Une sous population de cellules au sein des tumeurs mammaires présente une capacité accrue de se renouveler et de reproduire l’hétérogénéité du cancer du sein. Maintenant il est bien connu que les cellules souches présomptives du cancer du sein possèdent des programmes d’expression des gènes qui correspondent à leurs caractéristiques biologiques uniques. Notre groupe a été impliqué dans la caractérisation épigénétique des cellules souches présomptives du cancer du sein et l’importance de la dérégulation des mécanismes épigénétiques comme la méthylation de l’ADN et le microARN au cours de la carcinogenèse. Plus spécifiquement cette étude détaille l’idée que la survie des cellules souches du cancer du sein peut être due à une signalisation via des circuits spécifiques de régulation, y compris la voie d’inflammation IL6-JAK-STAT. Ces cellules présentent une activation constitutive de cette voie associée à une configuration particulière de la chromatine. Une autre part de cette étude est d’explorer l’idée que des changements dans l’expression des microARN sont fondamentaux pour la maintenance des principales caractéristiques de ces cellules, et leur ciblage peut représenter une nouvelle approche de thérapie contre le cancer du sein. De plus, en testant directement les conséquences in vivo de la régulation de miR30a nous ouvrons la voie pour la recherche et la validation de l’utilisation potentielle des microARN comme thérapie anti cancéreuse. Ensemble, nos résultats apportent une nouvelle compréhension du rôle des modifications épigénétiques dans la maintenance des cellules souches du cancer du sein. De façon importante ces découvertes intègrent l’idée que des mécanismes de régulations différents mais coordonnés ont un rôle dans la survie des cellules souches du cancer du sien et donnent une perspective élargie pour la découverte de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques / A subpopulation of cells within breast tumors is known to display an increased ability to self-renew and reproduce breast cancer cell heterogeneity. It is now known that putative breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) display distinct programs of gene expression that correlate with their unique biological characteristics. Our group has been involved in the epigenetic characterization of putative breast CSCs and the importance of the deregulation of epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and microRNA during carcinogenesis. More specifically, this study is detailing the idea that the survival of breast CSC may be dependent on signaling through specific regulatory circuits, including the well known inflammatory IL6-JAK-STAT pathway. These cells display a constitutive activation of this pathway associated with a distinct chromatin configuration. Another part of the study is exploring the idea that changes in microRNA expression are fundamental in sustaining the main attributes of these cells, and their targeting may represent a novel approach for breast cancer therapy. In addition, by directly testing the in vivo consequences of miR30a regulation, we open a window of opportunity for testing and validating the potential use of microRNAs in anti-neoplastic therapy. Together our results bring a new understanding of the role of epigenetic modifications in the maintenance of breast CSC. Importantly, these findings integrate the idea that different but coordinated regulation mechanisms play a role in the survival of CSC and give a larger perspective for finding novel therapeutic targets

No câncer, alterações em microRNAs (miRNAs), pequenos RNAs que regulam a tradução protéica, exerce efeito oncogênico (oncomiR). Os oncomiRs regulam genes chave para a proliferação celular e apoptose, sendo importantes para a biologia do câncer. O carcinoma papilífero de tiróide apresenta alterações genéticas alinhadas na via MAPK (RET>RAS>BRAF>ERK). Observamos que a indução do oncogene RET/PTC diminui a expressão de let-7 em células foliculares tiroidianas. Na linhagem TPC-1 (com RET/PTC-1), a introdução de let-7 diminui a proliferação celular e a fosforilaçãode ERK, indicando papel de gene supressor tumoral. No carcinoma anaplásico, avaliamos o papel da introdução do cluster miR-17-92 na linhagem ARO. Observamos que in vitro miR-17-92 atua de forma oncogênica aumentando proliferação e viabilidade celular de ARO. No entanto, estas células apresentam diminuição no crescimento em soft-agar. No xenotransplante, os tumores de ARO-miR-17-92 apresentam menor volume e expressam MMP-9 de forma reduzida, indicando também um papel de gene supressor tumoral para o cluster. / In cancer, alteration in microRNA, small RNAs (~22nt) that regulate post-transcriptionally protein levels, exerts oncogenic role (oncomiR). OncomiRs control genes involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis, influencing cancer biology. Papillary thyroid cancer displays activating genetic alterations in MAPK signaling pathway (RET>RAS>BRAF>ERK). Using conditional induction of oncogenes in thyroid cells, we observed that RET/PTC decreases let-7 miRNA expression. In papillary thyroid cancer cell TPC-1 (with RET/PTC-1) we observed that let-7 introduction inhibits cell proliferation and ERK phosphorylation, indicating tumor suppressor role for let-7. In anaplastic thyroid cancer, we evaluate the role of introduction of miR-17-92 cluster in ARO cell line. We observed in vitro that miR-17-92 increases ARO cell proliferation and viability, acting as oncogene. However, these cells show impaired soft agar growth. In xenotransplant, ARO-miR-17-92 tumors are smaller in volume and express reduced levels of MMP-9, indicating a tumor suppressor role for the cluster.

