Séverine Ménoret - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Séverine Ménoret
Previous work on blockade of CD40-CD40 ligand interaction in mice and primates with anti-CD40 lig... more Previous work on blockade of CD40-CD40 ligand interaction in mice and primates with anti-CD40 ligand mAbs has resulted in a moderate prolongation of allograft survival without the development of true allograft tolerance. In this study, we show in rats that adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of CD40Ig sequences into the graft resulted in prolonged (>200 days) expression of CD40Ig and in long-term (>300 days) survival. Recipients expressing CD40Ig displayed strongly (>90%) inhibited mixed leukocyte reactions and alloantibody production at early (days 5 and 17) and late time points (>100 day) after transplantation, but showed limited inhibition of leukocyte infiltration and cytokine production as evaluated by immunohistology at early time points (day 5). Recipients of long-surviving hearts showed donor-specific hyporesponsiveness since acceptance of second cardiac allografts was donor specific. Nevertheless, long-term allografts (>100 days) displayed signs of chronic rejection vasculopathy. Occluded vessels showed leukocyte infiltration, mainly composed of CD4 ؉ and CD8 ؉ cells, macrophages, and mast cells. These recipients also showed antidonor CTL activity. Recipients expressing CD40Ig did not show nonspecific immunosuppression, as they were able to mount anticognate immune responses that were partially inhibited at early time points and were normal thereafter. We conclude that gene transfer-mediated expression of CD40Ig resulted in a highly efficient inhibition of acute heart allograft rejection in rats. This treatment induced donor-specific inhibition of certain alloreactive mechanisms in the short-, but not the long-term, which resulted in long-term survival of allografts concomitant with the development of chronic rejection.
Frontiers in Genetics
The rat has been extensively used as a small animal model. Many genetically engineered rat models... more The rat has been extensively used as a small animal model. Many genetically engineered rat models have emerged in the last two decades, and the advent of gene-specific nucleases has accelerated their generation in recent years. This review covers the techniques and advances used to generate genetically engineered rat lines and their application to the development of rat models more broadly, such as conditional knockouts and reporter gene strains. In addition, genome-editing techniques that remain to be explored in the rat are discussed. The review also focuses more particularly on two areas in which extensive work has been done: human genetic diseases and immune system analysis. Models are thoroughly described in these two areas and highlight the competitive advantages of rat models over available corresponding mouse versions. The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive description of the advantages and potential of rat models for addressing specific scientific questi...
Molecular Therapy - Methods & Clinical Development
Transplantation
In vivo analysis of human immune responses in immunodeficient rats.
The Journal of Immunology
Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) deficiency in humans induces a life-threatening generalized autoimmun... more Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) deficiency in humans induces a life-threatening generalized autoimmune disease called autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), and no curative treatments are available. Several models of AIRE-deficient mice have been generated, and although they have been useful in understanding the role of AIRE in central tolerance, they do not reproduce accurately the APECED symptoms, and thus there is still a need for an animal model displaying APECED-like disease. We assessed, in this study, the potential of the rat as an accurate model for APECED. In this study, we demonstrate that in rat, AIRE is expressed by MHC class II (MCH-II) + and MHC-II 2 medullary thymic epithelial cells in thymus and by CD4 int conventional dendritic cells in periphery. To our knowledge, we generated the first AIRE-deficient rat model using zinc-finger nucleases and demonstrated that they display several of the key symptoms of APECED disease, including alopecia, skin depigmentation, and nail dystrophy, independently of the genetic background. We observed severe autoimmune lesions in a large spectrum of organs, in particular in the pancreas, and identified several autoantibodies in organs and cytokines such as type I IFNs and IL-17 at levels similar to APECED. Finally, we demonstrated a biased Ab response to IgG1, IgM, and IgA isotypes. Altogether, our data demonstrate that AIRE-deficient rat is a relevant APECED animal model, opening new opportunity to test curative therapeutic treatments.
Transplantation, Jan 24, 2018
Immunodeficient mice are invaluable tools to analyze the long-term effects of potentially immunog... more Immunodeficient mice are invaluable tools to analyze the long-term effects of potentially immunogenic molecules in the absence of adaptive immune responses. Nevertheless, there are models and experimental situations that would beneficiate of larger immunodeficient recipients. Rats are ideally suited to perform experiments in which larger size is needed and are still a small animal model suitable for rodent facilities. Additionally, rats reproduce certain human diseases better than mice, such as ankylosing spondylitis and Duchenne disease and these disease models would greatly benefit of immunodeficient rats to test different immunogenic treatments. We describe the generation of Il2rg-deficient rats and their crossing with previously described Rag1-deficient rats to generate double-mutant RRG animals. As compared to Rag1-deficient rats, Il2rg-deficient rats were more immunodeficient since partially lacked not only T and B cells but also NK cells. RRG animals showed a more profound im...
Transplantation
identification of a more potent and stable Treg product for cellular ther All indicates that CD27... more identification of a more potent and stable Treg product for cellular ther All indicates that CD27/CD70 pathway has a direct role in the activity o man Tregs, and its modulation may facilitate the generation of Tregs with hanced suppressive properties. CD27 costimulation may activate dis intracellular pathways in conventional and regulatory Tcells, and there CD27/CD70 axis could be exploited for regulating the balance between ventional and regulatory T cell responses.
