No description available.

La présence synchrone de métastases hépatiques (MH) et carcinose péritonéale (CP)d'origine colorectale (CRC) est associée à une survie globale médiocre et est traditionnellement considérée comme une contre-indication à l’approche chirurgicale curative. Cependant, suite aux résultats encourageants après traitement chirurgicale, quelques séries ont rapporté une survie prolongée atteignant 3 ans chez des patients sélectionnés, ce qui suggère qu’un traitement chirurgicale curative est possible. À ce jour, en cas de chirurgie majeure hépatique et péritonéale associée, aucune stratégie thérapeutique n'a été établie, Nous avons postulé que la régénération hépatique après une résection hépatique pourrait favoriser la croissance de la CP. Nous avons construit un modèle animal immunnocompetent de CP limitée. L'objectif de l’étude était d'analyser les effets de l’hépatectomie majeure et de la régénération hépatique dans notre modèle murin de PC et le processus d'angiogenèse associé. En outre, nous avons analysée une cohorte prospective multicentrique de patients ayant eu une résection hépatique et une chirurgie cytoréductive avec HIPEC synchrone. L'objectif de cette étude était d'évaluer les outcomes et identifier les facteurs pronostiques afin d'optimiser la sélection des candidats au traitement chirurgical et de déterminer la stratégie chirurgicale optimale. / The synchronous presence of liver metastases (LM) and peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC)from colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with poor outcome and is traditionally considered acontraindication to any surgical approach. However, few series reported a prolonged survival aftersurgical management, reaching 3 years in selected patients thus suggesting that a curative surgicalmanagement may be possible. To date, no standard management pathway has been established,especially if a major liver and peritoneal surgery has to be performed. We postulated that liverregeneration after liver resection could promote PC growth. We constructed an immunocompetentanimal model of limited PC. The objective of our study was to analyze the effects of major LR andliver regeneration after hepatectomy on peritoneal carcinomatosis growth and the associatedangiogenesis process. Furthermore, we have analyzed a prospective international cohort of patientsundergoing synchronous liver resection and cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC. The aim of this studywas to describe the outcomes, to identify variables potentially related to poor outcome, in order toestablish future guideline for the management of these patients, to optimize the selection of candidatesfor surgical treatment and determine the best surgical strategy.

We will explore progenitors extensively throughout this project. The progenitor, developed by Robert T Curtis, is a special type of infinite group formed by a semi-direct product of a free group m*n and a transitive permutation group of degree n. Since progenitors are infinite, we add necessary relations to produce finite homomorphic images. Curtis found that any non-abelian simple group is a homomorphic image of a progenitor of the form 2*n: N. In particular, we will investigate progenitors that generate two of the Mathieu sporadic groups, M11 and M11, as well as some classical groups. We will prove their existences a variety of different ways, including the process of double coset enumeration, Iwasawa's Lemma, and linear fractional mappings. We will also investigate the various techniques of finding finite images and their corresponding isomorphism types.

The main objective of this project is to find the original symmetric presentations of some very important finite groups and to give our constructions of some of these groups. We have found the Mathieu sporadic group M11, HS × D5, where HS is the sporadic group Higman-Sim group, the projective special unitary group U(3; 5) and the projective special linear group L2(149) as homomorphic images of the monomial progenitors 11*4 :m (5 :4), 5*6 :m S5 and 149*2 :m D37. We have also discovered 24 : S3 × C2, 24 : A5, (25 : S4), 25 : S3 × S3, 33 : S4 × C2, S6, 29: PGL(2,7), 22 • (S6 : S6), PGL(2,19), ((A5 : A5 × A5) : D6), 6 • (U4(3): 2), 2 • PGL(2,13), S7, PGL (2,8), PSL(2,19), 2 × PGL(2,81), 25 : (S6 × A5), 26 : S4 × D3, U(4,3), 34 : S4, 32 :D6, 2 • (PGL(2,7) :PSL(2,7), 22 : (S5 : S5) and 23 : (PSL3(4) : 2) as homomorphic images of the permutation progenitors 2*8 : (2 × 4 : 2), 2*16: (2 × 4 :C2 × C2), 2*9: (S3 × S3), 2*9: (S3 × A3), 2*9: (32 × 23) and 2*9: (33 × A3). We have also constructed 24: S3 × C2, 24 : A5, (25: S4), 25 : S3 × S3,: 33: S4 × C2, S6, M11 and U (3,5) by using the technique of double coset enumeration. We have determined the isomorphism types of the most of the images mentioned in this thesis. We demonstrate our work for the following examples: 34 : (32 * 23) × 2, 29 : PGL(2,7), 2•S6, (54 : (D4 × S3)), and 3: •PSL(2,19) ×2.

