances obtenues en réacteur à lit fixe montés en parallèle sont confirmées sur mini-pilote. En parallèle une approche microcinétique expérimentale des étapes élémentaires de surface impliquées dans la HC-SCR du NO sur un catalyseur Ag/Al2O3 a été utilisée pour déterminer les étapes élémentaires contrôlant la conversion du NO en prenant en compte l’adsorption compétitive entre NO et CO présent dans le gaz d’échappement Diesel. Nous avons identifié l’élimination des espèces Oads adsorbées sur des sites Ag° comme étape limitante pour la production de N2 et suggéré une nouvelle orientation possible pour l’étude HTE. / The aim of this study was to discover a catalytic material for NOx reduction by HC-SCR in Diesel exhaust which is active at the lowest temperatures and hydro thermally stable at high temperatures by using High Throughtput experiments (HTE). A library of 150 catalysts was synthesized. Catalysts are supported Ag, Au, Cu on Al2O3, TiO2, ZrO2, CeO2 and further doped with different dopants (Ga, Mo, …). They were tested in a 16-parallel reactor (SWITCH-16) using a Temperature Program Reaction (TPR) protocol with a model feed (100ppm NO / 350ppm C3H6 / 15% O2 /11% H2O). The best catalyst formulation 5%Ag/1%P/Al2O3, which was further improved, exhibits a light off temperature of 50°C lower than a reference commercial catalyst and is stable after ageing at 750°C in presence of water for 16 hrs. For pilot testing, the best catalyst was deposited by sol-gel method on a 1x2 inch monolith (300 cpsi). We showed the consistency of catalytic results obtained in the parallel fixed beds match with monolith bench testing. In parallel a experimental microkinetic approach of surface elementary steps involved in the HC-SCR of NO on Ag/Al2O3 catalyst has been performed to reveal the elementary steps controlling the conversion of the NO reactant taking into account the competitive chemisorption between NO and CO that is present in an exhaust gas. We identified the elimination of Oads species adsorbed on Ag° sites as the limiting step for the N2 production and suggested a new orientation of a HTE study.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-borne virus which has the ability to infect a large variety of animals including humans in Africa and Arabian Peninsula. The abortion rate among these animals are close to 100%, and young animals develop severe disease which often are lethal. In humans, Rift Valley fever (RVF) presents in most cases as a mild illness with influenza-like symptoms. However, in about 8% of the cases it progresses into a more severe disease with a high case fatality rate. Since there is such a high abortion rate among infected animals, a link between human miscarriage and RVFV has been suggested, but never proven. We could in paper I for the first time show an association between acute RVFV infection and miscarriage in humans. We observed an increase in pregnant women arriving at the Port Sudan Hospital with fever of unknown origin, and several of the patients experienced miscarriage. When we analysed their blood samples for several viral diseases we found that many had an acute RVFV infection and of these, 54% experienced a miscarriage. The odds of having a miscarriage was 7 times higher for RVFV patients compared to the RVFV negative women of which only 12% miscarried. These results indicated that RVFV infection could be a contributing factor to miscarriage. RVFV is an enveloped virus containing the viral glycoproteins n and c (Gn and Gc respectively), where Gn most likely is responsible for the initial cellular contact. The protein DC-SIGN on dendritic cells and the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate has been suggested as cellular receptors for RVFV, however other mechanisms are probably also involved in binding and entry. Charge is a driving force for molecular interaction and has been shown to be important for cellular attachment of several viruses, and in paper II we could show that when the charge around the cells was altered, the infection was affected. We also showed that Gn most likely has a positive charge at a physiological pH. When we added negatively charged molecules to the viral particles before infection, we observed a decreased infection efficiency, which we also observed after removal of carbohydrate structures from the cell surface. Our results suggested that the cellular interaction partner for initial attachment is a negatively charged carbohydrate. Further investigations into the mechanisms of RVFV cellular interactions has to be undertaken in order to understand, and ultimately prevent, infection and disease. There is currently no vaccine approved for human use and no specific treatments for RVF, so there is a great need for developing safe effective drugs targeting this virus. We designed a whole-cell based high-throughput screen (HTS) assay which we used to screen libraries of small molecular compounds for anti-RVFV properties. After dose-response and toxicity analysis of the initial hits, we identified six safe and effective inhibitors of RVFV infection that with further testing could become drug candidates for treatment of RVF. This study demonstrated the application of HTS using a whole-cell virus replication reporter gene assay as an effective method to identify novel compounds with potential antiviral activity against RVFV.

