Abstract The properties of starch nanoparticles (SNPs) labeled with the fluorescent dye pyrene (Py-SNPs) were probed by using fluorescence quenching, pyrene excimer formation, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Pyrene labeling of the SNPs was achieved by reacting 1-pyrenebutyric acid with the hydroxyl groups of the SNPs under basic conditions and in the presence of diisopropylcarbodiimide. This procedure did not degrade the SNPs as confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and afforded a means to generate a pyrene labeling level ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 mol% of the glucose units making up the SNPs. A polymeric quencher was also synthesized to probe the accessibility of the interior of the Py-SNPs by using fluorescence quenching measurements. The polymeric quencher was a 2K poly(ethylene glycol) terminated at one end with a methyl group and a nitropropane group at the other. Unfortunately these quenching experiments were abandoned when it was found that the polymeric quencher synthesized for these experiments absorbed too strongly where pyrene absorbs. Intramolecular pyrene excimer formation in the Py-SNPs was investigated by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence. These experiments demonstrated that the Py-SNPs contract but do not overlap like linear polymers do in the semi-dilute regime. They also showed that despite the inherent rigidity of starch, the Py-SNPs deformed in water to allow their hydrophobic pyrene labels to cluster toward the center of the SNPs to minimize pyrene-solvent contacts. This segregation of the hydrophobic pyrene labels led to a distinct core-shell structure for the Py-SNPs which was illustrated in TEM images acquired on films prepared with the Py-SNPs. In summary, this thesis has uncovered some unexpected properties of the SNPs. Their branched structure makes their interpenetration difficult in the semi-dilute regime which forces them to contract. SNPs are thus deformable and their deformation can be probed quantitatively by using fluorescence and TEM.

Ce travail a consisté en la recherche et l’exploitation de nouveaux motifs structuraux sensibles à des médiateurs chimiques. Pour cela, une approche chimiométrique a été développée dans le but d’obtenir des profils de réactivité pouvant être classés dans un tableau avec un code de couleur afin de pouvoir mettre en évidence visuellement les motifs présentant un potentiel intéressant. Les motifs d’intérêt ont été intégrés dans des sondes pro-fluorescentes qui ont ensuite été testées en milieux biologiques afin d’observer leur activité. Cette méthodologie a permis de révéler un nouveau type de quencher biologiquement et chimiquement désactivable. Ainsi, même en l’absence du médiateur étudié, ce quencher incorporé dans une sonde de type FRET sera réactivé par ajout d’un agent chimique exogène afin de révéler les sondes non-activées dans la cellule. / The main topic of this work was the research and the use of new structural patterns sensitive to chemical mediators. A chimiometric approach was developped to obtain reactivity profiles which will be filed in a table with a color code in order to visually highlight the patterns having interessant potential. Then, the patterns of interest were integrated in FRET-based probes which were tested in cell experiments. This profiling led to a new type of biologically and chemically deactivatable quencher. Thus, even in the absence of the studied mediator, this quencher incorporated in a FRET probe will be activated by adding an exogenous chemical agent to reveal inactivated probes in the cell.

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Cette étude a consisté au développement et à l’utilisation de fonctions chimiques clivables en milieux biologiques. Dans le domaine de la protéomique chimique, ce travail a abouti à la conception d’une sonde d’enrichissement clivable en conditions non-dénaturantes. Appliquée à l’étude de topoisomérases, cette sonde a permis l’extraction et l’analyse de complexes fonctionnels A2B2 de gyrase. Dans un second temps, un nouveau concept de quencheur chimiquement désactivable a étéintroduit. Incorporé dans une sonde pro-fluorescente de type FRET, ce type de quencheur permet notamment de visualiser la présence de sondes non-activées dans des cellules. Enfin, une méthode a été développée pour permettre l’évaluation de la labilité d’une liaison chimique en milieux biologiques natifs. Basée sur l’utilisation de sondes pro-fluorescentes, cette méthodologie a plus particulièrement été appliquée à l’étude de la bio-labilité de groupements acido-labiles. / The general main topic of this work was the use and the development of cleavable linkers in biological systems. This study led to the design of a cleavable enrichment probe in non-denaturing conditions for chemical proteomic applications. In a topoisomerase analysis, this probe allowed the extraction and analysis of a functional DNA gyrase A2B2 complex. For fluorescence imaging, a new concept of chemically deactivatable quencher was introduced. This quencher was used to revealinactivated FRET-based probe in cell experiments. Finally, a methodology based on biolability measurements of acid-sensitive molecules was developed for the evaluation of chemical bond lability in native biological environments. This work was focused on biolability measurements of acidsensitive molecules.