The garlic extract ajoene is considered to have antimicrobial and antitumor effects against a variety of cell types, and it is suggested to have the potential to be used as an antifungal or antitumor drug clinically. The underlying mechanism of its inhibitory effects is still uncertain. In this project, the effects of ajoene on the growth of fungal and oomycete cells were studied on Candida albicans, Neurospora crassa and Achlya bisexualis. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer. A 3D spheroid model of endometrial cancer cells were for the first time used to investigate the antitumor effects of ajoene and selected antitumor agents. Ajoene was extracted from fresh garlic by chromatographic methods and the outcome of the extractions was verified with Mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Ajoene was then tested on the yeast form or germ tubes of C. albicans, and the cell division and germ tube formation was analyzed. N. crassa and A. bisexualis were treated with ajoene on plates or on glass slides to measure the hyphae radial extension or individual hyphal extension. 3D endometrial adenocarcinoma cell (Ishikawa) spheroids were treated with ajoene, paclitaxel, targeted drugs everolimus, sorafenib, gefitinib and canertinib alone or in combinations. The growth activity, metabolic activity, cell proliferation, apoptotic activity and the cytoskeletons were analyzed after the treatments. Cell division of C.albicans was inhibited by ajoene at 5µg/ml or higher concentrations. The length of C.albicans germ tubes was significantly shorter in ajoene treated groups than the untreated ones. Radial extension and individual hyphal extension of N. crassa and A. bisexualis were both inhibited by ajoene. Ajoene did not show any antitumor effects on the 3D cell model of Ishikawa cells. No synergistic effect was detected between ajoene and paclitaxel or ajoene and everolimus. The targeted drugs Canertinib and everolimus showed an inhibitory effect on growth activity of the spheroids, but no synergy with paclitaxel. In conclusion, ajoene was able to inhibit various forms of fungal and oomycete growth, but any antitumor activity of ajoene did not show on 3D culture of endometrial cancer cells.

Tumour dissemination is a major reason for failure of therapy for many tumour types therefore there is a requirement for novel targets & therapies. The αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrins have been demonstrated to have significant involvement at many stages of the tumour dissemination process including, tumour cell adhesion, migration, metastasis and angiogenesis, and thus the β3 integrins are a potential target for therapeutic antagonism with small molecules. Because of the clear interaction between the different integrin types, targeting integrins as a therapeutic strategy requires targeting more than one integrin type. Consequently, the ICT is developing a group of novel new αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrin dual antagonists. One of the main challenges is having a relevant, validated experimental model that expresses these integrins. The aim of the work presented here is to develop and validate an in vitro αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrin expressing assay of tumour cell invasion. The spheroid invasion assay has the advantage over standard monolayer transwell chamber invasion assays of being a 3-dimensional assay, and thus mimics better the cell-cell interactions and architecture that are present in a tumour compared to the monolayer-based assay. A panel of human cancer cell lines known to express one of the molecular targets of interest, αvβ3 integrin was evaluated for the ability to form spheroids and to invade through collagen matrices. One glioma cell line, U87-MG, demonstrated consistent spheroid formation and invasion and was thus selected for further studies. Optimum conditions were established for use of U87-MG in the invasion assay, and the assay was validated using a known inhibitor of invasion, LiCl and known β3 antagonist, cRGDfV. Subsequently a group of novel small molecule β3 antagonists were evaluated at nontoxic concentrations using the assay. Both LiCl and cRGDfV inhibited spheroid invasion through the gel in a dose-dependent manner, thus validating the assay. Furthermore, when the novel small molecule β3 antagonists were evaluated using the model, a dose and time dependent reduction in U87-MG spheroids invasion in collagen was observed. In further work initial steps were taken to construct a cell line which expresses both αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrin to use in the model to assess for dual integrin antagonism. In conclusion, this work has established a validated assay which has been utilised for some compounds to evaluate a group of novel small molecule β3 integrin antagonists with encouraging results.

Increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development has shifted drug discovery towards target driven drug development the last decades, but the development of effective cancer drugs has been hampered by the lack of predictive preclinical models. 3-D cultures, considered to more accurately reflect solid tumors in vivo, have been proposed as one way to increase the predictability of clinical efficacy in cancer drug discovery and development. The aims of this thesis were to improve preclinical models for cancer drug development, with focus on colorectal cancer (CRC) and use of multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS), and also to mechanistically characterize some potentially new anticancer drugs (papers I – IV). The most important technical improvement was the development of direct measurement of green fluorescent protein (GFP) marked cells in spheroids, simplifying live collection of viability data and enabling high-throughput screening (HTS) in the MCTS model (paper I). In paper III and IV, the 3-D model was adapted to enable studies on the interaction between drugs and radiation. Two potentially new anticancer drugs, VLX50 and VLX60, were mechanistically characterized. VLX60, a novel copper containing thiosemicarbazone, induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, was selectively active against BRAF mutated colon cancer cells and exhibited anticancer activity in vivo (paper II). Furthermore, two potentially new anticancer drugs were found suitable for further development for use in combination with radiation (papers III and IV). In paper III, synergy with radiation in spheroids compared to monolayer cultured colon cancer cells was shown with the novel iron-chelating inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation, VLX600. In paper IV, the antiprotozoal drug nitazoxanide was shown to sensitize quiescent clonogenic colon cancer cells to radiation. In conclusion, introduction of measurement of fluorescence of GFP marked cells in spheroids makes clinically relevant 3-D models feasible for HTS experiments and characterization of candidate drugs and radiosensitizers in early cancer drug discovery and development. VLX60 has several characteristics suitable for further development into a cancer drug, notably against BRAF mutated colorectal cancer cells. VLX600 and nitazoxanide show radiosensitizing properties making them promising for further development for use as cancer drugs in combination with radiation.

L’objectif de ce travail était de mettre au point un modèle de culture cellulaire, afin d’étudier in vitro l’incidence sur la physiologie des cellules pulpaires et en particulier de l’odontoblaste, de biomatériaux utilisés pour traiter les effractions de pulpes dentaires. Ce modèle repose sur l’utilisation de culture sphéroïdes dont la conformation spatiale reproduit plus fidèlement l’environnement in vivo que les cultures bidimensionnelles. Après avoir élaboré le modèle sphéroïde à partir de lignées murines, des expérimentations visant à déterminer la cytotoxicité des matériaux ont été effectuées. Leurs capacités à induire la biominéralisation ont également été évaluées. La dernière partie de ce travail avait pour objectif d’immortaliser des primocultures de cellules pulpaires humaines en transfectant les gènes SV40 et hTERT, afin d’établir une lignée cellulaire / The aim of this study was to develop a cell culture model to assess in vitro the effects on the physiology of pulp cells, in particular the odontoblasts, of biomaterials used to treat dental pulp exposures. This model is based on the use of spheroid culture whose spatial configuration reproduces the in vivo environment more faithfully than do two-dimensional cultures. After developing the spheroid model from mouse lines, experiments to determine the cytotoxicity of the materials were conducted. Their ability to induce bio-mineralisation was also assessed. The last part of this work aimed to immortalise primo-cultures of human pulp cells by transfecting hTERT and SV40 genes, in order to establish a new cell line

Because of the great difficulty of obtaining exact numerical values of cross-section, and because of the inherent uncertainties in interpreting and evaluating the approximate methods, accurate experimental cross-section data would be extremely useful to the radar engineer. It was with this purpose in mind that the present long-range research program in microwave scattering was undertaken. Of immediate interest were the scattering properties of the prolate spheroid, the ogive (formed by rotating the minor segment of a circle around the chord), and, for comparison, the long cylinder.

Deux pièces de travail sont inclus dans cette thèse. La première partie analyse l'interaction d'une sphère excentrique avec un faisceau incident quelconque formé dans le cadre de généralisé de la théorie de Lorenz-Mie (generalized Lorenz-Mie theory, GLMT). Distributions de contrôle interne, près de la surface, loin des champs dispersés zone ainsi que le comportement de la morphologie dépendant résonances (MDR) dans une sphère excentrique éclairée par un faisceau focalisé guassien sont analysés. Dans la seconde partie, en utilisant l'EBCM, les propriétés de diffusion de lumière autour de l'angle arc pour un ensemble de sphéroïdes dans des orientations aléatoires éclairé par une onde plane sont étudiés. En comparant les paramètres extraits de ces paramètres originaux utilisés dans les expériences de simulation, la sensibilité de la technique d'arc de la sphéricité des gouttelettes non est quantifié. / Two parts of this work are included in this thesis. The first part analyses the interaction of an eccentric particle with an arbitrary incident shaped beam within the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory (GLMT). Distributions of internal, near-surface, far-zone scattered fields as well as the behavior of morphlogy-dependent resonances (MDRs) in an eccentric sphere illuminated by a focused Gaussian beam are analysed. In the second part, by using the ECBM, light scattering properties around the rainbow angle for an ensemble of spheroids in random orientations illuminated by a plane wave are studied. By comparing the extracted parameters with those original parameters used in the simulation experiments, the sensitivity of the rainbow technique to the non-sphericity of droplets is quantified.

