Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Köln.

Ulm, Univ., Diss., 2003.

Les virus influenza de type A (IAV) appartiennent à la famille des Orthomyxoviridae. Ces virus enveloppés présentent un génome composé de 8 segments d’ARN simple brin, de polarité négative. Chaque segment est encapsidé par les nucléoprotéines (NP) et associé au complexe polymérase viral, hétérotrimère composé des sous-unités PB1, PB2 et PA, pour former la ribonucléoprotéine virale (RNPv). La protéine PB1 est la sous-unité catalytique responsable de l’activité ARN polymérase ARN-dépendante du complexe viral. La RNPv représente ainsi l’unité minimale de transcription et réplication du génome viral. En raison de la faible fidélité de la polymérase virale et l’absence d’activité de relecture, les IAV présentent un taux de mutation élevé, responsable du développement rapide de populations virales d’une grande diversité génétique, appelées quasi-espèces. Des études récentes ont permis d’identifier des mutants présentant une fidélité de réplication augmentée, due à des mutations uniques dans la sous-unité PB1. Comme décrit pour d’autres virus à ARN, différentes mutations peuvent avoir un effet similaire sur l’activité de la polymérase virale. Afin d’approfondir la caractérisation de la protéine PB1 nous avons recherché d’autres positions pouvant avoir un rôle dans la fidélité de la polymérase, la sélectivité des nucléotides ou la processivité du complexe. Pour cela, des banques de séquences PB1 mutées ont été générées par mutagénèse aléatoire pour deux sous-types de virus influenza A, H3N2 et H1N1pdm09, circulant actuellement chez l’homme. A partir de ces banques, des expériences de reconstitution transitoire de RNPv fonctionnelles (minigénome) en présence de ribavirine, un analogue nucléosidique mutagène, ont permis d’évaluer l’activité de la polymérase et de sélectionner, après subdivisions successives des banques, des mutations conférant une résistance au composé mutagène supérieure à celle de la polymérase sauvage. Les mutations ainsi identifiées dans différentes régions du segment PB1 ont ensuite été réintroduites de manière spécifique, par mutagénèse dirigée, dans la séquence du gène PB1. L’impact de ces mutations sur l’activité de la polymérase a été évalué par des expériences de minigénome en présence et absence de ribavirine. Les mutations pour lesquelles la résistance à la ribavirine a été confirmée ont alors été introduites par génétique inverse dans le contexte du génome viral complet. La majorité des mutations s’est avérée viable et a permis l’obtention de virus mutants infectieux. La capacité de multiplication des virus mutants a été évaluée en cellules MDCK et comparée à celle des virus sauvages correspondants, en absence et en présence de ribavirine. Ainsi, deux mutants porteurs de deux mutations différentes, localisées dans des régions distinctes de la protéine PB1, présentent une capacité à résister à la ribavirine supérieure à celle du virus sauvage. L’analyse de la diversité des populations virales, évaluée par séquençage à haut-débit, en utilisant la technologie Illumina, permettra de confirmer si cette résistance à la ribavirine est bien liée à une augmentation de la fidélité de la polymérase virale. Cette étude a ainsi permis de préciser les éléments de la protéine PB1 impliqués dans l’activité et potentiellement la fidélité de la réplication virale pour deux sous-types de virus influenza A / Influenza type A viruses (IAVs) belong to the Orthomyxoviridae family. The genome of these enveloped viruses consists of 8 single-stranded RNA segments of negative polarity. Each segment is encapsidated by oligomers of the nucleoprotein (NP) and associated with the viral polymerase complex, a heterotrimer composed of the PB1, PB2 and PA subunits to form the viral ribonucleoproteins (vRNPs). The PB1 protein is the catalytic subunit of the polymerase complex, harboring the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity. The vRNP represents the minimal functional unit for transcription and replication of the viral genome. Given the low fidelity and lack of proofreading activity of their polymerase, IAVs have a high mutation rate leading to the rapid development of viral populations with high genetic diversity, called