A metagenômica trouxe novas perspectivas ao estudo de comunidades microbianas no ambiente, permitindo explorar tanto a diversidade taxonômica de microrganismos ainda não-cultivados, como o acesso direto a genes e vias metabólicas. Neste trabalho, foram construídas bibliotecas metagenômicas a partir de amostras de sedimentos de mangue da Baía de Guanabara (RJ), impactadas com hidrocarbonetos de petróleo e metais pesados. Proteobacteria (33,3%), bactérias afiliadas a redutoras-de-sulfato (29,7%) e Firmicutes (20%) representaram os grupos principais nas amostras ambientais, baseado em análises filogenéticas de rDNA 16S, ao passo que isolamentos seletivos utilizando diesel e naftaleno permitiram a recuperação preferencial de delta-Proteobacteria e actinomicetos. Bibliotecas metagenômicas dos sedimentos enriquecidos com óleo diesel, com insertos entre 25 e 35 Kb clonados em fosmídeos, foram triadas para detecção de genes catabólicos de monoxigenases (alkB1) e expressão de epóxido-hidrolases, esterases, lipases e monoxigenases em ensaios de alto desempenho (HTS, high throughput screening). Clones reativos a alkB1 foram detectados, porém não foram funcionais nas condições de HTS testadas. Nas bibliotecas de fosmídeos triadas, vários clones apresentaram atividade enzimática, sendo que dois apresentaram atividade de lipase-esterase com alta seletividade, elevada taxa de conversão de substratos e excesso enantiomérico (ee >99%). Os resultados de HTS comprovaram a eficiência do uso da clonagem direta de DNA ambiental na expressão de vias metabólicas de interesse com potencial de aplicação biotecnológica. / Metagenomics brought a new perspective to the study of microbial communities in the environment, enabling access to the taxonomic diversity of uncultured microorganisms, as well as direct access to genes and metabolic pathways. In the current study, metagenomic libraries were constructed from mangrove sediment samples of the Guanabara Bay (RJ, Brazil), impacted with oil hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Proteobacteria (33.3%), sulfate-reducing affiliated bacteria (29.7%) and Firmicutes (20%) represented the main groups in the environmental samples based upon 16S rDNA phylogenetic analysis, whereas selective isolation using diesel and naphtalene yielded delta-Proteobacteria and actinomycetes. Metagenomic libraries of diesel-enriched sediment samples, with 25 to 35 Kb fosmid inserts, were screened for detecting monooxigenase genes (alkB1) and expression of epoxide hydrolases, esterases, lipases and monooxigenases in high throughput screening (HTS) assays. Clones reactive to the alkB1 probe were detected, but were not functional under the HTS conditions used. Several functional clones were detected in the clone library, and two showed lipase-esterase activity with high rates of substrate conversion and enantiomeric ratio (ee >99%). The results obtained on HTS showed the efficiency of the direct cloning of environmental DNA for the expression of metabolic pathways with potential biotechnological application.