O controle de qualidade de laranjas desde a colheita até a comercialização é realizado com base em análises físico-químicas. Todavia, estas análises são destrutivas. Neste cenário, sistemas não invasivos para aferir a qualidade, são alternativas promissoras. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar os métodos de análises não destrutivas como a Ressonância Magnética em baixo campo (RMN) e espectroscopias de infravermelho médio (MIR) e próximo (NIR), associadas à quimiometria, para analisar parâmetros de qualidade de laranjas de forma não invasiva. O experimento ocorreu na unidade da Embrapa Instrumentação em São Carlos, SP. Foram coletadas 470 laranjas, obtidas em cultivos comerciais no interior do estado de São Paulo. As frutas passaram pelas etapas de seleção, higienização e sanitização. Em seguida, foram submetidas à análise não invasiva pelos equipamentos de RMN, NIR e MIR. Os parâmetros de qualidade avaliados foram, massa fresca, diâmetros longitudinal e transversal do fruto, teor de sólidos solúveis (SST), pH, acidez total titulável (ATT), índice de maturação (ratio) e rendimento de suco. Para os sinais de RMN foi aplicada a suavização de Savitzky-Golay com largura de janela de 21 pontos. Para os sinais de NIR foi aplicado a variação normal padrão (SNV) e para os sinais de MIR foi aplicada a normalização (0-1), seguido da segunda derivada. O modelo de predição foi construído utilizando a regressão por mínimos quadrados parciais (PLS) para cada parâmetro de qualidade. Os modelos desenvolvidos por RMN-PLS validados para predição foram: massa fresca; coeficiente de Pearson da predição (r) = 0,97, erro padrão da predição (SEP) = 13,57. Diâmetro longitudinal; r = 0,91 e SEP = 3,37. Diâmetro transversal; r = 0,92 e SEP = 2,73. SST; r = 0,81 e SEP = 0,88. Rendimento de suco; r = 0,78 e SEP = 3,26 e pH r = 0,74 e SEP = 0,17. Os parâmetros de índice de maturação e ATT não puderam ser validados utilizando RMN-PLS. Os modelos de NIR-PLS validados foram: SST; r = 0,92 e SEP = 0,71. ATT; r = 0,92 e SEP = 0,30. Os demais parâmetros não puderam ser validados por NIR-PLS. Para os modelos de MIR-PLS, o melhor resultado encontrado foi para validação interna do modelo de pH, r Validação = 0,80 e erro padrão da validação (SEV) de 0,16. A classificação desenvolvida utilizando os modelos de parâmetros físicos de RMN-PLS apresentaram acurácia para diâmetro transversal de 80,00%. As classificações por parâmetros químicos, como teor de sólidos solúveis revelou acurácia de 81,10% e para pH de 61,11%. Para as classificações por PLS-NIR para o ratio a acurácia foi igual a 87,95%. Os frutos classificados de forma não invasiva para a análise sensorial no teste de comparação pareada, apresentaram respostas significativas para sucos classificados pelos modelos de RMN-PLS a nível de p=0,05. Para os frutos classificados pelo NIR-PLS de forma não invasiva, a resposta ao segundo teste sensorial foi significativa a nível de p=0,05. Estes resultados comprovam a aplicabilidade destas técnicas como análises não invasivas para mensurar a qualidade de laranjas e classifica-las por parâmetros físico-químicos percebidos por provadores. / The quality control for oranges, after the harvest until commercialization are carried based on physical-chemical parameters. However, these analyzes are invasive. In this scenario, non-invasive systems to measure quality are promising options. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) at low field and infrared spectroscopy (mid-infrared - MIR and near-infrared - NIR) were associated with chemometrics to analyze quality parameters in intact oranges. The experiment was carried at Embrapa São Carlos, SP. Four hundred and seventy oranges were obtained from commercial crops in the state of São Paulo. Samples were selected, cleaned and sanitized and then were submitted to non-invasive analysis by NMR, NIR and MIR equipment\'s. The evaluated reference quality parameters were fresh weight, longitudinal and transversal diameter, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity (TA), maturation index (ratio) and juice yield (%). For the non-invasive methods was applied pre-processing techniques on the signal. In NMR signal was applied Savitzky-Golay smoothing with 21 points width of window. For NIR signal was applied standard normal variant (SNV) and on the MIR signal normalization was applied (0-1), followed by the second derivative. The prediction model was constructed using partial least squares regression (PLS) for each quality reference parameter. The models developed by NMR-PLS validated by prediction were: fresh weight; Pearson coefficient prediction (r) = 0.97, standard error of prediction (SEP) = 13.57. Longitudinal diameter; r = 0.91 and SEP = 3.37. Transverse diameter; r = 0.92 and SEP = 2.73. SST; r = 0.81 and SEP = 0.88. Juice yield; r = 0.78 and SEP = 3.26. pH r = 0.74 and SEP = 0.17. The maturation