Le virus respiratoire syncytial humain (hRSV) est le principal agent pathogène responsable des bronchiolites. Le complexe ARN polymérase (RdRp), du hRSV, nécessaire à la réplication de son génome, est composé a minima de la sous-unité catalytique (L), de son principal cofacteur qu’est la phosphoprotéine (P) et de la nucléoprotéine (N) qui assure l’encapsidation du génome viral. Le cœur de mon projet doctoral a été l’étude dynamique et structurale de domaines des protéines N et P du hRSV ainsi que leurs interactions avec certaines protéines cellulaires principalement par résonance magnétique nucléaire.Dans un premier temps j’ai étudié une potentielle interaction entre 2 domaines appartenant à la protéine N et à la protéine cellulaire Tax1BP1 impliquée notamment dans la régulation de l’autophagie. Ensuite, j’ai entrepris une étude structurale et dynamique de hRSV-P isolée notamment dans le but de déterminer des contacts transitoires au sein de la protéine et d’obtenir la structure tridimensionnelle du domaine d’oligomérisation de P. Enfin, j'ai participé à la caractérisation de l’interaction entre la protéine hRSV-P et le cofacteur de transcription du hRSV hRSV-M2-1, puis entre hRSV P et la phosphatase cellulaire PP1α, afin d’en cartographier les régions de contacts. / Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is the main pathogen responsible for bronchiolitis. The RNA polymerase complex (RdRp) of hRSV, necessary for the replication of its genome, is composed at least of the catalytic subunit (L), its main cofactor phosphoprotein (P) and nucleoprotein (N), which encapsidates the viral genome. At the heart of my doctoral project was the dynamic and structural study of domains of the proteins N and P of the hRSV as well as of their interactions with several cellular proteins, mainly by nuclear magnetic resonance.Firstly, I studied a potential interaction between 2 domains belonging to the N protein and to the Tax1BP1 cellular protein involved notably in regulation of autophagy. Secondly, I undertook a structural and dynamic study of isolated hRSV-P in order to determine transient contacts within the protein and to obtain the three-dimensional structure of the P oligomerization domain. Last, I participated in the characterization of the interaction between the hRSV-P protein and the hRSV transcription cofactor hRSV-M2-1, and between hRSV P and the cellular phosphatase PP1α to map the contact regions.

Le virus respiratoire syncytial (VRS) est un membre de la famille des Paramyxoviridae, des virus simple brin d'ARN non segmentés de polarité négative. Le virus respiratoire syncytial humain (VRSh) est la principale cause des maladies respiratoires chez les enfants, et il est la priorité des cibles vaccinales. Notre objectif est d'obtenir des réponses sur la structure et la dynamique des différents composants du complexe ARN polymérase ARN dépendante du VRS (RdRp) et sur leurs interactions, en utilisant la résonance magnétique nucléaire (RMN), en espérant pouvoir proposer des molécules qui inhibent ou perturbent ces interactions afin de développer des médicaments antiviraux spécifiques. Mon travail porte sur deux protéines du complexe RdRp: la phosphoprotéine P, qui est le co-facteur principal de la polymérase et elle est nécessaire à la fois pour la transcription virale et pour la réplication, et M2-1 qui est un facteur d'antiterminaison de la transcription. Notre but est de caractériser la structure de P, par rapport à d'autres protéines P des Mononegavirales, la P du VRSh est assez courte et ne comporte pas de domaines avec structure tertiaire stable en dehors du domaine de tétramérisation central résistant à la trypsine. L'analyse de séquence de P prédit la présence d'un domaine d'oligomérisation et de grandes extensions en N-et C-terminales intrinsèquement désordonnés. Cet agencement de domaine est confirmé par RMN. En outre, nous avons utilisé l'analyse de déplacements chimiques secondaires et des mesures de relaxation nucléaire en azote 15 pour montrer que des hélices transitoires sont formées dans les extrémités N- et C-terminales de P. A l'extrémité C-terminale, des hélices presque complètement formées semblent prolonger le domaine d'oligomérisation. A l'extrémité N-terminale des hélices transitoires formées coïncident avec les sites de liaison pour la nucléoprotéine du VRS et pour la liaison au co-facteur de transcription M2-1, comme montré par des expériences d'interaction par RMN. La protéine M2-1 du VRSh est un cofacteur du complexe RdRp essentiel pour la transcription virale en augmentant la processivité de la polymérase. M2-1 est une protéine modulaire qui se lie à l'ARN et interagit également avec la phosphoprotéine virale P. Ces propriétés de liaison sont liées au domaine globulaire de M2-1. Puisque La structure du domaine globulaire de M2-1 a été déjà résolue par mon équipe par RMN, donc nous avons pu montrer le chevauchement partiel des surfaces d'interaction de l'ARN et de P, sur le fragment monomère de M2-1 (58-177) par RMN, confirmant que cette protéine se lie à la phosphoprotéine P et à l'ARN de manière compétitive. Tous les résultats de RMN sont toujours confirmés par des tests fonctionnels par nos collaborateurs à l'INRA, Jouy-en-Josas. / Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a member of the Paramyxoviridae family of non segmented, negative sense singlestranded RNA viruses. Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is major cause of respiratory diseases in children, and is prioritized vaccine targets. Our aim is to get answers about the structure and dynamics of different components of the RSV RNA dependent RNA polymerase complex (RdRp) and about their interactions, by using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, as a prerequisite to rational drug design. My work focuses on two RSV proteins: the phosphoprotein, which is the main polymerase co-factor and necessary for both viral transcription and replication, and M2-1 which is the antitermination factor of transcription. Our aim is to characterize the structure of P. As compared to other P proteins of Mononegavirales, hRSV P is rather short and does not comprise domains with stable tertiary fold outside the central trypsin-resistant tetramerization domain. Sequence analysis of P predicts the presence of a helical oligomerization domain and large disordered N-and C-terminal extensions. This domain arrangement is confirmed by NMR. Moreover we used backbone chemical shift analysis and 15 N relaxation experiments to show that transient helices are formed in the N- and C-termini of P. At the C-terminus, nearly completely formed helices seem to prolong the oligomerization domain. At the N-terminus transiently formed helices coincide with the binding sites for the RSV nucleoprotein and for the transcription co-factor M2-1, as shown by NMR interaction experiments. The M2-1 protein of hRSV functions as an essential transcriptional cofactor of the viral (RdRp) complex by increasing polymerase processivity. M2-1 is a modular RNA binding protein that also interacts with the viral phosphoprotein P. These binding properties are related to the core region of M2-1. After solving the structure of the corresponding domain, we showed that partial overlap of the RNA and P interaction surfaces, determined by NMR on the monomeric M2-1(58-177) fragment, accounts for the previously observed competitive behavior of RNA versus P in M2-1 binding. The NMR results are always confirmed by functional tests by our collaborators at INRA, Jouy-en-Josas

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Modulation of sphingolipid-induced apoptosis is a potential mechanism to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs. Ceramide is a pleiotropic, sphingolipid produced by cells in response to inflammatory cytokines, chemotherapeutic drugs and ionizing radiation. Ceramide is a potent activator of protein phosphatases, including protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) leading to dephosphorylation of substrates important in regulating mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis. Previous studies demonstrated that death associated protein kinase (DAPK) plays a role in ceramide-induced apoptosis via an unknown mechanism. The tumor suppressor DAPK is a calcium/calmodulin regulated serine/threonine kinase with an important role in regulating cytoskeletal dynamics. Auto-phosphorylation within the calmodulin-binding domain at serine308 inhibits DAPK catalytic activity. Dephosphorylation of serine308 by a hitherto unknown phosphatase enhances kinase activity and proteasomal mediated degradation of DAPK. In these studies, using a tandem affinity purification procedure coupled to LC-MS/MS, we have identified two holoenzyme forms of PP2A as DAPK interacting proteins. These phosphatase holoenzymes dephosphorylate DAPK at Serine308 in vitro and in vivo resulting in enhanced kinase activity of DAPK. The enzymatic activity of PP2A also negatively regulates DAPK protein levels by enhancing proteasomal-mediated degradation of the kinase, as a means to attenuate prolonged kinase activation. These studies also demonstrate that ceramide causes a caspase-independent cell detachment in HeLa cells, a human cervical carcinoma cell line. Subsequent to detachment, these cells underwent caspase-dependent apoptosis due to lack of adhesion, termed anoikis. Overexpression of wild type DAPK induced cell rounding and detachment similar to cells treated with ceramide; however, this effect was not observed following expression of a phosphorylation mutant, S308E DAPK. Finally, the endogenous interaction of DAPK and PP2A was determined to be required for ceramide-induced cell detachment and anoikis. Together these studies have provided exciting and essential new data regarding the mechanisms of cell adhesion and anoikis. These results define a novel cellular pathway initiated by ceramide-mediated activation of PP2A and DAPK to regulate inside-out signaling and promote anoikis.

