<p>Autophagy is a cellular process in which cytoplasmic material is lysosomally degraded into its basic components. The primary functions of this process are cellular recycling and stress mitigation however it also has roles in both viral pathogenesis and tumourigenesis. Beclin1 is a key mediator of autophagy and is involved in its initiation. In an attempt to examine the effects of enhanced autophagy in the context of oncolytic VSV infection, a VSV mutant (ΔM51) expressing Beclin1 was constructed and characterized. It was determined through western blot analysis of autophagy marker LC3, that while VSV infection enhanced autophagy in infected cells, Beclin1 expression resulted in a transient increase in autophagy followed by markedly reduced levels of autophagy at mid to late time points. Still, Beclin1expression, either directly or possibly through altering the kinetics of VSV induced autophagy, enhanced the pathogenesis of VSV<em> </em>in some cell lines <em>in vitro</em>. However examination of the <em>in vivo</em> pathogenesis of VSV-Belcin1 elicited no differences from that of the parental virus. Despite enhanced pathogenesis in CT26 cells <em>in vitro</em>, VSV-Beclin1 displayed no improvement in the oncolysis of CT26 tumours <em>in vivo</em>, compared to VSV-GFP. It is hoped that the conclusions drawn from this study will help direct future research aimed at exploring the relationship between autophagy and VSV pathogenesis as well as future attempts to arm VSV with the intent of augmenting its oncolytic potential.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

La biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus complexe finement régulé pour s’adapter à la disponibilité en nutriments et en facteurs de croissance ainsi qu’à la présence éventuelle de stress. Une étape clé de la régulation de la biogenèse des ribosomes se fait par la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’ Terminal OligoPyrimidine (5’TOP) qui codent pour les protéines ribosomiques. Bien que la voie de signalisation mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) ait été identifiée depuis des décennies comme activatrice de cette traduction des ARNm 5’TOP, les régulateurs impliqués ainsi que leur contrôle par la voie mTOR n’ont jamais été identifiés avec précision. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré que La-related protein 1 (Larp1), une protéine de liaison à l’ARN cible de mTOR, est indispensable à l’inhibition de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP en aval de mTOR. De plus, Larp1 semble participer à l’inhibition de la formation du complexe d’initiation de la traduction eIF4F, qui est responsable du recrutement du complexe de pré-initiation 43S sur la coiffe m7G présente à l’extrémité 5’ de tous les ARNm. Nous avons également démontré que Larp1 peut se lier à la protéine Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) et à la protéine de la petite sous-unité ribosomique RPS6 et que cette dernière interaction diminue lorsque les sites de phosphorylation de Larp1 dépendants de mTOR Ser 689 et 697 sont mutés en alanine. Ces résultats représentent une avancée importante dans la compréhension de la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP par la voie mTOR. Cependant, des études complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre plus en détail le mécanisme exact par lequel Larp1 réprime la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP. / Ribosome biogenesis is a process that is finely tuned to adapt to nutrients and growth factors availability as well as to cellular stress and insults. Ribosomal proteins, the protein component of ribosomes, are encoded by 5’ Terminal Oligopyrimidine (5’TOP) mRNAs. A key step in ribosome biogenesis is the up-regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs. Although the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway have been known for decades to promote 5’TOP mRNAs translation, the regulators involved and their control by the mTOR pathway remains obscure. In this work we demonstrated that La-related protein 1 (Larp1), an RNA-binding protein and substrate of mTOR, is necessary for the inhibition of 5’TOP mRNAs translation downstream of mTOR. In particular Larp1 seems to interfere with the formation of the translation initiation complex eIF4F, which is responsible for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex to the m7G cap present at the 5’ end of mRNAs. Furthermore we found that Larp1 interacts with the protein Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) and with the small ribosomal subunit protein RPS6 and that the latter interaction is decreased by mutation to alanine of the mTOR-dependent phosphorylation sites Ser 689 and 697. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of the regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs by the mTOR pathway. Nevertheless more studies will be needed in order to dissect the mechanism by which Larp1 represses translation of 5’TOP mRNAs.