index and titratable acidity parameters could not be validated using PLS-NMR. The validated NIR-PLS models were: SST; r = 0.92 and SEP = 0.71. ATT; r = 0.92 and SEP = 0.30. The others reference quality parameters were not validated by NIR-PLS. For models using MIR-PLS, the best result was found for internal validation of the pH model, r = 0.80 and standard validation error (SEV) 0.16. The classification models developed using NMR-PLS physical parameters showed accuracy in transverse diameter of 80.00%. The classifications by chemical parameters such as soluble solids revealed accuracy of 81.10% and 61.11% for pH. For classifications by PLS-NIR for the accuracy ratio was equal to 87.95%. Fruit classified noninvasively for sensory analysis in paired comparison test, showed significant responses to juices classified by NMR-PLS models at the level of p = 0.05. For fruit classified by NIR-PLS noninvasively, the answer to the second sensory test was significant at the level of p = 0.05. These results demonstrate the applicability of these techniques as non-invasive tests to measure the quality of oranges and sorts them by physicochemical parameters perceived by tasters.

A disfunção mitocondrial pode ser um mecanismo chave associado à ocorrência de doenças metabólicas como o diabetes. Neste contexto, é importante obeservar os mecanismos envolvidos nesse processo. MicroRNAs (miRs) são conhecidos por regular a expressão de genes em vários processos fisiológicos, incluindo o metabolismo de glicose e ácidos graxos, biogênese mitocondrial, proliferação, diferenciação e morte celular no músculo esquelético. Usando análise \"in silico\" (Sfold2.2) identificamos 219 microRNAs que, potencialmente, se ligam à região 3 \'UTR do PGC-1?, um gene envolvido na biogênese mitocondrial e no metabolismo de glicose. Dos 219 candidatos, encontramos um alto valor de energia livre de hibridização entre o microRNA miR-696 e PGC-1? (-29,8 kcal / mol), sugerindo que o miR-696 poderia estar envolvido na regulação negativa do PGC-1? resultando em disfunção mitocondrial. Consistente com esta hipótese, observamos que a expressão do miR-696 apresentou-se aumentada nos músculos esqueléticos de dois modelos de camundongos com diabetes: camundongos diabéticos induzidos por STZ e camundongos alimentados com dieta hiperlipídica. Para compreender se o miR-696 regula a disfunção mitocondrial utilizamos células musculares C2C12 expostas a uma alta dose de ácido palmítico (700 µM) durante 24 horas, o que causou uma redução na expressão de genes mitocondriais, bem como no consumo de oxigênio. Vale destacar que a inibição do miR-696 através da transfecção de oligonucleotídeos antisenso (ASO) preveniu, parcialmente, a perda da função mitocondrial de células C2C12 tratadas com ácido palmítico. Curiosamente, não houve nenhuma alteração nos níveis de miR-696 em modelos envolvidos com a proteína AMPK, tal como em células C2C12 incubadas com uma droga ativadora de AMPK (AICAR) e no músculo esquelético de camundongos transgênicos superexpressando AMPK?2 com o domínio quinase inativo ou AMPK?3 com mutação de ativação crônica (R70Q). Em contraste, a expressão alterada de uma quinase relacionadas com a AMPK, SNF1-AMPK-related kinase (SNARK), recentemente demonstrada por ter sua expressão aumentada em virtude do envelhecimento, exerceu efeitos significativos sobre a expressão do miR- 696, como por exemplo sua redução dependente do knockdown de SNARK em células C2C12. Consistente com estes resultados, a superexpressão de SNARK em células C2C12 resultou no aumento da expressão do miR-696 e redução na expressão do PGC-1?, bem como no consumo de oxigénio. Nossos resultados demonstram que o estresse metabólico aumenta a expressão do miR-696 no músculo esquelético, que por sua vez inibe a sinalização da PGC-1? e a função mitocondrial. Ainda, apesar da AMPK não se apresentar como mediadora da expressão do miR-696, SNARK pode desempenhar um papel neste processo através do mecanismo de sinalização SNARKmiR-696-PGC-1?. / Mitochondrial dysfunction may be a key underlying mechanism for occurrence of metabolic disease and diabetes; thus elucidating how this process occurs is of great value. MicroRNAs (miRs) are known to regulate gene expression in several physiological processes including metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis, proliferation, differentiation and cell death in multiple tissues including adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. Using \"in silico\" analysis (Sfold2.2) we identified 219 unique microRNAs that potentially bind to the 3\'UTR region of PGC-1?, a gene involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and glucose metabolism. Out of the 219 candidates, there was a high value of hybridization free energy between the microRNA miR-696 and PGC-1? (- 29.8 kcal/mol), suggesting that miR-696 could be involved in the downregulation of