Des de la perspectiva psicosocial s'analitzen alguns aspectes de les interaccions entre progenitors i fills/es adolescents entre 12 i 16 anys en relació a l'ús del telèfon mòbil en el marc de la societat acceleradament canviant. S'ha emprat un mètode plural o multimètode que s'ha articulat en dues fases d'investigació, una quantitativa i una qualitativa, per l'estudi dels fenòmens socials complexes com ho són les relacions intergeneracionals. Els resultats posen de manifest que existeixen interaccions entre les actituds dels adolescents i dels progenitors en l'ús del telèfon mòbil. També apunten que les tecnologies audiovisuals com el mòbil estan mediatitzant les relacions intergeneracionals. És a dir, no només els adolescents utilitzen molt més les tecnologies que els adults, sinó que a més sobre el context social que té impacte aquest ús és fonamentalment amb els amics. Cal un major apropament intergeneracional pel que fa a mantenir converses entre adults i adolescents al voltant dels temes que els motiven i interessen, com és el cas de les TICs. / Some aspects of the interactions between parents and their adolescent children aged 12-16 in relation to the use of mobile phones within the framework of a rapidly changing society are analysed from a psychosocial perspective. A multi-method analysis has been used, developed in two phases, quantitative and qualitative, to study the complex social phenomena of intergenerational relationships. The results show that there are interactions between the attitudes of the adolescents and those of their parents towards the use of the mobile phone. They also indicate that audiovisual technologies like the mobile phone are mediating intergenerational relationships: that is to say, not only do adolescents use these technologies more than adults, they also do so within a social context which is important to them, in that this use takes place primarily with their friends. A greater intergenerational convergence is needed in order to maintain conversations between adults and adolescents about subjects which motivate and interest them, such as ICTs.

No description available.

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is associated with increased presence of myofibroblasts, osteoblastic cells and, occasionally, adipocytes and chondrocytes in lesions. The ectopic cell types in diseased valves may be elaborated by an unidentified multipotent progenitor subpopulation within the valve interstitial cells (VICs) that populate the valve interstitium. Notably, lesions form preferentially in the fibrosa layer, the stiffer layer of the valve leaflet. It has been shown that differentiation of VICs to myofibroblasts and osteoblasts is modulated by matrix stiffness. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in mediating stiffness-dependent mechanotransduction remain obscure. The objectives of this thesis were: (1) to determine whether VICs contain a subpopulation of multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells and to measure the frequencies of the mesenchymal progenitors and osteoprogenitors; (2) to determine the role of β-catenin and matrix stiffness in transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced myofibroblast differentiation of VICs; and (3) to preliminarily investigate the involvement of four and a half LIM domains protein 2 (FHL2) in CAVD and stiffness-dependent mechanotransduction downstream of RhoA in VICs. Firstly, VICs were found to contain a subpopulation of mesenchymal progenitors that are inducible to osteogenic, myofibroblastic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic lineages. The frequencies of mesenchymal progenitors and osteoprogenitors were significantly higher than other reported sources. Secondly, it was demonstrated that β-catenin is required in TGF-β1-induced, matrix stiffness-regulated myofibroblast differentiation. Notably, TGF-β1 was only able to induce β-catenin nuclear translocation and myofibroblast differentiation on matrices with fibrosa-like stiffness, but not on matrices with ventricularis-like stiffness. Thirdly, FHL2 was found to be upregulated and colocalized with runt-related transcriptional factor 2 (Runx2) in lesions in the fibrosa layer of diseased valves, suggesting its role in osteogenic processes in CAVD. Notably, increasing matrix stiffness increased FHL2 nuclear translocation and RhoA activity in VICs. Preliminary data showed that matrix stiffness regulates FHL2 nuclear translocation via RhoA activity. These results suggest that differentiation of the rich valve progenitor subpopulation, regulated by both mechanical and biochemical cues, may contribute to the preferential occurrence of ectopic cell types in the fibrosa in CAVD. More broadly, these results highlight the critical role of mechanical environment in modulating cellular biochemical signaling.

