L’identification de biomarqueurs demeure un véritable défi pour les sciences analytiques et un enjeu majeur pour la recherche clinique. Les glycosaminoglycanes (GAGs) ont été identifiés comme biomarqueurs potentiels de mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), maladies génétiques rares et très souvent mortelles. Ces pathologies sont dues à une déficience en une des enzymes impliquées dans le catabolisme des GAGs. Le défaut enzymatique conduit à une accumulation de GAGs partiellement dégradés, et entraîne une neurodégénérescence pour les formes sévères de la pathologie. Les GAGs sont des polysaccharides polyanioniques complexes impliqués dans de nombreux processus physiologiques chez les mammifères. Leur étude demeure difficile en raison de leur hétérogénéité structurale, de leur faible biodisponibilité et du manque d'outils dédiés à leur analyse. Notre objectif a été de détecter et de quantifier ces composés à partir de fluides biologiques tels que l’urine et le liquide céphalo-rachidien, puis d’en élucider la structure par spectrométrie de masse. L’étude s’est focalisée sur la caractérisation d’oligosaccharides de type héparane sulfate (HS), biomarqueurs spécifiques de MPS à composante neurologique (MPS de type I, IIIB et IIIC) et responsables des atteintes du système nerveux central. Une stratégie expérimentale permettant l’extraction d’oligosaccharides de HS issus de fluides biologiques a été développée. Ainsi, la structure d’oligosaccharides sulfatés de HS urinaires, candidats biomarqueurs de MPS IIIB et IIIC, a pu être identifiée. Ces composés pourraient s’avérer utiles pour le diagnostic et le suivi de patients, notamment lors d’essais thérapeutiques. Des expériences in vitro d’exposition de différents types cellulaires du cerveau ont été menées afin d’établir la relation entre la structure des oligosaccharides accumulés et leurs effets neuropathologiques. Elles ont permis de mettre en évidence des processus cellulaires qui pourraient impliqués dans la neurodégénérescence et constituer de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques. / The identification of biomarkers remains one of the main challenges for analytical sciences and a major stake for clinical research. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have been identified as potential biomarkers of mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) belonging to rare genetic diseases with often a deadly issue. These pathologies are due to a deficiency in one of the enzymes responsible for GAGs catabolism. This enzymatic defect results in the accumulation of partially catabolized GAGs in organism and leads to neurodegeneration for the most severe forms of the disease. GAGs are complex polyanionic polysaccharides involved in numerous physiological processes in mammals. Their study remains a challenging task because of their high structural heterogeneity and their low biodisponibility, besides the lack of dedicated analytical tools. Our aim was to detect and quantify these compounds in biologic fluids such as urine and cerebrospinal fluid, and to elucidate their structures by mass spectrometry. This study focused on heparan sulfate (HS) oligosaccharides, as potential biomarkers of MPS featured by neurological manifestations (MPS I, IIIB and IIIC), and possibly responsible of lesions in the central nervous system. An experimental strategy allowing the extraction of HS oligosaccharides from biological fluids was implemented, thereby the structures of urinary heparan sulfate oligosaccharides were deciphered, leading to possible biomarkers candidates of MPS IIIB and IIIC. These compounds could be useful for diagnostic and patient follow-up that are currently lacking for the monitoring of therapeutic assays. In vitro exposition of different cerebral cell types to HS oligosaccharides was carried out to establish the relation between the structure of oligosaccharides and neuropathological effects. These studies highlighted several cellular processes that could be involved in neurodegeneration and constitute new therapeutic targets.

<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>

Ambient ionization techniques, such as nanoDESI and nanoESI, allow for the direct analysis of complex samples under atmospheric pressure with no sample pretreatment. These ionization techniques are utilized for a variety of applications, including lipidomics, online reactions and imaging of small molecules. Nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) is an ionization technique that is similar to electrospray ionization (ESI) but uses smaller sample volumes. NanoESI can be used for complex biological sample analysis and when coupled with online photochemical reactions, such as the Paternò-Büchi (PB) reaction, structural information about lipids can be determined. Likewise, nanoDESI is another ambient ionization technique that employs the ESI mechanism but incorporates online liquid extraction of analytes. This technique is easily incorporated to mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to provide spatial localization of biomolecules in tissues. Additionally, nanoDESI allows for tunable solvent extraction and online derivatization reactions. These techniques were used to determine structural information of neutral lipids, to image lipids from different developmental stages of lung tissue, and to image and quantify small molecule drugs and metabolites in tissue.