Adenosine is a nucleoside that plays an important role in the regulation of contractility in the heart. Adenosine receptors are G-protein coupled and those implicated in regulation of contractility are presumed to act via modulating the activity of adenylyl cyclase and cAMP content of cardiomyocytes. Adenosine A1 receptors (A1R) reduce the contractile response of the myocardium to β-adrenergic stimulation. This is known as anti adrenergic action. The A2A adenosine receptor (A2AR) has the opposite effect of increasing contractile responsiveness of the myocardium. The A2AR also appears to attenuate the effects of A1R. The effects of these receptors have been primarily studied in the rat heart and with the utilization of cardiomyocyte preparations. With the increasing use of receptor knockout murine models and murine models of various pathological states, it is of importance to comprehensively study the effects of adenosine receptors on regulation of contractility in the murine heart. The following studies examine the adenosinergic regulation of myocardial contractility in isolated murine hearts. In addition, adenosinergic control of contractility is examined in hearts isolated from A2AR knockout animals. Responses to adenosinergic stimulation in murine isolated hearts are found to be comparable to those observed in the rat, with A1R exhibiting an anti adrenergic action and A2AR conversely enhancing contractility. A significant part of the A2AR effect was found to occur via inhibition of the A1R antiadrenergic action. A part of the anti adrenergic action of A1R has previously been shown to be the result of protein phosphatase 2A activation and localization to membranes. Additional experiments in the present study examine the effect of adenosinergic signaling on PP2A in myocardial extracts from wild type and A2AR knockout hearts. A2AR activation was found to decrease the activity of PP2A and enhance localization of the active enzyme to the cytosol; away from its presumed sites of action. In the A2AR knockout the response to A1R activation was enhanced compared with the wild type and basal PP2A activity was reduced. It is concluded that A2AR modulation of PP2A activity may account for the attenuation of the A1R effect by A2AR observed in the contractile studies.

Le Virus Respiratoire Syncytial (VRS) est le principal agent responsable d’infections respiratoires sévères chez les nourrissons et les veaux. Le génome du VRS est constitué d’un ARN simple brin de polarité négative qui est répliqué et transcrit par le complexe ARN-polymérase viral (RdRp). Ce complexe est composé de la nucléoprotéine N, de la polymérase L, de la phosphoprotéine P et du facteur anti-terminateur de transcription M2-1. Le but de ce travail était de mieux caractériser la structure et le fonctionnement de deux protéines du complexe RdRp: P et M2-1.M2-1 est un tétramère constitué de 4 domaines : un « doigt de zinc », un domaine d’oligomérisation hélicoïdal, une région flexible, un domaine globulaire interagissant avec l'ARN et P, et une région C-terminale désordonnée. À partir de la structure cristalline de M2-1 pleine longueur, j'ai identifié des résidus critiques sur le doigt de zinc et la région flexible pour l'activité d'anti-terminaison de transcription de M2-1.Par la suite j'ai identifié une région de P critique pour l’interaction P - M2-1 et montre qu’elle est nécessaire au recrutement de M2-1 dans des corps d’inclusion cytoplasmiques. Je montre également que la déphosphorylation de M2-1, nécessaire à la transcription virale, est modulée par un complexe formé entre P et la phosphatase cellulaire PP1.Enfin, la cyclopamine, composé chimique naturel, inhibe la réplication du VRS. Je démontre qu'une seule mutation R151K sur M2-1 est suffisante pour conférer une résistance virale à la cyclopamine. Ces données ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives pour le développement de futures thérapies contre le VRS. / Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract illness in infants and calves. The RSV genome consists of a single strand, negative-sense RNA, which is replicated and transcribed by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase complex (RdRp). This complex is composed of the nucleoprotein N, the large protein L, the phosphoprotein P and the transcription anti-terminator M2-1. The aim of this work was to better characterize the structure and function of P and M2-1.M2-1 is a tetramer with 4 domains: a zinc-finger, a helical oligomerization domain, a flexible region, a RNA and P binding core domain and a C-terminal disordered region. Based on the crystal structure of the full-length M2-1 protein, I identified residues in the zinc-finger and the flexible loop critical for M2-1 antitermination activity.Then I identified a region of P critical for P – M2-1 interaction and show that it is required for the recruitment of M2-1 to cytoplasmic inclusion bodies. I also show that M2-1 dephosphorylation, which is critical for viral transcription, is modulated by a complex formed by P and the cellular phosphatase protein-1 (PP1).Finally cyclopamine, a natural chemical compound, inhibits the RSV replication. I show that a single R151K mutation in M2-1 is sufficient to confer virus resistance to cyclopamine. These data open a new avenue for the development of future therapies against RSV infection.