Chez les mammifères, on distingue principalement deux types de tissu adipeux (TA) : le TA blanc permet le stockage de l’énergie alors que le TA brun est spécialisé dans la thermogénèse induisant une dépense énergétique. Aujourd’hui, un troisième type d’adipocyte, nommé beige/ brite, est également reconnu. Ces cellules recrutées au sein du TA blanc, possèdent le même potentiel que les adipocytes bruns. L’identification des voies de signalisation permettant de réguler le développement des adipocytes blancs, beiges et bruns reste encore aujourd’hui à être déterminée. La génération des cellules souches pluripotentes induites (hiPS) a permis d’établir un nouveau modèle d’étude des étapes précoces de l’adipogénèse humaine. Nous avons démontré que la génération des progéniteurs adipeux (PA) blancs et bruns est régulée par la voie de l’acide rétinoïque pendant la différenciation in-vitro des cellules hiPS. La caractérisation moléculaire de ces deux types de PA a révélé l’implication du facteur Pax3 dans l’acquisition du phénotype brun. Au cours de cette étude, nous avons constaté que les PA dérivés de cellules hiPS (hiPSC-PA) présentaient un faible potentiel adipocytaire. Nous avons identifiés les facteurs permettant de différencier avec une forte efficacité les hiPSC-PA comprenant l’EGF, l’acide ascorbique, l’hydrocortisone et l’inhibiteur de la voie du TGFβ, le SB 431542. Lors d’expériences préliminaires, nous avons analysé l’effet de la surexpression du facteur HOXC8 sur la différenciation des PA. L’expression ectopique de ce facteur conduit à des réponses distinctes sur le phénotype et la différenciation des hiPSC-PA et ceux provenant de tissus adultes. / In mammals, two types of adipose tissue coexist: the white (WAT) wich is involved in energy storage and the brown (BAT) which is specialized in energy expenditure. Beige adipocytes have recently been described as brown –like adipocytes and represent a third type of adipocytes that are recruited in WAT. The molecular mechanisms involved in the generation of these different types of adipocytes remains unknow in humans, mainly because of the lack of appropriate in vitro cellular models. The human induced Pluripotent Stem (hips) cells are a good model to study the earliest steps of human adipogenesis. We have shown that the generation of white and brown adipocytes progenitors (AP) is regulated by acid retinoic signaling pathway during hips cells differentiation. Functional experiments indicated that the transcription factor Pax3 is a molecular mediator of the brown phenotype. During this study, we could see that AP derived from hips cells display a low adipogenic capacity as compared to progenitors derived from adult adipose tissue. We show in this work that treatment with TGFβ pathway inhibitor SB431542 together with ascorbic acid, hydrocortisone and EGF promoted differentiation of non- genetically modified hiPSCs-BAPs at a high rate. During preliminary results, we have analyzed the role of the transcription factor Hoxc8 on PA differentiation. The surexpression of this factor lead to distinct answers on the phenotype and differentiation between hiPSCs-AP and adult-derived AP.