PGC-1?, which in turn could cause mitochondrial dysfunction. Consistent with this hypothesis we found that miR-696 expression was increased in the skeletal muscles of two mouse models of diabetes that have impaired mitochondrial function: STZ-induced diabetic mice and chronic high fat fed mice. To understand if miR-696 regulates mitochondrial dysfunction we used C2C12 muscle cells exposed to a high dose of palmitic acid (700 µM) for 24 hours, which caused a decrease in mitochondrial gene expression and in oxygen consumption. Importantly, inhibition of miR-696 using an antisense oligo approach rescued the mitochondrial function by restoration of mitochondrial-related genes and increased oxygen consumption in the palmitic acid-treated C2C12 cells. Interestingly, there was no change in miR-696 levels in models involved with AMPactivated protein kinase such as C2C12 cells incubated with AICAR, skeletal muscle from AMPK?2 dominant-negative transgenic mice, and transgenic mice overexpressing the activating R70Q AMPK mutation. In contrast, altered expression of the AMPK-related kinase, SNF1- AMPK-related kinase (SNARK), recently shown to increase with aging, had significant effects on miR-696 expression. Knockdown of SNARK in C2C12 cells significantly decreased miR-696. Consistent with these findings, SNARK overexpression in C2C12 cells increased miR-696 concomitant with a decrease in PGC-1? expression and decreased oxygen consumption. Our findings demonstrate that metabolic stress increases miR-696 expression in skeletal muscle which in turn inhibits PGC-1? signaling and mitochondrial function. While AMPK does not mediate miR-696 expression, SNARK may play a role in this process through a SNARK-miR- 696-PGC-1? signaling mechanism.

La biologie moléculaire et, plus spécifiquement, la régulation de l’expression génique ont été révolutionnées par la découverte des microARN (miARN). Ces petits ARN d’une vingtaine de nucléotides sont impliqués dans la majorité des processus cellulaires et leur expression est dérégulée dans plusieurs maladies, comme le cancer. Un miARN reconnaît ses cibles principalement par son noyau, ce qui lui permet de réguler simultanément la traduction de centaines d’ARN messagers. Nos travaux ont montré l’existence d’une boucle de rétro-activation négative, entre deux miARN du polycistron miR-17-92 et trois facteurs de transcription de la famille E2F. E2F1, 2 et 3 induisent la transcription de miR-20 et miR-17 qui par la suite inhibent leur traduction. Nos résultats suggèrent l’implication de cette boucle dans la résistance à l’apoptose induite par E2F1 dans les cellules du cancer de la prostate, ce qui expliquerait en partie le potentiel oncogénique du polycistron miR-17-92. L’étude de ce motif de régulation nous a donc permis de réaliser le potentiel incroyable qu’ont les miARN à inhiber la traduction de plusieurs gènes. Basé sur les règles de reconnaissance des miARN, nous avons développé et validé MultiTar. Cet outil bioinformatique permet de trouver la séquence d’un miARN artificiel ayant le potentiel d’inhiber la traduction de gènes d’intérêts choisis par l’utilisateur. Afin de valider MultiTar, nous avons généré des multitargets pouvant inhiber l’expression des trois E2F, ce qui nous a permis de comparer leur efficacité à celle de miR-20. Nos miARN artificiels ont la capacité d’inhiber la traduction des E2F et de neutraliser leur fonction redondante de la progression du cycle cellulaire de façon similaire ou supérieur à miR-20. La fonctionnalité de notre programme, ouvre la voie à une stratégie flexible pouvant cibler le caractère multigénique de différents processus cellulaires ou maladies complexes, tel que le cancer. L’utilisation de miARN artificiels pourrait donc représenter une alternative intéressante aux stratégies déjà existantes, qui sont limitées à inhiber des cibles uniques. En plus d’élucider un réseau de régulation complexe impliquant les miARN, nous avons pu tirer profit de leur potentiel d’inhibition par la conception de miARN artificiels. / miRNAs are powerful regulators of gene expression in mammals. These small RNAs of around 20 nucleotides are involved in several cellular processes and diseases. MiRNAs recognize their targets mainly by a region comprising nucleotides 2-8, known as the seed. This characteristic gives them the potential to inhibit hundreds of messenger RNAs. Our first goal was to better characterize the complex network involving miRNAs in the regulation of gene expression. To achieve this, we studied the relation between a family of transcription factors, the E2Fs, and a family of miRNAs, the miR-17-92 cluster. Our results suggest a negative feedback loop involving miR-17, miR-20a, E2F1, E2F2 and E2F3. In this loop E2F1, 2 and 3 activate the transcription of the two miRNAs that inhibit their translation in return. The inhibition of the antiapoptotic function of E2F1 by miR-17 