Peptides are used as synthetically available and easily derivatizable scaffold upon which it is possible to develop ligands targeting broad spectrum of biological targets. A time-tested approach to peptide binder identification is the preparation and screening of combinatorial libraries. Bypassing of this complicated procedure is possible by using biological systems for presentation, identification and selection of peptides based on the principle of in vitro evolution - i.e. display techniques. There are two complementary automated solutions for peptide binder identification described in this work. First is the SPENSER parallel peptide synthesizer, developed as a part of this diploma project, which can be used for peptide ligand discovery and optimization as well as validation of ligands identified using display techniques. Several libraries consisting of a total of 1 052 peptides have been prepared and then used to describe its potential applications. A sample of 154 preparations, representing 14.6 % analytical coverage of the prepared libraries, showed an average purity of 67 ± 19 % according to LC-MS. The libraries presented illustrate that SPENSER is a suitable tool for the parallel synthesis of linear and disulfide-cyclized peptides with limited variability, or libraries consisting of short...

<div> <div> <div> <p>The exploratory profiling and quantitative bioassays of lipids, small metabolites, and peptides have always been challenging tasks. The most popular instrument platform deployed to solve these problems is chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. However, it requires large amounts of instrument time, intensive labor, and frequent maintenance, and usually produces results with bias. Thus, the pace of exploratory research is one of poor efficacy and low throughput. The work in this dissertation provides two practical tactics to address these problems. The first solution is multiple reaction monitoring profiling (MRM-profiling), a new concept intended to shift the exploratory research from current identification-centered metabolomics and lipidomics to functional group screening by taking advantage of precursor ion scan and product ion scan. It is also demonstrated that MRM-profiling is capable of quantifying the relative amount of lipids within the same subclass. Besides, an application of the whole workflow to investigate the strain-level differences of bacteria is described. The results have zeroed in on several potential lipid biomarkers and corresponding MRM transitions. The second strategy is aimed to increase the throughput of targeted bioassays by conducting induced nanoelectrospray ionization (nESI) in batch mode. A novel prototype instrument named "Dip-and-Go" system is presented. Characterization of its ability to carry out reaction screening and bioassays exhibits the versatility of the system. The distinct electrophoretic cleaning mechanism contributes to the removal of salt during ionization, which assures the accuracy of measurement.</p></div></div></div>

Produktionen av rekombinanta biofarmaceutiska läkemedel, exempelvis monoklonala antikroppar, är en oumbärlig men ansträngande process. Under 2019 var sju av de tio mest sålda läkemedlen globalt baserade på rekombinant producerade monoklonala antikroppar. En betydande flaskhals i utvecklingen av stabila cellinjer är screening och selektion av högproducerande singelcellkloner. Tekniker som utspädningskloning (limiting dilution) och fluorescensaktiverad cellsortering (FACS) når idag medelmåttiga resultat som bäst, men saknar förmåga att både isolera produktiva singelcellkloner och hålla cellviabilitet på en acceptabel nivå. Samtidigt kan CellCelectorn™, ett helt automatiserat instrument utformat för att detektera, selektera och isolera singelcellkloner, screena celler för att kartlägga deras produktivitet. CellCelectorn™ är utrustad både med brightfield- och fluorescerande kameror och kan ranka samtliga cellkloner i en provplatta efter produktivitet för att sedan överföra de mest lovande klonerna till en destinationsplatta för vidare analyser och singelklonexpansion. Med avstamp i detta instrument var syftet med projektet att utveckla ett automatiserat arbetsflöde för screening och selektion av högproducerande singelcellkloner med hög genomströmning vid generering av stabila cellinjer. Inledande tester med redan utvecklade och produktiva cellinjer genomfördes för att undersöka CellCelectorns™ prestanda och för att upprätta och optimera sekundära parametrar