quasispecies. Recent studies identified mutants with increased replication fidelity, due to single mutations in the PB1 subunit. As described with other RNA viruses, different mutations could have similar effects on the activity of the viral polymerase. To improve the characterization of the PB1 protein, we searched for other positions that may have a role on polymerase fidelity, nucleotide selectivity or complex processivity. For this purpose, random mutagenesis was used to generate libraries of mutated PB1 from influenza A virus subtypes H3N2 and H1N1pdm09, currently circulating in humans. From these libraries, transient reconstitution of functional vRNPs (minigenome) experiments were performed with ribavirin, a mutagenic nucleoside analog, to evaluate the polymerase activity. Upon selection based on the polymerase activity of successively subdivided libraries, PB1 mutations with increased polymerase activity in the presence of ribavirin relative to wild-type were identified in several regions of PB1. These mutations were specifically re-introduced in PB1 by directed mutagenesis. Their impact on polymerase activity was evaluated by minigenome experiments with and without ribavirin. Mutations with confirmed resistance against ribavirin were then introduced in the context of infectious virus by reverse genetics. Most corresponding mutant viruses could be rescued. Their growth characteristics were analysed in MDCK cells and compared to the corresponding wild-type viruses, in the presence or absence of ribavirin. Two mutants carrying two different mutations, located in distinct regions of the PB1 protein, displayed an improved capacity to resist ribavirin relative to the wild-type virus. Viral populations genetic diversity analysis by next-generation sequencing, using Illumina technology, will confirm whether the observed resistance against ribavirin is linked to an increase of the viral polymerase fidelity. This study provides insights into the PB1 domains involved in the activity and potentially the viral replication fidelity of two influenza A virus subtypes

Kaffee, die in der westlichen Welt am häufigsten verwendete psychoaktive Substanz, erwies sich im Mikrokern-Testes an Maus-Lymphomzellen L 5178Y als modulierend auf bekannte mutagene Agentien. In dieser Arbeit wurde meist Instantkaffee verwendet, der gegen N-Methyl-N-Nitro-N-Nitrosoguanidin (MNNG), Mitomycin C (MMC), Genistein, und Methylmethansulfonat getestet wurde. Bei MMC und Genistein erwies sich Kaffee als antimutagen. Bei MNNG hatte Kaffee keinen klaren Einfluss auf die Gentoxizität, ebenso blieb die Kaffee-Wirkung bezüglich MMS unklar. Kaffee minderte dosisabhängig das Wachstum und die Überlebensrate von L 5178Y - Zellen. Es wurde die Frage nach den Ursachen der modulierenden Effekte diskutiert. Insbesondere wurde die Hypothese erörtert, dass für die Richtung der Modulation nicht so sehr die Konzentration des Kaffees, sondern die mutagene Potenz der koinkubierten Substanz eine entscheidende Rolle spielen könnte. Ggf. wirkt Kaffee - im Sinne eines "abhärtenden" Effektes - bei schwach mutagenen Substanzen anitmutagen, bei stark mutagenen Substanzen hingegen synergistisch mutagen. / Coffee, the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the western hemisphere, was regarded as an effect modifier of mutagenicity in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells treated with mutages. Mainly instant-coffee was tested against N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), mitomycin C (MMC), genistein, und methylmethanesulfonate (MMS). Coffee was antimutagen against mitomycin C (MMC) and genistein. No clearly influence was seen against MNNG or MMS. Dose-dependent Coffee reduces the growing and survival rate of L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells. The reasons for the modifying-effects of coffee were discussed. The hypothesis was found, that the concentration of the coffee ist not so influential in making antimutagene or mutagene effects, rather the mutagen power-factor of the coincubating substances. Coffee could be an “indurating” parameter: Causing antimutage effects in the presence of “gentle” mutagens, causing synergistic mutagen or zytotoxic effects in the presence of “strong” mutagens.

No description available.