La croissance d’un organisme multicellulaire pour atteindre une taille bien définie, nécessite une coordination de la prolifération cellulaire, de l’expansion et de la différentiation cellulaire ainsi que de la mort cellulaire. Ces processus sont sous l’influence de l’état nutritionnel de l’organisme, les conditions de son environnement et des signaux hormonaux. Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) est un facteur essentiel à la croissance des plantes et des animaux. La protéine TCTP de plante contrôle la croissance mitotique, tandis que la protéine TCTP animale contrôle la croissance mitotique et post-mitotique. Une voie importante dans la régulation de la croissance en réponse aux nutriments est la voie Target of Rapamycin (TOR). Chez la Drosophile, il a été montré que dTCTP serait un régulateur positif en amont de TOR. Au cours de ma thèse, j’ai étudié le lien entre TCTP et la voie TOR, afin de savoir si, comme chez les animaux, AtTCTP agit en amont de la voie TOR pour contrôler la croissance des organes. Afin de savoir si la voie TCTP était liée à l’état nutritionnel, j’ai recherché l’impact du milieu de culture sur la létalité de la mutation tctp. J’ai ensuite caractérisé l’impact de la mutation tctp sur le transport et l’homéostasie de l’hormone auxine. J’ai enfin analysé pourquoi TCTP de plante ne contrôle pas la croissance post-mitotique par expansion cellulaire, contrairement à TCTP animale. Les données de la littérature montrent que chez les animaux TCTP est un activateur positif en amont de la voie TOR. Chez la plante Arabidopsis thaliana, mes données d’interactions génétiques sont en faveur d’un modèle dans lequel AtTCTP agit indépendamment de la voie TOR, contrairement de ce qu’il a été proposé chez les animaux. Chez les plantes, la perte de fonction de TCTP est associée à un retard du développement embryonnaire et à la mort. Cette létalité peut être complémentée par sauvetage des embryons sur du milieu riche en nutriments. J’ai montré que l’ajout de sucrose ou de glutamine dans le milieu de sauvetage des embryons tctp est nécessaire à leur développement. Ces données suggèrent qu’in vitro, AtTCTP n’est pas nécessaire à l’approvisionnement et à l’utilisation des nutriments sucrose, glucose ou glutamine. Dans leur ensemble, ces résultats réévaluent le rôle du régulateur de croissance TCTP en montrant que le gène AtTCTP régule la croissance mitotique indépendamment de la voie TOR et des voies de signalisation liées aux nutriments. L’observation des flux d’auxine en suivant la localisation de PIN1-GFP dans les embryons et les inflorescences du mutant tctp ne montre aucune altération par rapport au phénotype sauvage. De même, l’homeostasie de l’auxine, suivie à l’aide du rapporteur DR5::GFP n’est pas altérée dans les embryons tctp. Ceci suggère que le défaut de croissance du mutant tctp n’est pas lié à une altération du flux ou de l’homéostasie de l’auxine. La protéine TCTP de plante ne contrôle pas la croissance post-mitotique, contrairement à la protéine TCTP animale. J’ai réalisé un échange de domaines protéiques entre AtTCTP et Drosophila dTCTP. Le but était d’identifier les domaines protéiques de la protéine TCTP animale qui permettent la croissance post-mitotique. La plupart des protéines chimères étaient instables dans la Drosophile. Afin de comprendre pourquoi, j’ai réalisé du modelage par homologie et j’ai discuté la structure des chimères dans ma thèse.L’ensemble de mes résultats permet de mieux comprendre la fonction de TCTP chez les végétaux, en montrant que cette fonction s’exerce indépendamment de la voie TOR. / The growth of a multicellular organism and its size determination require the tight regulation of cell proliferation, cell differentiation, cell growth and apoptosis. These processes are influenced by the nutritional state of the organism, its environmental conditions and hormonal signals. Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is an essential regulator of growth in plants and animals. In plants it controls mitotic growth, whereas in animals, it controls mitotic and post-mitotic growth. One of the important pathways involved in the control of growth in response to nutrients is the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) pathway. In Drosophila, dTCTP was proposed to act a positive regulator upstream of TOR, although this role remains a matter of debate in the animal field.During the past 3 years of my PhD. thesis, I addressed the question whether plant TCTP acts upstream of TOR to control organ growth. I studied the impact of nutrient availability and hormones on TCTP role to control growth in plants and vice versa. Finally, I examined why plant TCTP does not control post-mitotic cell expansion growth, conversely to animal TCTP using a structure-function approach.In animals, TCTP was proposed to act as a positive activator upstream of the TOR pathway. In plants, my data support a model in which AtTCTP acts independently from the plant TOR pathway, thus in contrast to what has been proposed in animals. TCTP loss of function leads to delay of embryo development and death. Nutrient supplement rescues this embryos lethality. First, I demonstrate that embryos grown on nutrients lacking sucrose or glutamine fail to develop correctly. My data demonstrate that in vitro AtTCTP is not essential to the uptake, the use of and the response to the nutrients glucose, sucrose or glutamine. Taken together, these results reevaluate the role of AtTCTP as a growth regulator controlling mitotic growth independently from the TOR pathway and likely from nutrient related signaling pathways. Interestingly, my data also show that AtTCTP controls growth independently from auxin flux or homeostasis and that auxin-induced growth can occur without TCTP. To address why plant TCTP do not control post-mitotic growth conversely to animal counterpart, I performed protein domain swaps and created chimera proteins between Arabidopsis AtTCTP and Drosophila dTCTP. The rational was to identify protein domains that differentiate plant and animal TCTPs with regard to post-mitotic growth control. Most of chimera proteins were instable and I was unable to complement tctp loss of function in Drosophila. I performed a structure based modeling to understand this phenotype and the outcome is discussed in my PhD thesis.Altogether my results improve the understanding of plant morphogenesis by reevaluating the role of the central growth regulator TCTP.

La biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus complexe finement régulé pour s’adapter à la disponibilité en nutriments et en facteurs de croissance ainsi qu’à la présence éventuelle de stress. Une étape clé de la régulation de la biogenèse des ribosomes se fait par la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’ Terminal OligoPyrimidine (5’TOP) qui codent pour les protéines ribosomiques. Bien que la voie de signalisation mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) ait été identifiée depuis des décennies comme activatrice de cette traduction des ARNm 5’TOP, les régulateurs impliqués ainsi que leur contrôle par la voie mTOR n’ont jamais été identifiés avec précision. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré que La-related protein 1 (Larp1), une protéine de liaison à l’ARN cible de mTOR, est indispensable à l’inhibition de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP en aval de mTOR. De plus, Larp1 semble participer à l’inhibition de la formation du complexe d’initiation de la traduction eIF4F, qui est responsable du recrutement du complexe de pré-initiation 43S sur la coiffe m7G présente à l’extrémité 5’ de tous les ARNm. Nous avons également démontré que Larp1 peut se lier à la protéine Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) et à la protéine de la petite sous-unité ribosomique RPS6 et que cette dernière interaction diminue lorsque les sites de phosphorylation de Larp1 dépendants de mTOR Ser 689 et 697 sont mutés en alanine. Ces résultats représentent une avancée importante dans la compréhension de la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP par la voie mTOR. Cependant, des études complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre plus en détail le mécanisme exact par lequel Larp1 réprime la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP. / Ribosome biogenesis is a process that is finely tuned to adapt to nutrients and growth factors availability as well as to cellular stress and insults. Ribosomal proteins, the protein component of ribosomes, are encoded by 5’ Terminal Oligopyrimidine (5’TOP) mRNAs. A key step in ribosome biogenesis is the up-regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs. Although the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway have been known for decades to promote 5’TOP mRNAs translation, the regulators involved and their control by the mTOR pathway remains obscure. In this work we demonstrated that La-related protein 1 (Larp1), an RNA-binding protein and substrate of mTOR, is necessary for the inhibition of 5’TOP mRNAs translation downstream of mTOR. In particular Larp1 seems to interfere with the formation of the translation initiation complex eIF4F, which is responsible for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex to the m7G cap present at the 5’ end of mRNAs. Furthermore we found that Larp1 interacts with the protein Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) and with the small ribosomal subunit protein RPS6 and that the latter interaction is decreased by mutation to alanine of the mTOR-dependent phosphorylation sites Ser 689 and 697. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of the regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs by the mTOR pathway. Nevertheless more studies will be needed in order to dissect the mechanism by which Larp1 represses translation of 5’TOP mRNAs.

La biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus complexe finement régulé pour s’adapter à la disponibilité en nutriments et en facteurs de croissance ainsi qu’à la présence éventuelle de stress. Une étape clé de la régulation de la biogenèse des ribosomes se fait par la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’ Terminal OligoPyrimidine (5’TOP) qui codent pour les protéines ribosomiques. Bien que la voie de signalisation mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) ait été identifiée depuis des décennies comme activatrice de cette traduction des ARNm 5’TOP, les régulateurs impliqués ainsi que leur contrôle par la voie mTOR n’ont jamais été identifiés avec précision. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré que La-related protein 1 (Larp1), une protéine de liaison à l’ARN cible de mTOR, est indispensable à l’inhibition de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP en aval de mTOR. De plus, Larp1 semble participer à l’inhibition de la formation du complexe d’initiation de la traduction eIF4F, qui est responsable du recrutement du complexe de pré-initiation 43S sur la coiffe m7G présente à l’extrémité 5’ de tous les ARNm. Nous avons également démontré que Larp1 peut se lier à la protéine Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) et à la protéine de la petite sous-unité ribosomique RPS6 et que cette dernière interaction diminue lorsque les sites de phosphorylation de Larp1 dépendants de mTOR Ser 689 et 697 sont mutés en alanine. Ces résultats représentent une avancée importante dans la compréhension de la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP par la voie mTOR. Cependant, des études complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre plus en détail le mécanisme exact par lequel Larp1 réprime la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP. / Ribosome biogenesis is a process that is finely tuned to adapt to nutrients and growth factors availability as well as to cellular stress and insults. Ribosomal proteins, the protein component of ribosomes, are encoded by 5’ Terminal Oligopyrimidine (5’TOP) mRNAs. A key step in ribosome biogenesis is the up-regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs. Although the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway have been known for decades to promote 5’TOP mRNAs translation, the regulators involved and their control by the mTOR pathway remains obscure. In this work we demonstrated that La-related protein 1 (Larp1), an RNA-binding protein and substrate of mTOR, is necessary for the inhibition of 5’TOP mRNAs translation downstream of mTOR. In particular Larp1 seems to interfere with the formation of the translation initiation complex eIF4F, which is responsible for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex to the m7G cap present at the 5’ end of mRNAs. Furthermore we found that Larp1 interacts with the protein Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) and with the small ribosomal subunit protein RPS6 and that the latter interaction is decreased by mutation to alanine of the mTOR-dependent phosphorylation sites Ser 689 and 697. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of the regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs by the mTOR pathway. Nevertheless more studies will be needed in order to dissect the mechanism by which Larp1 represses translation of 5’TOP mRNAs.

No description available.

Hyaluronan (HA) is a negatively charged extracellular matrix (ECM) component with water-attracting properties. It is the dominating ECM component in the renal medullary interstitium, where the amount changes in relation to hydration status: it increases during hydration and decreases during dehydration. It has, therefore, been suggested that HA participates in the regulation of renal fluid handling by changing the permeability properties of the interstitial space. This thesis investigates potential mechanisms for such a role in renal fluid regulation. The results demonstrate that the high renal HA content of late nephrogenesis decreases during the completion of kidney development in the rat, which takes place in the neonatal period. The heterogenous distribution of HA is mainly established during the first three weeks after birth. On day 21, the HA content is similar to that in the adult rat. The process is dependent on normal Ang II function. It primarily involves a reduction of HA synthase 2 expression and an increase of medullary hyaluronidase 1.  The cortical accumulation of HA that results from neonatal ACE inhibition can partly explain the pathological condition of the adult kidney, which causes reduced urinary concentration ability and tubulointerstitial inflammation. It is possible to reduce renomedullary HA with the HA synthesis inhibitor 4-MU, and the kidney’s ability to respond to a hydration challenge will then be suppressed, without affecting GFR.  The investigation of renomedullary interstitial cells (RMIC) in culture, shows that media osmolality and hormones of central importance for body fluid homeostasis, such as angiotensin II, ADH and endothelin, affect HA turnover through their effect on the RMICs, in a manner comparable to that found in vivo during changes in hydration status.  In established streptozotocin-induced diabetes, HA is regionally accumulated in the kidney, proteinuria and polyuria, reduced urine osmolality, and reduced response to ADH V2 activation will occur. As opposed to the proteinuria, the HA accumulation is not sensitive to mTOR inhibition, suggesting an alternate pathway compared to other ECM components  Taken together, the data suggest that during normal physiological conditions, renomedullary interstitial HA participates in renal fluid handling by affecting the interstitial prerequisites for fluid flux across the interstitial space. This is possible due to the water-attracting and physicochemical properties of this glycosaminoglycan. During pathological conditions, such as diabetes, the elevated interstitial HA can contribute to the defective kidney function, due to the proinflammatory and water-attracting properties of HA.