and miR-20 in a prostate cancer context, could explain the oncogenic potential of the miR-17-92 cluster that was previously reported. Studying the miR-20/E2F feedback loop made us realize how powerful was the ability of miRNAs to inhibit several targets. To overcome the lack of efficient tools able to inhibit simultaneously the expression of multiple genes, our second goal was to develop MultiTar, an algorithm able to design artificial miRNAs that target a set of predetermined genes. MultiTar was validated in silico, using known targets of endogenous miRNAs and in vivo, taking advantage of our experience with the E2F context. We designed artificial miRNAs against E2F1-3 and expressed them both in normal human fibroblasts and prostate cancer cells where they inhibited cell proliferation and induced cellular senescence. The observed phenotypes were precisely those known for inhibiting E2F activities. Hence, MultiTar can efficiently design artificial micro RNAs able to target multiple genes and is thus a flexible tool that can address the issue of multigenic diseases and complex cellular processes. The use of multitargets could be an alternative to overcome the limits of drugs or siRNAs that are designed generally to regulate only one target.

Les microARN (miARN) sont de petits ARN non-codants qui répriment la traduction de leurs gènes cibles par hybridation à leur ARN messager (ARNm). L'identification de cibles biologiquement actives de miARN est cruciale afin de mieux comprendre leurs rôles. Ce problème est cependant difficile parce que leurs sites ne sont définis que par sept nucléotides. Dans cette thèse je montre qu'il est possible de modéliser certains aspects des miARN afin d'identifier leurs cibles biologiquement actives à travers deux modélisations d'un aspect des miARN. La première modélisation s'intéresse aux aspects de la régulation des miARN par l'identification de boucles de régulation entre des miARN et des facteurs de transcription (FT). Cette modélisation a permis, notamment, d'identifier plus de 700 boucles de régulation miARN/FT, conservées entre l'humain et la souris. Les résultats de cette modélisation ont permis, en particulier, d'identifier deux boucles d'auto-régulation entre LMO2 et les miARN miR-223 et miR-363. Des expériences de transplantation de cellules souches hématopoïétiques et de progéniteurs hématopoïétiques ont ensuite permis d'assigner à ces deux miARN un rôle dans la détermination du destin cellulaire hématopoïétique. La deuxième modélisation s'intéresse directement aux interactions des miARN avec les ARNm afin de déterminer les cibles des miARN. Ces travaux ont permis la mise au point d'une méthode simple de prédiction de cibles de miARN dont les performances sont meilleures que les outils courant. Cette modélisation a aussi permis de mettre en lumière certaines conséquences insoupçonnées de l'effet des miARN, telle que la spécificité des cibles de miARN au contexte cellulaire et l'effet de saturation de certains ARNm par les miARN. Cette méthode peut également être utilisée pour identifier des ARNm dont la surexpression fait augmenter un autre ARNm par l'entremise de miARN partagés et dont les effets sur les ARNm non ciblés seraient minimaux. / microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non coding RNAs that repress the translation of their target genes by pairing to their messenger RNA (mRNA). The identification of miRNAs' biologically active targets is a difficult problem because their binding sites are defined by only seven nucleotides. In this thesis, I show that it is possible to model specific aspects of miRNAs to identify their biologically active targets through two modeling of each one aspect of miRNAs. The first modeling considers the miRNAs regulations through the identification of regulatory loops between miRNAs and transcription factors (TFs). Through this modeling, we identified over 700 miRNA/TF regulatory loops conserved between human and mouse. With the results of this modeling, we were able to identify, in particular, two regulatory loops between LMO2 and the miRNAs miR-223 and miR-363. Using hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells transplantation experiment we showed that miR-223 and miR-363 are involved in hematopoietic cell fate determination. The second modeling focuses directly on the interaction between miARN and messenger RNA (mRNA) to determine the miRNA targets. With this work, we developed a simple method for predicting miRNA targets that outperforms the current state of the art tool. This modeling also highlighted some unsuspected consequences of miRNA effects such as the cell context specificity and the saturation of mRNA targets by miRNA. This method can also be used to identify mRNAs whose overexpression increases the expression level of another mRNA through their shared miRNA and whose global effects on other genes are minimal.