Au cours des dernières décennies, des systèmes de taille nanométrique chargés en principes actifs (nanomédicaments) et des nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques ont été développés afin de surmonter les limitations liées à la chimiothérapie conventionnelle telles qu’une distribution non spécifique, une mauvaise accumulation dans les tissus cibles ainsi qu’une métabolisation rapide. Cependant, le succès des nouveaux médicaments en clinique reste encore limité et seulement un faible nombre de nanomédicaments est actuellement commercialisé.Une divergence entre les résultats précliniques in vitro et les performances obtenues in vivo est souvent observée dans la première étape du développement d'un médicament. Cet écart pourrait être attribué au manque de modèles pertinents, représentatifs de la pathologie observée chez l’Homme et qui soient de bons prédicteurs de la réponse thérapeutique chez les patients. En effet, les modèles utilisés aujourd’hui (généralement culture cellulaire en deux dimensions, 2D) ne reproduisent pas la structure complexe de la tumeur in vivo. Ainsi, ils ne permettent pas une évaluation fiable du potentiel thérapeutique réel des médicaments. Dans cette optique, les méthodologies de culture de cellules en trois dimensions (3D) sont extrêmement avantageuses. Ces méthodologies permettent, en effet, la construction de systèmes cellulaires pertinents qui reproduisent in vitro la relation entre les cellules cancéreuses et leur microenvironnement. Parmi ces modèles, l'assemblage de cellules sous forme de sphéroïdes multicellulaires a été largement exploré. Néanmoins, les sphéroïdes décrits jusqu'à présent correspondent à des nodules formés exclusivement de cellules cancéreuses, ce qui constitue une vraie limitation. En effet, ces sphéroïdes ne reproduisent pas l’organisation de la tumeur et l'hétérogénéité du microenvironnement, et par conséquent ils ne parviennent pas à mimer les multiples barrières biologiques que les médicaments doivent traverser pour atteindre les cellules cibles.Dans cet esprit, l'objectif de cette thèse de doctorat était de surmonter ces limitations et de construire des modèles pertinents qui reproduisent in vitro la relation entre les cellules cancéreuses et leur microenvironnement afin de i) mieux comprendre les mécanismes de passage des nanomédicaments et ii) mieux prédire l’efficacité des nouveaux traitements.Au cours de cette thèse nous nous sommes intéressés au cancer du pancréas qui est caractérisé par la présence d'un abondant stroma formant un bloc fibreux (réaction desmoplastique) qui limite la pénétration des médicaments et réduit ainsi leur efficacité. Cette tumeur représente donc un bon exemple de barrière biologique tumorale.La partie principale de ce travail de recherche repose sur la construction et la caractérisation complète d’un nouveau type de sphéroïde multicellulaire, capable de reproduire in vitro la relation entre les cellules cancéreuses et leur microenvironnement, grâce à la co-culture de cellules cancéreuses pancréatiques, de fibroblastes et de cellules endothéliales. Les études de cytotoxicité in vitro nous ont permis d’investiguer la capacité de ce modèle à reproduire la résistance des cellules cancéreuses aux traitements observés in vivo. Grâce à la Microscopie de Fluorescence à Feuillet de Lumière nous avons pu étudier la pénétration de la doxorubicine, soit en forme libre, soit encapsulée dans des nanoparticules, au sein des sphéroïdes. Ensuite, afin de mieux comprendre comment les médicaments et nanomédicaments interagissent avec la tumeur, nous avons cherché à combiner la culture 3D avec des conditions dynamiques contrôlées dans un dispositif microfluidique. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons conçu et fabriqué une puce sur mesure, adaptée pour loger à la fois le sphéroïde et des canaux dans lesquels les cellules endothéliales pourront s’organiser sous forme de vaisseaux. / In the last decades, various engineered systems for drug delivery (i.e., nanomedicines) have been developed with the aim to overcome the limits associated to conventional chemotherapy, such as non-specific drug distribution, poor delivery to the target tissue and rapid metabolism. However, the success of new therapeutic strategies in the clinic is still suboptimal and only a limited number is currently marketed.A discrepancy between promising preclinical in vitro results and the in vivo performances is often observed in the early stage of drug development and might be ascribed to the lack of capacity of the models commonly used for in vitro studies to faithfully reproduce the pathophysiology of solid tumors. These models mainly consist of cancer cells cultured as flat (two dimensional, 2D) monolayers or assembled to form three dimensional (3D) multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS).However, being composed exclusively of one cell type, these models are too simplistic. They do not allow to reproduce the heterogeneous cellular composition, as well as, the complex architecture of the tumor and its surrounding microenvironment. Thus, they fail to replicate the multiple biological barriers that drugs and nanomecidines have to cross in order to reach the target cells.The aim of this PhD thesis was to overcome these limitations and construct a reliable tool for an appropriate in vitro evaluation of the therapeutic potential of nanomedicines and other chemotherapies. Attention has been focused on the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) whose strong fibrotic reaction represents a well-known example of a tumor biological barrier responsible of the limited efficacy of the treatments. The main part of this research work relies on the construction and complete characterization of novel hetero-type MCTS based on a triple co-culture of pancreatic cancer cells, fibroblasts and endothelial cells, and thus capable to integrate the cancerous component and the microenvironment of the tumor. The constructed 3D model has demonstrated the capacity to reproduce in vitro the influence of the microenvironment on the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy. In addition, by combining the 3D model and the innovative Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy (LSFM), we have been able to investigate the penetration of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (in a free form and loaded into nanoparticles (NPs)) in a high informative manner. Then, in order to acquire a better understanding on how nanomedicines and other anticancer chemotherapies interact with the tumor, we sought to combine the hetero-type 3D culture with controlled flow conditions in a microfluidic device. To reach this goal we have designed and fabricated a tailor-made chip suitable to host both a MCTS and a perfusable microvascular network (i.e., MCTS-on-a-chip).

