L’immunologie anti-tumorale et l’immunothérapie ont connu dernièrement de grandes avancées avec la mise en évidence du processus d’immuno-surveillance et le développement de plusieurs approches vaccinales. Il n’en demeure pas moins que l’induction d’une réponse immunitaire anti-tumorale se traduit peu par l’éradication de la tumeur. Comme phénomène dynamique et interactif, la réponse cytotoxique anti-tumorale implique les effecteurs cytotoxiques et les cibles tumorales; pourtant, le microenvironnement tumoral et sa plasticité influent largement sur l’efficacité de celle-là. Avec l’appui de récentes données expérimentales, il apparaît crucial de prendre en compte la susceptibilité tumorale à la lyse par les effecteurs cytotoxiques anti-tumoraux, notamment les lymphocytes T cytotoxiques (CTLs), et plus particulièrement dans un contexte de plasticité cellulaire. Ainsi, le principal objectif de mes travaux de thèse est de saisir le rôle de la Transition Épithélio-Mésenchymateuse (EMT) dans la susceptibilité des cellules tumorales à la lyse par les CTLs dans des modèles cellulaires de cancer du sein. Nos résultats montrent que l’EMT est capable d’induire une diminution de la susceptibilité des cellules mésenchymateuses à la lyse spécifique. Elle engage de ce fait de multiples acteurs. Tout d’abord, dans les deux modèles d’étude, il s’avère que l’EMT est capable de réguler négativement l’expression de la molécule HLA-A2. Ensuite, dans le premier modèle expérimental, nous avons établi que l’EMT induit une altération de la signalisation au niveau de la synapse immunologique. De plus, le régulateur de l’autophagie, Becline 1, joue un rôle crucial dans l’induction de la diminution de la sensibilité à la lyse par les lymphocytes T-CD8+ suite à l’induction de l’EMT. Dans le deuxième modèle d’étude, le mécanisme mis en jeu par l’EMT pour réguler la susceptibilité des cellules mésenchymateuses à la lyse par les CTLs se manifeste dans l’induction du facteur de transcription inducteur des propriétés de cellules souches cancéreuses, le KLF4 ainsi que via la régulation négative de l’expression du miR-7. Ensemble, ces résultats élucident de nouveaux mécanismes d’échappement des cellules tumorales malignes à la lyse par les lymphocytes T-CD8+ suite à l’induction de l’EMT. Cette étude soutient ainsi l’importance du ciblage des facteurs de transcription inducteurs de l’EMT et responsables de la plasticité cellulaire afin de neutraliser leur fonction. Cela pourrait aider à construire une nouvelle stratégie pour mieux contrôler l’échappement des cellules tumorales invasives à la lyse spécifique et in fine pour garantir une immunothérapie plus efficace contre le cancer. / The anti-tumor immunology and immunotherapy have recently undergone major breakthroughs, with the identification of immune surveillance process and the development of several vaccine approaches. However, the fact remains that the induction of an antitumor immune response is still not effective enough. Certainly, the antitumor cytotoxic response is a dynamic and interactive phenomenon, involving cytotoxic effectors and tumor targets, but its effectiveness is considerably influenced by the tumor microenvironment and its plasticity. Recent studies support the importance of taking into account the tumor susceptibility to lysis by anti-tumor cytotoxic effectors, notably Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTLs), especially in a context of cellular plasticity. On the grounds of these studies, this research aims at understanding the role of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in the susceptibility of tumor cells to CTLs mediated lysis in different models of breast cell carcinoma. Our results reveal that EMT is able to induce a decrease in the susceptibility of mesenchymal cells to specific lysis. It calls therefore multiple actors. First, in both study models, it turns out that the EMT is able to downregulate the expression of HLA-A2 molecule. Then, in the first experimental model, we show that EMT induces an alteration of signalling at the immunological synapse. Moreover, the regulator of autophagy, Beclin 1, plays a crucial role in the induction of reduced susceptibility to lysis by T-CD8+ lymphocytes following induction of EMT. In the second experimental model, we show that the mechanisms used by EMT to regulate the susceptibility of mesenchymal cells to lysis by CTLs involve the induction of the transcription factor inducing cancer stem cells properties, KLF4, as well as the downregulation of miR-7 expression. Together, these results shed light on new mechanisms used by malignant tumor cells to escape to lysis by T-CD8+ lymphocytes following the induction of EMT. Thus, this study advocates the importance of targeting transcription factors, which are inducers of EMT and responsible for cellular plasticity, in order to neutralize their function. These insights may prove useful for the development of new strategies aimed at better controlling the escape of invasive tumor cells to specific lysis, and ultimately ensuring a more effective immunotherapy against cancer.