Adrenergic signalling is part of the sympathetic nervous system and is activated upon stimulation by the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine. This regulates heart rate, energy mobilization, digestion and helps to divert blood flow to important organs. Insulin is released to regulate metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, mainly by taking up glucose from the blood. The insulin and the catecholamine hormone systems are normally working as opposing metabolic regulators and are therefore thought to antagonize each other. One of the major regulators involved in insulin signalling is the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). There are two different complexes of mTOR; mTORC1 and mTORC2, and they are essential in the control of cell growth, metabolism and energy homeostasis. Since mTOR is one of the major signalling nodes for anabolic actions of insulin it was thought that catecholamines might oppose this action by inhibiting the complexes. However, lately there are studies demonstrating that this may not be the case. mTOR is for instance part of the adrenergic signalling pathway resulting in hypertrophy of cardiac and skeletal muscle cells and inhibition of smooth muscle relaxation and helps to regulate browning in white adipose tissue and thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT). In this thesis I show that β-adrenergic signalling leading to glucose uptake occurs independently of insulin in skeletal muscle and BAT, and does not activate either Akt or mTORC1, but that the master regulator of this pathway is mTORC2. Further, my co-workers and I demonstrates that β-adrenergic stimulation in skeletal muscle and BAT utilizes different glucose transporters. In skeletal muscle, GLUT4 is translocated to the plasma membrane upon stimulation. However, in BAT, β-adrenergic stimulation results in glucose uptake through translocation of GLUT1. Importantly, in both skeletal muscle and BAT, the role of mTORC2 in β-adrenergic stimulated glucose uptake is to regulate GLUT-translocation. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

A targeted approach to the development of antifolate therapies has been sought for many years. Central to the success of such development is an understanding of the molecular mechanisms dictating the sensitivity of cells to antifolates and the fundamental differences of these processes between normal and neoplastic phenotypes. This dissertation addressed transcriptional mechanisms and cell-signaling events responsible for the efficacy of antifolate therapies. Transcriptional processes and cell signaling pathways are often aberrant in neoplastic tissues, providing a potential point of distinction between a normal and neoplastic cellular state. Folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS) catalyzes the formation of poly-γ-glutamate derivatives of folates and antifolates, which permits intracellular retention and accumulation of these compounds. The mouse fpgs gene uses two distant promoters to produce functionally distinct isozymes in a tissue-specific pattern. We questioned how the two promoters were differentially controlled. An analysis of DNA methylation and histone post-translational modifications across the length of the mouse fpgs gene showed that epigenetic mechanisms contributed to the tissue-specific control of the upstream (P1), but not the downstream (P2) fpgs promoter. RNAPII complexes and general transcription factors were present over P1 only when P1 was transcribed, but these components were present over P2 in most tissues, and promoter-proximal pausing was evident in brain. Clear promoter occlusion was found over P2 in liver. These studies concluded that tissue-specific coordination of dual promoters required multiple interacting controls. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) controls protein translation initiation, and is central to a cell-signaling pathway rich in tumor suppressor and oncogenic proteins. mTOR dysregulation is a common feature of several human cancers and inhibition of this protein has been sought as an ideal cancer drug target. We have determined that antifolates inhibiting the two folate-dependent steps of purine synthesis (GART or AICART) activate AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK) and inhibit mTOR. The mechanism of AMPK stimulation appears to be mediated by either nucleotide depletion (GART inhibitors), or ZMP accumulation (AICART inhibitors). These studies discovered a new mechanism for antifolates that surprisingly defines them as molecularly targeted therapeutics.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus represents a metabolic disease reaching epidemic dimensions in the 21st century. Fatty acid-induced apoptosis of pancreatic β-cells significantly contributes to its pathogenesis. Saturated fatty acids (FAs) are strongly cytotoxic for β-cells, whereas unsaturated FAs are well tolerable by β-cells, they are even able to inhibit proapoptotic effects of saturated FAs when co-incubated. According to recent studies, FAs-induced apoptosis in pancreatic β-cells is partly regulated by autophagy, a catabolic process involved in the degradation and recyclation of cell components in lysosomes. The aim of this diploma thesis was to contribute to the clarification of the role of autophagy in FAs-induced apoptosis regulation. We induced apoptosis in human pancreatic β- cell line NES2Y by 1 mM stearic acid (SA) and inhibited it with 0.2 mM oleic acid (OA) co- incubated with SA. We revealed, that the saturated SA used in apoptosis-inducing concentration simultaneously inhibits the autophagic flux in pancreatic NES2Y cell line. When SA is co- incubated with unsaturated OA in concentration sufficient for inhibition of proapoptotic effect of SA, OA is also able to inhibit the block of autophagy induced by the effect of SA. Application of unsaturated OA alone in this concentration did not...