No / In 2013, the World Health Organization referred to tobacco smoking as an epidemic and a great threat to human health. Despite the obvious exposures from first- and secondhand smoking contributing to illnesses, an increased cancer risk, and death, there is a hidden risk to the next generation(s) from transgenerational mutations. In human populations, paternal preconceptional germ cell damage leading to genomic instability in offspring has always been difficult to evaluate as preconceptional and gestational exposures usually cannot be analyzed independently. Clear indications have been found that the effect of pre- and periconceptional paternal smoking may have been transmitted to the offspring via the spermatozoal genome and epigenome. Hence, cigarette smoke has to be considered a human germ cell mutagen due to its potential of inducing transgenerational DNA alterations in the unexposed F1 offspring of smoking-exposed fathers. For cohort studies, the practice of almost exclusively employing mother–childbirth pairs for the evaluation of lifestyle factors, such as smoking, while excluding the fathers’ contribution has to be reconsidered. Evidence now strongly points to the necessity of including the fathers in order not to miss paternal transgenerational damage in the offspring. This applies for genetic, epigenetic, and other transmissible effects.

Mutageniciteten för olika ämnen bestäms vanligtvis med hjälp av konventionella in vivo och in vitro metoder. Att övergå till in silico metoder vore både etiskt och miljö- mässigt gynnsamt. Flera olika parametrar kan användas för att förutse mutagenicitet. Bland dessa ingår energin för lägsta oockuperade molekylorbitalen (LUMO), aktiveringsenergin, lokala min/max i elektrostatiska potentialen (Vs,min/Vs,max), lokala min i ”electron attachment energy” (Es,min ), med flera. Aktiveringsenergin är en parameter som kan förutspå mutagenicitet med hög noggrannhet, förutsatt att reaktionsmekanismen antingen är känd eller kan antas. Däremot är beräkningskostnaden för aktiveringsenergin hög. Mutagen-X (MX) och dess analoger (föreningar med samma grundstruktur men olika funktionella grupper, totalt 29 olika föreningar), är föreningar vars mutagenicitet har bestämts med hjälp av traditionella metoder men har nyligen också kunnat bestämmas genom kvantkemiskmodellering. Kvantkemiskmodellering har med framgång implementerats i studien av Kari Tuppurainen [1]; där LUMO har bestämts för MX och dess analogier. Utöver detta visades även en statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan LUMO för MX och dess analoger och den biologiska aktiviteten som bestämdes med hjälp av Ames test. Målet med detta arbete har varit att undersöka vare sig mutageniciteten för MX och dess analogier kan även bestämmas genom att beräkna Es,min, Vs,max och aktiveringsenergin. Reaktionen som undersöktes var en Michael additionsreaktion  mellan amingruppen på kvävebasen guanin och betapositionen på MX och dess analogier. Av den anledningen utvärderades parametrarna (Es,min, Vs,max och aktiveringsenergin) vid betapositionen. De beräknade värdena för Es,min var korrelerade med biologiska aktiviteten. Även aktiveringsenergierna för MX och dess analogier beräknades vid betapositionen och korrelerades sedan med biologiska aktiviteten och Es,min värdena. Om en statistiskt signifikant korrelation observerades mellan aktiveringsenergin och Es,min värdena, hade detta varit en indikation att Es,min värden kan användas för att ersätta aktiveringsenergin. Es,min värden har en jämförelsevis låg beräkningskostnad. Dock observerades ingen statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan Es,min värdena och biologiska aktiviteten. Vidare observerades ingen statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan aktiveringsenergin och biologiska aktiviteten och/eller Es,min värdena. Därmed fanns flera indikationer att den tänkta reaktionsmekanismen var felaktig. Under efterforskningen hittades en studie som visade att en-elektronreduktionsmekanismen var den mest troliga reaktionsmekanismen för den undersökta reaktionen. Detta kan vara en förklaring till varför en statistiskt signifikant korrelation kunde observeras mellan LUMO och biologiska aktiviteten, medan ingen korrelation observerades för Es,min, Vs,max och aktiveringsenergin mot biologiska aktiviteten. Avsaknaden av en korrelation för dessa parametrar anses bero på att den föreslagna reaktionsmekanismen var felaktig. Vidare studier hade behövts för att undersöka dessa parametrars förmåga att kunna förutse mutagenicitet. / Mutagenicity of various compounds is traditionally predicted by conventional in vivo and in vitro methods. However, transitioning to in silico methods would be beneficial both ethically and environmentally. The descriptors that can be used to predict mutagenicity are the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy, activation