Rounded objects, such as spheroids, are frequently found throughout the Fremont region. Because little information is known about these spheroids, this comprehensive analysis of spheroids contributes to definitions of and variation among Fremont spherical objects. I analyzed over 400 Fremont spheroids recording the size, weight, stone type, and other quantifiable aspects for each spheroid. The provenience of spheroids highlights some of the patterns and variability within the Fremont world. I also compare ethnographic accounts of purposes of spheroids in hopes to develop a better understanding of the function of these objects.

Cette thèse explore la question ouverte des mécanismes selon lesquels les galaxies lointaines évoluent au cours du temps. Elle se concentre sur l’étude des galaxies irrégulières et sur la cause de l’évolution en taille des galaxies passives et compactes. Bien que des régions de formation stellaire très lumineuses (clumps) soient observées dans les galaxies irrégulières depuis longtemps, leur nature et évolution sont encore débattues. Les instabilités gravitationnelles des disques ont été proposées comme la cause principale pour la formation in-situ des clumps, même si certains d’entre eux pourraient avoir une origine ex-situ. De plus, il n’est pas encore clair s’ils peuvent vivre longtemps ou si les vents stellaires les détruisent rapidement. À partir de l’étude détaillée d’un clump très jeune que nous avons découvert dans le disque d’une galaxie à redshift z~2 et de l’analyse d’un échantillon statistique, j’ai conclu que les clumps peuvent se former in-situ et qu’ils vivent typiquement 500 Myr. Ce résultat conforte les simulations numériques qui indiquent que les clumps ont un rôle important pour la croissance de leur noyau. Cela pourrait stabiliser le disque et y avoir un lien avec la formation des galaxies compactes et passives qui ont été decouvertes à haut redshift. Elles ont des tailles significativement plus petites, à masse égale, que celles de leurs homologues locales. Cette découverte a déclenché un débat concernant les possibles mécanismes qui peuvent augmenter leur taille sans altérer leur masse. J’ai analysé un échantillon de 32 galaxies et j’ai conclu que des multiples fusions mineures pourraient être les responsables principaux de leur evolution temporelle / This thesis explores the still unanswered question of how distant galaxies evolve through cosmic time: on one side it focuses on star-forming clumpy galaxies, on the other it investigates the size evolution of passive compact ones. Despite star forming clumps have been observed in high-redshift irregular galaxies since a while, their nature and fate are still highly debated. Violent gravitational disk instability in gas-rich, turbulent galaxies has been proposed as the main cause for in-situ clumps formation, although a fraction of them might have an ex-situ origin. Furthermore, clumps contribution to galaxy evolution is highly debated: it is not clear yet if they are long-lived or if stellar feedback rapidly disrupts them. From both the in-depth study of an extremely young clump that we discovered in the disk of a galaxy at redshift z ~ 2, and the analysis of a full statistical sample, I concluded that at least some clumps form in-situ due to violent disk instability and that they typically live ~ 500 Myr. This supports numerical simulations indicating that clumps are longlived and could play an important role in bulge growth. This might stabilize the disk, quench star formation and have therefore a link with the formation of the compact and passive galaxies that have been observed at high redshift. They have significant smaller sizes, at fixed stellar mass, than local counterparts. This discovery has ignited an important debate concerning the possible mechanisms that could inflate the galaxy sizes without altering much their mass. I analyzed a sample of 32 galaxies and I concluded that multiple minor mergers could be the main drivers of their observed time evolution

No description available.