5 Abstract Tobacco mature pollen rehydrates in vivo on a stigma tissue, and develops into the rapidly-growing pollen tube. This rehydration process is accompanied by the de-repression of stored mRNA transcripts, resulting in the synthesis of novel proteins. Furthermore, such metabolic switch is also likely to be regulated on the level of post-translational modifications of the already-present proteins, namely via phosphorylation, since it was shown to play a significant regulatory role in numerous cellular processes. Since only a minor part of proteins is phosphorylated in a cell at a time, the employment of various enrichment techniques is usually of key importance. In this diploma project, metal oxide/hydroxide affinity chromatography (MOAC) with aluminium hydroxide matrix was applied in order to enrich phosphoproteins from the mature pollen and the 30-minute in vitro activated pollen crude protein extracts. The enriched fraction was separated by both 2D-GE and gel-free liquid chromatography (LC) approaches with subsequent mass spectrometric analyses. Collectively, 139 phosphoprotein candidates were identified. Additionally, to broaden the number of phosphorylation sites identified, titanium dioxide phosphopeptide enrichment of trypsin-digested mature pollen crude extract was performed. Thanks to the...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key regulator of protein synthesis. Dysregulation of mTOR signaling occurs in many human cancers and its inhibition causes arrest at the G1 cell cycle stage. However, mTOR’s impact on mitosis (M-phase) is less clear. Here, suppressing mTOR activity impacted the G2-M transition and reduced levels of M-phase kinase, Aurora A. mTOR inhibitors did not affect Aurora A mRNA levels. However, translational reporter constructs showed that mRNA containing a short, simple 5’-untranslated region (UTR), rather than a complex structure, is more responsive to mTOR inhibition. mTOR inhibitors decreased Aurora A protein amount whereas blocking proteasomal degradation rescues this phenomenon, revealing that mTOR affects Aurora A protein stability. Inhibition of protein phosphatase, PP2A, a known mTOR substrate and Aurora A partner, restored mTOR-mediated Aurora A abundance. Finally, a non-phosphorylatable Aurora A mutant was more sensitive to destruction in the presence of mTOR inhibitor. These data strongly support the notion that mTOR controls Aurora A destruction by inactivating PP2A and elevating the phosphorylation level of Ser51 in the “activation-box” of Aurora A, which dictates its sensitivity to proteasomal degradation. In summary, this study is the first to demonstrate that mTOR signaling regulates Aurora-A protein expression and stability and provides a better understanding of how mTOR regulates mitotic kinase expression and coordinates cell cycle progression. The involvement of mTOR signaling in the regulation of cell migration by its upstream activator, Rheb, was also examined. Knockdown of Rheb was found to promote F-actin reorganization and was associated with Rac1 activation and increased migration of glioma cells. Suppression of Rheb promoted platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) expression. Pharmacological inhibition of PDGFR blocked these events. Therefore, Rheb appears to suppress tumor cell migration by inhibiting expression of growth factor receptors that in turn drive Rac1-mediate actin polymerization.