Elucidating the molecular events that integrate the patterning, morphogenesis, and differentiation of epithelial progenitor cells into complex tissues is a primary focus of epithelial developmental biology research. Expansion and maintenance of epithelial progenitor populations is crucial for developmental events, but growth must be tightly coupled to consequent cellular differentiation and specialization. The Hippo pathway has surfaced as an important regulator of epithelial progenitor identity: nuclear activity of the Hippo effector Yap maintains epithelial progenitor status while Hippo-mediated nuclear exclusion of Yap by the Lats1/2 kinases induces differentiation. Extending this general theme into an additional organ system, the submandibular gland (SMG), as well as identifying upstream regulators of Yap and Lats1/2 in the developing lung was the goal of this work. Here, we describe important roles for Yap in the morphogenesis and patterning of lung and SMG epithelium, both of which are composed of highly organized branched structures. Epithelial-specific genetic ablation of Yap as well as its upstream negative regulators Lats1/2 was used to interrogate loss- and gain-of-function phenotypes, whereby Lats1/2 ablation is known to result in unrestricted nuclear Yap activity. Loss of Yap in the SMG resulted in a striking deficiency of Krt5/Krt14-positive epithelial progenitor populations accompanied by impaired branching morphogenesis. Deletion of Lats1/2 in the SMG resulted in a massive expansion of Krt5/Krt14-positive epithelial progenitor populations that failed to terminally differentiate. As epithelial progenitors in the lung and SMG begin to differentiate, they also acquire distinct morphologies. In both the lung and the SMG, Krt5-positive basal cells lie beneath a layer of Krt8/Krt19-positive luminal cells. We observed that luminal cells exhibited a columnar morphology while basal cells retained a cuboidal morphology, and that this difference correlated with the expression of the polarity protein Crb3. After ablating Crb3 in the developing lung epithelium, luminal cells were unable to polarize, exhibited aberrant nuclear Yap activity, and remained in a progenitor state. Crb3 functions to initiate Lats1/2 activity, promoting Yap phosphorylation and its consequent nuclear exclusion, which drives differentiation. Taken together, this work identifies essential roles for polarity/Hippo pathway-mediated control of Yap activity in epithelial progenitor expansion and differentiation. / 2018-07-09T00:00:00Z

Forebrain development is controlled by a set of transcription factors which are expressed in dynamic spatiotemporal patterns in the embryonic forebrain and are known to regulate complex gene networks. Pax6 is a transcription factor that regulates corticogenesis and mutations affecting Pax6 protein levels cause neurodevelopmental defects in the eyes and forebrain in both humans and mice. In previous studies, it was shown that the graded expression pattern of Pax6 protein, which is high rostro-laterally to low caudo-medially in the cerebral cortex, is critical for its control of cell cycle progression and proliferation of cortical progenitors. However the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Based on a microarray analysis carried out in our laboratory, a number of cell cycle-related candidate genes that may be affected by Pax6 have been identified. One such gene, Cell division cycle associated 7 (Cdca7) is expressed in a counter-gradient against that of Pax6. In my current study, I found that Cdca7 mRNA expression in the telencephalon is upregulated in Pax6 null (Small eye) mutants and downregulated in mice that overexpress PAX6 (PAX77) across developing time points from E12.5 to E15.5. There are several potential Pax6 binding motifs located in the genomic locus upstream of Cdca7. However, by chromatin immunoprecipitation, it is showed that none of the predicted binding sites are physically bound by Pax6. Promoter luciferase assays using fragments combining five suspected binding motifs show that Pax6 is functionally critical. Cdca7 is also identified as a Myc and E2F1 direct target and is upregulated in some tumours but its biological role is not fully understood. Current work using in utero electroporation to overexpress Cdca7 around the lateral telencephalon, where Cdca7 expression levels are normally low, tested the effects on the proliferation and differentiation of cortical progenitor cells in this region. In E12.5 mice embryos, overexpression of Cdca7 protein causes fewer intermediate progenitor cells and post-mitotic neurons to be produced but these effects were not found in E14.5 embryos. This result implies that Cdca7 may affect cell fate decision during cortical development.