Mammalian central nervous system (CNS) neurons lose their ability to regenerate their axons after injury during development. For example, optic nerve injury studies in hamsters have shown that optic nerve axons injured around the time of birth retain the ability to regenerate to their target, but this ability is lost during development (So et al., 1981). The development of an inhibitory CNS environment has been implicated in the inability of the adult CNS to regenerate, however there is also support for this loss being a result of changes in developmental programs intrinsic to the neurons themselves (Goldberg et al., 2002a; Goldberg, 2004). While some molecules have been identified as being involved in intrinsic mechanisms controlling axon growth, there is still much to be discovered. Using genes shown to be regulated in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) during development (Wang et al., 2007), I performed an overexpression screen in embryonic primary neurons measuring changes in neurite growth. Of these genes, the most significant effect in neurite growth was seen with overexpression of Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4), resulting in a greater than 50% decrease in growth. KLF4 is a member of the KLF family of transcription factors which all possess a DNA binding domain containing 3 zinc finger motifs. Outside of the nervous system, KLF4 has been implicated in cancer (Black et al., 2001; Rowland and Peeper, 2006), mitotic growth arrest (Shields et al., 1996) and most recently in the induction of pluripotency (Yamanaka, 2008; Zhao and Daley, 2008). In the CNS, KLF4 has recently been implicated in increasing the sensitivity of cortical neurons to NMDA insult (Zhu et al, 2009), though no effect of KLF4 on neurite growth or regeneration has yet been described. I found that KLF4 overexpression in RGCs results in decreased neurite growth and neurite initiation. KLF4 overexpression also leads to decreases in polarity acquisition in hippocampal neurons, though even when they acquire polarity, they still display decreased neurite growth. Additionally, KLF4 knockout targeted to RGCs leads to an increased neurite growth ability and increased neurite initiation in vitro. In vivo, KLF4 knockout increases RGC axon regeneration after optic nerve injury. Interestingly, KLF4 is one of 17 members of the KLF family, known for their ability to act redundantly and competitively amongst family members for their binding sites. Therefore, we looked to see if other KLFs could affect neurite growth ability. 15 of 17 KLF family members are expressed in RGCs, and their overexpression results in differential effects on neurite growth in both cortical neurons and RGCs. Additionally, many of the family members are developmentally regulated in a manner that typically correlates with their ability to affect neurite growth. For example, KLF6 and -7, whose expression decreases during development, when overexpressed, increase neurite growth, whereas KLF9, whose expression increases developmentally, when overexpressed, decreases neurite growth. Surprisingly, there are multiple KLFs expressed in RGCs that are neurite growth-suppressors, and further study has revealed that the combination of KLF growth enhancers with KLF growth suppressors results in a suppressive or neutral phenotype (Moore et al., 2009), suggesting that to further enhance regeneration after injury in vivo, we will need to additionally remove the growth suppression from other KLF family members. Taken together, these data suggest that KLFs may play an important role in the intrinsic loss of axon growth and regeneration seen during development. Further characterization of downstream targets of KLF4 and other KLF family members may reveal specific neuronal gene targets that could mediate the phenotypic effects of these transcription factors. It is my hope that by determining the developmental programs that underlie the loss of intrinsic axon growth ability of CNS neurons, we may ultimately determine how to revert adult CNS neurons to their embryonic axon growth ability.

No description available.

La génération des cellules hématopoïétiques, aussi connue sous le nom d'hématopoïèse, est contrôlée par l’activité conjuguée de facteurs de transcription lignée-spécifiques permettant l’expression, en temps et lieu, de gènes spécifiques nécessaires pour le développement cellulaire. Dans le cadre de notre étude, nous avons étudié les facteurs de transcription KLF2 et KLF4 qui jouent des rôles cruciaux dans la formation des lymphocytes B et T. KLF2 et KLF4 activent la transcription de gènes spécifiques via leur interaction avec le co-activateur (CBP). Leurs interactions avec CBP requièrent le domaine de transactivation (TAD) qui est localisé dans la région N-terminal des facteurs KLF2 et KLF4. Des études préalables ont montré que des domaines TAD sont aussi présents chez la protéine suppresseur de tumeur p53 et que ces domaines sont requis pour les interactions entre la protéine p53 et le co-activateur CBP. Récemment, plusieurs structures des TADs de p53 en complexe avec les domaines TAZ2 et KIX de CBP ont permis de démontrer que ces TADs sont de nature acide et contiennent un motif ΦΧΧΦΦ crucial pour la formation des interactions. De plus, il s’avère que ces TADs sont similaires aux TADs de KLF2 et KLF4. L’étude présentée dans ce mémoire relate la caractérisation structurelle et fonctionnelle des interactions formées par les facteurs de transcription KLF2 et KLF4 avec leur partenaire d'interaction, CBP, pour activer la transcription de gènes spécifiques. Nos analyses ont été faites en utilisant différentes techniques telles que le titrage calorimétrique isotherme (ITC), la résonance magnétique nucléaire (RMN) ainsi que des expériences de transactivation chez la levure. Notre étude permet une meilleure compréhension des rôles opposés mais complémentaires qu'ont les protéines KLF2 et KLF4 au cours du développement et de la différentiation des lymphocytes B et T en plus de fournir les détails mécanistiques à la base de leurs interactions. Ces informations seront potentiellement utiles pour le développement d'outils à des fins thérapeutiques dans le cadre des leucémies, notamment. / Hematopoietic development is regulated through a combinatorial interplay between lineage-specific activators and the general transcription factors that enables cell-specific patterns of gene expression. In this study, the transcription factors KLF2 and KLF4 play crucial roles in lymphocytes B and T development by activating transcription of specific genes through interactions with the co-activator (CBP). These interactions involve the transactivation domains (TAD) localized in the N-terminal region of KLF2 and KLF4 factors. Previous studies have shown that TADs are also found in the tumor suppressor protein p53 and these TADs are responsible for the interactions between the p53 protein and the coactivator CBP. Recently, several structures of p53TADs in complex with the TAZ2 and KIX domains of CBP have shown that these TADs are acidic and possess a ΦΧΧΦΦ motif crucial for the formation of the interaction. Interestingly, these TADs are similar to the ones found on KLF2 and KLF4. This thesis provides a structural and functional characterization of the interactions formed by the transcription factors KLF2 and KLF4, which have opposing roles, and competes for the same interacting partner CBP to activate transcription. The analysis is done using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and a yeast activation assay. This study brings a greater understanding on the opposing roles yet complementary of KLF2 and KLF4 proteins involved in B and T lymphocytes specific lineages selection and also provides information for potential therapeutic research regarding disease such as leukemia.