energy, the local minimum / maximum electrostatic potential energy (Vs,min/Vs,max), the minimum local electron attachment energy (Es,min), etc. The activation energy is a descriptor that can predict mutagenicity accurately provided that the reaction mechanism is known or can be assumed. However, determining the activation energy is computationally costly. Mutagen-X (MX) and its analogues (compounds with the same backbone but different functional groups, 29 compounds in total), are compounds of which the mutagenicity had been characterized by traditional means but recently also using an in silico method – molecular modeling. Molecular modeling had been successively employed in the study by Kari Tuppurainen [Source]; the LUMO of MX and its analogues had been computed and, importantly, the obtained values demonstrated a statistically significant correlation with the biological activity determined using Ames test. The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether the mutagenicity of MX and its analogues could also be determined by computing Es,min, Vs,max and the activation energy. The studied reaction was a Michael addition reaction between an amine group on the guanine nucleobase and the beta position of MX and its analogues. Therefore, the studied parameters (Es,min, Vs,max and the activation energy) were evaluated at the beta position. The computed Es,min values were correlated with the biological activity. Activation energies for MX and its analogues were also computed at the beta position and then correlated with the biological activity and Es,min values.  If a highly statistically significant correlation between the activation energy and Es,min values at the beta position would have been observed, that would indicate that Es,min values  could be used as a substitute for the activation energy. Es,min values have comparatively low computational cost. However, no statistically significant correlation between Es,min values and the biological activity was observed. Furthermore, no statistically significant correlation was observed between the activation energy and biological activity and/or Es,min values, respectively. Thus, there were several indications that the proposed reaction mechanism was incorrect. After consulting literature, we learned that the one electron reduction mechanism would be a more probable reaction mechanism. This could be an explanation as to why a highly statistically significant correlation could be observed for LUMO vs. the biological activity, whereas no correlation was observed for Es,min, Vs,max, the activation energy versus the biological activity. The absence of a correlation for these parameters is thought to be due to the proposed reaction mechanism being inaccurate. Additional studies would have to be performed to further investigate the predictive abilities for mutagenicity of the studied parameters.

As radical innovations facilitate communication, create new industries and make others obsolete, the established ways of organising society are being questioned. Over the last few decades, a theoretical framework and a worldview labelled the entrepreneurial society, has emerged. The entrepreneurial society is based on theoretical models, empirical observations and a belief in the importance of new businesses. The core of the entrepreneurial society is the claim that valuable ideas have to be commercialised in order to contribute to economic growth and prosperity. Unfortunately, valuable ideas remain dormant due to a number of barriers. Labour mobility, informal networks and entrepreneurship are mechanisms with the potential of overcoming these barriers. This thesis aims to increase our understanding of how ideas diffuse between and get applied within organisations. The thesis relates its findings to the entrepreneurial society and identifies and critically assesses basic assumptions and biases underlying the framework. The thesis presents and discusses six studies, each published as an article in a scientific journal, a chapter in an edited book, or as a conference paper at an international academic conference. Taken together, the findings in this thesis emphasise that the mobility of ideas is intertwined with the mobility of people and knowledge. More specifically, the findings indicate that employees in large R&amp;Ddriven projects not only attain knowledge from external sources, but also that the use of external knowledge sources is positively related to new ideas connected to the projects. In addition, this thesis reinforces the argument that the mobility of knowledge workers is particularly beneficial to the diffusion of knowledge and ideas between organisations; the results show that employees in knowledge-intensive positions perceive greater opportunities to generate, share and develop ideas in organisations, as compared to employees in less