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo central reconstituir a trajetória do poeta brasileiro Nilton Rosa da Silva, enfocando seu período como exilado político no Chile, entre 1971 e 1973. Em Santiago, Nilton da Silva estudou castelhano no Instituto Pedagógico da Universidade do Chile, publicou o livro de poesias Hombre América, e passou a militar na Frente de Estudiantes Revolucionarios (FER), um dos grupos estudantis do Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR). O jovem brasileiro seria morto aos 24 anos de idade, em junho de 1973 (três meses antes do golpe de Estado liderado por Augusto Pinochet), por membros da Frente Nacionalista Patria y Libertad, milícia de ultradireita que lutava pela derrubada do presidente Salvador Allende. Defendendo a revolução armada para colocar o Chile no caminho do socialismo, mesmo durante o governo democrático da Unidad Popular (UP), o MIR era visto com reservas por setores moderados da esquerda. Ao mesmo tempo, porém, a organização procurava – desde fora – radicalizar os partidos da UP. A partir da análise da vida de Nilton da Silva, e das repercussões da sua morte, é possível discutir as disputas entre as estratégias “rupturista” e “sistêmica” da esquerda chilena durante o governo Allende, as possibilidades de acordo que se desenharam entre esses setores, e as maneiras como o MIR procurou conquistar esferas mais amplas para sua retórica em favor da necessidade de pegar em armas. Os usos políticos do assassinato de Nilton da Silva estão relacionados a essa busca: através da análise das apropriações do episódio, apreende-se o uso imediato que o MIR fez de sua morte, tentando construir o jovem militante como um mártir revolucionário em um período de crescente temor frente a um golpe reacionário. Discute-se, ademais, a forma como a vida e a morte de Nilton da Silva seriam eventualmente ressignificada nas décadas seguintes, passando a incluí-lo em uma narrativa mais ampla, ao lado de outras vítimas das ditaduras brasileira e chilena. / This thesis aims to recreate the trajectory of the Brazilian poet Nilton Rosa da Silva, focusing on his time as a political exile in Chile, from 1971 to 1973. In Santiago, Silva studied Spanish at the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile, published his poetry book Hombre América, and became a member of the Revolutionary Students Front (FER), one of Revolutionary Left Movement’s (MIR) groups in the student movement. The young Brazilian was killed at the age of 24 in June 1973 (three months prior to the coup led by Augusto Pinochet), by members of the Fatherland and Liberty Nationalist Front, a far-right militia that fought to overthrow the president, Salvador Allende. Advocating the need of an armed revolution to place Chile in the path of Socialism, even during the Popular Unity’s (UP) democratic administration, MIR was seen with hesitations by the moderate left. At the same time, however, MIR sought to radicalize the UP parties. By analyzing Nilton da Silva’s life and the impact of his death, it is possible to discuss the disputes between the “rupturist” and “systemic” strategies of the Chilean left during the Allende administration, the chances of agreement between these sectors, and the ways in which MIR sought to conquer wider segments to its rhetoric in favor of the need to take up arms. The political uses of Nilton da Silva’s murder are related to this goal: by examining the appropriation of his death, we are able to see the immediate use that MIR did of this episode, trying to construct the young activist as a revolutionary martyr in a period of growing fear towards a reactionary coup. This work discusses, moreover, how the life and death of Nilton da Silva would eventually be re-signified in the following decades, now being included in a broader narrative, along with other victims of the Brazilian and Chilean dictatorships.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O objetivo deste trabalho foi estabelecer um modelo empregando-se ferramentas de regressão multivariada para a previsão do teor em ésteres metílicos e, simultaneamente, de propriedades físico-químicas de misturas de óleo de soja e biodiesel de soja. O modelo foi proposto a partir da correlação das propriedades de interesse com os espectros de reflectância total atenuada no infravermelho médio das misturas. Para a determinação dos teores de ésteres metílicos foi utilizada a cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (HPLC), podendo esta ser uma técnica alternativa aos método de referência que utilizam a cromatografia em fase gasosa (EN 14103 e EN 14105). As propriedades físico-químicas selecionadas foram índice de refração, massa específica e viscosidade. Para o estudo, foram preparadas 11 misturas com diferentes proporções de biodiesel de soja e de óleo de soja (0-100 % em massa de biodiesel de soja), em quintuplicata, totalizando 