relevanta för instrumentets kapacitet. Då dessa inledande tester var framgångsrika utfördes en polyklonal selektion i syfte att utveckla tre stabila cellinjer producerandes olika antikroppar. Dessa cellinjer skulle sedan användas för att undersöka CellCelectorns™ förmåga att isolera och överföra de mest lovande singelklonerna till en destinationsplatta. Dessa test kunde tyvärr inte genomföras, då kontaminering i de polyklonala poolerna hade uppstått, men de övergripande resultaten av detta projekt indikerar att CellCelectorn™ är kapabel till att screena för och ranka singelkloner efter deras produktivitet samt att selektera högproducerande klonkandidater under en enda arbetsvecka. Framtida tester är dock nödvändiga för att säkerställa CellCelectorns™ förmåga att isolera singelcellkloner med hög genomsnittlig cellviabilitet för att kunna genomföra singelklonexpansion. / The production of recombinant biopharmaceuticals, such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), from stable mammalian cell lines is an indispensable yet strenuous process. In 2019, seven of the top ten most sold drugs globally were based on monoclonal antibodies produced recombinantly. A prominent bottleneck in stable cell line development is the screening and selection of high target protein producing single clone candidates. Today, techniques such as limiting dilution and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) receive moderate success at best at isolating single clones while keeping cell viability high. Simultaneously, the CellCelector™ is a fully automated instrument designed for the detection, selection, and isolation of single cell clones. Containing both a brightfield and fluorescence-detecting camera, the CellCelector™ can screen cells to measure their productivity and rank them accordingly, meaning high target protein producing clones can be selected and transferred to a destination plate for single clone expansion. Thus, this project aimed at developing an automated high-throughput workflow using the CellCelector™ to streamline the screening and selection steps of stable mammalian cell line generation. Several tests with stable proof-of-concept cells were performed to evaluate the performance of the CellCelector™ and to establish favorable secondary parameter settings. As initial proof-of-concept tests showed promise, a polyclonal selection to obtain three stable Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK) cultures expressing different antibodies was carried out in order to test the CellCelector™ proficiency in clone selection and picking. Unfortunately, no clone picking or single clone expansion could be executed due to bacterial contamination in the cell cultures. Nevertheless, the overall results of this project indicate high potential of the CellCelector™ to detect and identify promising stable clone candidates for single clone expansion over the course of a single work week. Future tests are however required to solidify CellCelector™ ability to isolate monoclonal clones while preserving cell viability for single clone expansion.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa est un pathogène opportuniste responsable d’infections nosocomiales sévères associées à un taux élevé de mortalité. Le système de sécrétion de Type III (SST3) et les effecteurs qu’il injecte sont considérés comme des facteurs de virulence prépondérants de P. aeruginosa. Récemment nous avons caractérisé, un groupe de souches ne possédant pas les gènes du SST3, mais dont la virulence repose sur la sécrétion d’une nouvelle toxine de 172 kDa, nommée Exolysine (ExlA) qui provoque la perméabilisation de la membrane des cellules hôtes. ExlA est sécrétée dans le milieu par une porine de la membrane externe, nommée ExlB, formant ainsi un nouveau système de sécrétion à deux partenaires (TPS), ExlBA. Outre le domaine TPS du coté N-terminal de la protéine, impliqué dans sa sécrétion, ExlA possède différents domaines ; des répétitions hémagglutinines, cinq motifs Arginine-Glycine-Acide Aspartique (RGD) et un domaine C-Terminal faiblement conservé. Des tests de cytotoxicité sur des cellules eucaryotes ont montrés que la délétion du domaine C-terminal abolissait l’activité toxique d’ExlA. En utilisant un modèle de liposomes et différents types de cellules eucaryotes, comme les globules rouges, nous avons démontré qu’ExlA forme des pores membranaires de 1.6 nm. De plus, par un criblage cellulaire à haut-débit d’une banque de mutants obtenus par une mutagenèse de