knowledge-intensive positions. This thesis suggests that new employees tend to have an entrepreneurial potential in the form of a greater drive for change and less habituation with current practices. Nevertheless, such potential is often curbed by resistant routines. However, the thesis also finds that much entrepreneurship literature and the discourse of policy makers are biased towards overly optimistic views of entrepreneurship. The literature on the entrepreneurial society emphasises the diffusion and application of new R&amp;D-related knowledge and ideas. This thesis also emphasises the diffusion and application of already widespread and established knowledge, ideas and innovations. / I takt med att radikala innovationer underlättar kommunikation, skapar nya branscher och gör andra obsoleta, ifrågasätts etablerade sätt att organisera samhället. De senaste årtiondena har ett teoretiskt ramverk och en världsåskådning, under benämningen det entreprenöriella samhället, vuxit fram. Det entreprenöriella samhället baseras på teoretiska modeller, empiriska observationer och en tro på vikten av nya företag. Kärnan i det entreprenöriella samhället är tesen att värdefulla idéer måste kommersialiseras för att bidra till ekonomisk tillväxt och välstånd. Olyckligtvis förblir många idéer outnyttjade på grund av en mängd barriärer. Arbetskraftsrörlighet, informella nätverk och entreprenörskap är mekanismer med potential att övervinna dessa barriärer. Syftet med denna avhandling är att öka vår förståelse av hur idéer sprids mellan, och tillämpas inom, organisationer. Avhandlingen relaterar resultaten till det entreprenöriella samhället, samt identifierar och granskar ramverkets underliggande antaganden och blinda fläckar. Avhandlingen presenterar och diskuterar sex studier, var och en publicerad som en artikel i en vetenskaplig tidskrift, som ett kapitel i en akademisk antologi eller som ett bidrag till en internationell vetenskaplig konferens. Sammantaget understryker resultaten i avhandlingen att idéers rörlighet är sammanvävd med människors och kunskaps rörlighet. Resultaten tyder på att anställda i stora FoU-drivna projekt inte bara inhämtar kunskap från externa källor utan också att dessa källor är relaterade till nya idéer och lösningar på problem i projekten. Vidare förstärker resultaten tidigare forskning som hävdar att organisationsbyten bland människor med kunskapsintensiva arbeten särskilt bidrar till att idéer och kunskap sprids mellan organisationer; resultaten visar att anställda med kunskapsintensiva arbeten upplever större möjligheter att generera, föreslå och utveckla idéer jämfört med anställda i mindre kunskapsintensiva positioner. Avhandlingens resultat indikerar också att nyanställda har en större entreprenöriell potential än mer etablerade anställda. Detta för att nyanställda har en större förändringsbenägenhet och att de ännu inte är inskolade i etablerade arbetssätt. Denna potential hålls emellertid ofta tillbaka av motståndskraftiga organisatoriska rutiner. Dessutom hävdar avhandlingen att mycket av entreprenörskapslitteraturen och den politiska diskursen uppvisar en överoptimistisk syn på entreprenörskap. Litteraturen bakom det entreprenöriella samhället betonar spridningen och tillämpningen av forskningsnära kunskap. Denna avhandling betonar även vidare spridning av redan spridd och etablerad kunskap, samt redan spridda och etablerade idéer och innovationer. / <p>The authors Licentiate thesis "Organisational adoption of innovations : management practices and IT" is a part of this dissertation.</p>

(EN) Humans and cells in their bodies are exposed to various mutagens in their lifetime that cause DNA damage and mutations, which affect the biology and physiology of the target cell, and can lead to the expansion of an immortalized cell clone. Genome-wide massively parallel sequencing allows the identification of DNA mutations in the coding sequences (whole exome sequencing, WES), or even the entire genome of a tumour. Mutational signatures of individual mutagenic processes can be extracted from these data, as well as mutations in genes potentially important for cancer development ('cancer drivers', as opposed to 'passengers', which do not confer a comparative growth advantage to a cell clone). Many known mutational signatures do not yet have an attributed cause; and many known mutagens do not have an attributed signature. Similarly, it is estimated that many cancer driver genes remain to be identified. This Thesis proposes a system based on immortalization of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) upon mutagen treatment for modelling of mutational signatures and identification and testing of cancer driver genes and mutations. The signatures extracted from WES data of 25 immortalized MEF cell lines, which arose upon treatment with a variety of mutagens, showed that the assay recapitulates the...