55 amostras. A região do infravermelho estudada foi a faixa de 3801 a 650 cm-1. Os espectros foram submetidos aos pré-tratamentos de correção de sinal multiplicativo (MSC) e, em seguida, à centralização na média (MC). As propriedades de interesse foram submetidas ao autoescalamento. Em seguida foi aplicada análise de componentes principais (PCA) com a finalidade de reduzir a dimensionalidade dos dados e detectar a presença de valores anômalos. Quando estes foram detectados, a amostra era descartada. Os dados originais foram submetidos ao algoritmo de Kennard-Stone dividindo-os em um conjunto de calibração, para a construção do modelo, e um conjunto de validação, para verificar a sua confiabilidade. Os resultados mostraram que o modelo proposto por PLS2 (Mínimos Quadrados Parciais) foi capaz de se ajustar bem os dados de índice de refração e de massa específica, podendo ser observado um comportamento aleatório dos erros, indicando a presença de homocedasticidade nos valores residuais, em outras palavras, o modelo construído apresentou uma capacidade de previsão para as propriedades de massa específica e índice de refração com 95% de confiança. A exatidão do modelo foi também avaliada através da estimativa dos parâmetros de regressão que são a inclinação e o intercepto pela Região Conjunta da Elipse de Confiança (EJCR). Os resultados confirmaram que o modelo MIR-PLS desenvolvido foi capaz de prever, simultaneamente, as propriedades índice de refração e massa específica. Para os teores de éteres metílicos determinados por HPLC, foi também desenvolvido um modelo MIR-PLS para correlacionar estes valores com os espectros de MIR, porém a qualidade do ajuste não foi tão boa. Apesar disso, foi possível mostrar que os dados podem ser modelados e correlacionados com os espectros de infravermelho utilizando calibração multivariada / In the present work, a model that uses multivariate regression tools was proposed to predict both contents of methyl esters and physical-chemical properties of soybean oil -soybean biodiesel blends. The model was proposed from the correlation of the properties of interest with the attenuated total reflectance infrared spectra of the samples (ATR/MID-FTIR). The composition of the blends (methyl esters content) was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which can be seen as an alternative technique to the standard reference methods based on gas chromatography (EN 14103 and EN 14105). The selected physicochemical properties were refractive index, density, and viscosity. For the study, 11 mixtures were prepared with different proportions of soybean biodiesel and soybean oil (0-100 % wt of soybean biodiesel) in five replications totalizing 55 samples. The infrared spectra were acquired in the range 3801-650 cm-1. The spectra were submitted to the multiplicative signal correction (MSC) and then to mean centering (MC) preprocessing. The properties of interest were submitted to auto scale. It was then applied principal component analysis (PCA) for the purpose of reducing the dimensionality of the data, and detected the presence of outliers. When the outliers were detected, the samples were discarded. The original data were submitted to Kennard-Stone algorithm dividing them into a calibration set to build the model and the validation to verify its reliability. The results showed that the model proposed by PLS2 (Partial Least Squares) was able to adjust well to the refractive index data and density, can be observed a random behavior of errors, indicating the presence of homoscedasticity in residual values, in other words, the constructed model presented a forecast of capacity for specific mass properties and refractive index with 95% confidence. The accuracy of the model was evaluated by estimating the regression parameters which are the slope and the intercept by EJCR (Joint Region Confidence Ellipse). The results confirmed that MIR-developed PLS model was able to predict both the refractive index and specific gravity properties. For contents of methyl esters via liquid chromatography the model showed a lower adjustment of the data. Nevertheless, it was possible to demonstrate that the results obtained from methyl esters by HPLC analytical method can be modeled and correlate them with infrared spectra using multivariate calibration