transposition, nous avons montré qu’un facteur bactérien additionnel était requis dans la toxicité d’ExlA. En effet, parmi les 7 400 mutants, nous avons identifiés 3 transposons insérés dans des gènes codant pour le pili de type IV, démontrant ainsi que cet appendice impliqué dans l’adhésion des bactéries participe à la toxicité d’ExlA, en permettant un contact rapproché entre la bactérie et les cellules hôtes. Un criblage de macrophages primaires de souris KO pour différentes protéines impliquées dans la voie de l’activation de l’inflammasome, nous a permis de démontrer que le pore formé par ExlA est responsable de l’activation de la Caspase-1 par l’inflammasome NLRP3 conduisant à la maturation de l’interleukine-1ß. Une étude bio-informatique a révélé la présence de gènes homologues à exlA chez d’autres espèces de Pseudomonas non pathogènes, comme P. putida, P. protegens, P. entomophila. Nous avons montré que ces bactéries environnementales sont aussi capables de provoquer une mort cellulaire dépendante de la Caspase-1. Finalement, un criblage d’une banque de macrophages dont les gènes ont été invalidés par la technologie CRISPR/cas9 a révélé que plusieurs protéines du système immunitaire, indirectement liées à l’activation de la Caspase-1 sont impliquées dans la mort cellulaire médiée par ExlA. De plus, nous avons montré que plusieurs sgRNAs ciblant un microARN, mir-741, était grandement enrichi dans les macrophages ayant résisté à une infection avec ExlA. Mir-741 régule l’expression d’enzymes (St8sIa1 et Agpat5) impliquées dans la voie de biosynthèse des sphingolipides et des glycérophospholipides, suggérant ainsi que l’activité d’ExlA requiert un environnement lipidique particulier. / Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a human opportunistic pathogen responsible for nosocomial infections associated with high mortality. The type III secretion system (T3SS) and T3SS-exported toxins have been considered as key infectivity virulence factors. Our team recently characterized a group of strains lacking T3SS, but employing a new pore-forming toxin of 172 kDa, named Exolysin (ExlA) that provokes cell membrane disruption. In this work we demonstrated that the ExlA secretion requires ExlB, a predicted outer membrane protein encoded in the same operon, showing that ExlA-ExlB define a new active Two-Partner Secretion (TPS) system. In addition to the TPS secretion signals, ExlA harbors several distinct domains, which comprise hemagglutinin domains, five Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic acid (RGD) motifs and a non-conserved C-terminal region lacking any identifiable sequence motifs. Cytotoxic assays showed that the deletion of the C-terminal region abolishes host-cell cytolysis. Using liposomes and eukaryotic cells, including red blood cells, we demonstrated that ExlA forms membrane pores of 1.6 nm. Based on a transposon mutagenesis strategy and a high throughput cellular live-dead screen, we identified additional bacterial factors required for ExlA-mediated cell lysis. Among 7 400 mutants, we identified three transposons inserted in genes encoding components of the Type IV pili, which are adhesive extracellular appendices. Type IV pili probably mediate close contact between bacteria and host cells and facilitate ExlA cytotoxic activity. These findings represent the first example of cooperation between a pore-forming toxin of the TPS family and surface appendages to achieve host cell intoxication. Using mice primary bone marrow macrophages we showed that ExlA pores provoke activation of Caspase-1 via the NLRP3-inflamasomme followed by the maturation of the pro-interleukin-1ß. Mining of microbial genomic databases revealed the presence of exlA-like genes in other Pseudomonas species rarely associated with human infections P. putida, P. protegens and P. entomophila. Interestingly, we showed that these environmental bacteria are also able to provoke Caspase-1 cleavage and pro-inflammatory cell death of macrophages. Finally, genome-wide loss-of-function CRISPR/cas9 RAW library screen revealed that several components of the immune system response, indirectly linked to Caspase-1 are involved in the ExlA-mediated cell lysis. Moreover, we found at least three sgRNAs targeting miRNA, mir-741 were highly enriched in resistant macrophages challenged by ExlA. This miRNA regulates enzymes (St8sIa1 and Agpat5) in the sphingolipids and glycerophololipids biosynthesis pathways, suggesting that ExlA activity may require proper lipid environment.