Avaliamos o efeito da RCIU induzida por glicocorticoides sobre a regulação da expressão de miRNAs no fígado de ratos albinos. Animais expostos intrauterinamente à dexametasona apresentaram menor peso ao nascer, fígados relativamente menores dos que os observados em animais controle e menores concentrações hepáticas de PCNA. Em longo prazo, os animais DEX desenvolveram distúrbios metabólicos caracterizados por intolerância à glicose e maior potencial gliconeogênico no desmame e na vida adulta. Ao avaliarmos o perfil de miRNAs no fígado, detectamos aumento da expressão de todo o cluster do miR-322 no período perinatal, com menor conteúdo de alvos preditos desses transcritos (AKT3, CCND1 e INSR). A superexposição ao miR-322-5P reduz a taxa de proliferação em linhagens celulares de hepatocarcinoma e a expressão dos alvos observados no fígado dos animais estudados. Propomos um link entre a expressão aberrante do miR-322-5P e a reduzida taxa de proliferação detectada no tecido hepático em desenvolvimento, contribuindo para o estabelecimento do fenótipo em longo prazo. / We evaluated the effects of glucocorticoid induced IUGR on the expression of miRNA on Wistar rat livers. Dexamethasone (DEX) treated animals were lighter and had smaller liver weight:body weight ratio when compared to control animals. Furthermore, liver PCNA expression was downregulated, sugesting a reduction on cell proliferation rate. In the long term, DEX animals developed metabolic disturbances such as glucose intolerance e increased gluconeogenesis rate in a fast state. The analysis of miRNA expression profile showed an upregulation of miR-322 cluster on perinatal period, together with a downregulation of three putative targets: Akt3, CCND1 and INSR. Later, we used in vitro studies to prove that overexpression of miR-322-5P arrests cell cycle and impairs proliferation of HEPG2 cells as well as it downregulates the predicted targets. Based on this data, we suggest a link between overexpression of miR-322-5P and impaired proliferation rate on the developing liver, which affects the phenotype in the long term.

L’objectif de mon projet principal de thèse est de déterminer la fonction biologique d’un lncARN conservés chez le zebrafish que nous avons appelé libra. La séquence de libra étant hautement homologue à la région 3’UTR de la protéine Nrep. Ces deux transcrits, libra et Nrep, contiennent en effet un site de liaison au miARN profondément conservé et inhabituellement complémentaire au miR-29. En utilisant à le modèle souris et les cellules murines, nous avons décrypté la relation régulatrice entre ce transcrit conservé dans l’évolution des vertébrés et la voie métabolique des miARN. Nous avons montré que Nrep limite le domaine d’expression de miR-29 au cervelet, et qu’il le déstabilise en rognant sa séquence. Notre travail révèle donc le premier exemple de dégradation endogène ciblée des miARN (ou TDMD). De plus, un ensemble d’expériences in vivo sur les modèles zebrafish et souris, nous a permis de démontrer que libra et Nrep contrôlent tout les deux le comportement animal. Via la perturbation génétique du site de liaison au miARN de Nrep murin, nous avons observé que ce gène régule le dosage du miR29 de part son site de liaison aux miARN, et que cette régulation est nécessaire à un comportement animal normal. Dans la seconde partie de ma thèse, je décris une stratégie exploré afin de déréguler les lncARN de la manière la moins invasive possible. Les lncARN sont actuellement neutralisés par des approches qui introduisent de vastes changements de séquence au niveau génomique. Nous avons donc développer une stratégie in vivo, appliquée au zebrafish, qui inactive les lncARN via l’insertion génomique d’une séquence ribozyme autoclivante ou d’un signal polyA prématuré. / The goal of my main thesis project was to determine the biological function of a deeply conserved zebrafish long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) which we called libra. libra shows sequence similarity with the 3'UTR of the NREP a protein coding transcript. Both libra and Nrep contain a deeply conserved and unusually complementary microRNA (miRNA) binding site for miR-29. Using both the mouse model and mouse cell lines, we deciphered the regulatory relationship between this conserved transcript and the miRNA pathway. We showed that Nrep restricts the spatial expression domain of miR-29 in the cerebellum and that it destabilizes miR-29 through 3' trimming. Until now, only viral transcripts and artificial reporters engineered to contain highly complementary miRNA binding sites have been shown to regulate miRNAs in this fashion. Thus, our work uncovers the first example of endogenous target-directed miRNA degradation (TDMD). In addition, through a set of in vivo experiments in zebrafish and mouse, we showed that both libra and Nrep control normal animal behavior. By genetically disrupting the miR-29 binding site in Nrep in mouse, we showed that Nrep regulates miR-29 dosage through its miR-29 site and controls animal behavioral. In a second part of my thesis I describe a strategy to genetically downregulate lncRNAs in a minimally invasive manner. Approaches to knock-out lncRNAs that do not introduce vast sequence changes at the genomic level have not been adequately developed yet. I present our in vivo strategy applied to the zebrafish model using a genomic knock-in of a self-cleaving ribozyme sequence and a premature poly(A) signal to knock-out lncRNAs.