Scientific reports, Aug 17, 2016
BAC transgenic mammalian systems offer an important platform for recapitulating human gene expres... more BAC transgenic mammalian systems offer an important platform for recapitulating human gene expression and disease modeling. While the larger body mass, and greater genetic and physiologic similarity to humans render rats well suited for reproducing human immune diseases and evaluating therapeutic strategies, difficulties of generating BAC transgenic rats have hindered progress. Thus, an efficient method for BAC transgenesis in rats would be valuable. Immunodeficient mice carrying a human SIRPA transgene have previously been shown to support improved human cell hematopoiesis. Here, we have generated for the first time, human SIRPA BAC transgenic rats, for which the gene is faithfully expressed, functionally active, and germline transmissible. To do this, human SIRPA BAC was modified with elements to work in coordination with genome engineering technologies-piggyBac, CRISPR/Cas9 or TALEN. Our findings show that piggyBac transposition is a more efficient approach than the classical BAC...
Scientific reports, Jan 7, 2015
The generation of genetically-modified organisms has been revolutionized by the development of ne... more The generation of genetically-modified organisms has been revolutionized by the development of new genome editing technologies based on the use of gene-specific nucleases, such as meganucleases, ZFNs, TALENs and CRISPRs-Cas9 systems. The most rapid and cost-effective way to generate genetically-modified animals is by microinjection of the nucleic acids encoding gene-specific nucleases into zygotes. However, the efficiency of the procedure can still be improved. In this work we aim to increase the efficiency of CRISPRs-Cas9 and TALENs homology-directed repair by using TALENs and Cas9 proteins, instead of mRNA, microinjected into rat and mouse zygotes along with long or short donor DNAs. We observed that Cas9 protein was more efficient at homology-directed repair than mRNA, while TALEN protein was less efficient than mRNA at inducing homology-directed repair. Our results indicate that the use of Cas9 protein could represent a simple and practical methodological alternative to Cas9 mRN...
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2016
The rat is an important animal model to understand gene function and model human diseases. Since ... more The rat is an important animal model to understand gene function and model human diseases. Since recent years, the development of gene-specific nucleases has become important for generating new rat models of human diseases, to analyze the role of genes and to generate human antibodies. Transcription activator-like (TALE) nucleases efficiently create gene-specific knockout rats and lead to the possibility of gene targeting by homology-directed recombination (HDR) and generating knock-in rats. We describe a detailed protocol for generating knockout and knock-in rats via microinjection of TALE nucleases into fertilized eggs. This technology is an efficient, cost- and time-effective method for creating new rat models.
Transgenic research, Jan 10, 2015
On July 2-3 2015 was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Transgenic animals and g... more On July 2-3 2015 was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Transgenic animals and genetic engineering techniques.'' (www.trm.univnantes.fr/). This biennial meeting is the fifth one of its kind to be organized by the Transgenic Rats ImmunoPhenomic (TRIP) Nantes facility (www.tgr. nantes.inserm.fr/). The meeting was supported by private companies (genOway, Charles River, Taconic Biosciences, Harlan, and Cosmo Bio Co, Ltd) and by public institutions (the
The innate immune system functions as a defensive front line against pathogenic invasion, but the... more The innate immune system functions as a defensive front line against pathogenic invasion, but the proinflammatory products of activated monocytes and macrophages (e.g., TNF and NO) can also injure normal cells. Anti-inflammatory mediators restrain the innate immune response and prevent excessive collateral tissue damage. Spermine, a ubiquitous biogenic polyamine, specifically and reversibly suppresses the synthesis of monocyte proinflammatory cytokines. This may provide a counterregulatory mechanism to restrain monocyte activation in injured or infected tissues and in tumors where spermine levels are significantly increased. Here we show that monocyte spermine uptake was signifi-cantly increased following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. The polyamine analogue 1,4-bis(3-aminopropyl)-piperazine (BAP) inhibited LPS-stimulated monocyte spermine uptake via the "nonselective" polyamine transporter. BAP fully restored macrophage TNF synthesis despite the presence of spermine, ind...
Transgenic research, 2013
was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Technical advances in the generation of t... more was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Technical advances in the generation of transgenic animals and in their applications'' (www.trm.nantes.inserm.fr/index.php). This biennial meeting is the fourth one of its kind to be organized by the Transgenic Rats Nantes facility (http:// www.tgr.nantes.inserm.fr/). The meeting was supported by private companies (Charles River, genOway,
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2010
The genetic dissection of physiological and pathological traits in laboratory model organisms is ... more The genetic dissection of physiological and pathological traits in laboratory model organisms is accelerated by the ability to engineer loss-of-function mutations at investigator-specified loci. This chapter describes the use of zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) for the targeted disruption of endogenous rat genes directly in the embryo. ZFNs can specifically disrupt target genes in cultured rat cells and in embryos from inbred and outbred strains, leading to permanently genetically modified animals. This technology allows for the rapid, targeted modification of the rat genome.
Archives des maladies du coeur et des vaisseaux
In rat thoracic aorta, the stimulation of endothelial beta3-adrenoceptors (beta-AR) produces a va... more In rat thoracic aorta, the stimulation of endothelial beta3-adrenoceptors (beta-AR) produces a vasorelaxation through activation of a NO synthase pathway and an increase in cGMP levels. In hypertension, a global decrease of the beta-AR response has been described. In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), we have shown that beta3-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation was not modified in SHR aorta at the age of 12 weeks, in spite of an upregulation of beta3-adrenoceptors. In order to determine the consequences of an over-expression of the beta3-AR, we have developed a transgenic rat over-expressing specifically in endothelial cells the human beta3-AR (Tg beta3). By real-time quantitative PCR, we have determined the expression level of the different beta-AR subtypes. We confirmed an over-expression of the beta3-AR transcripts in Tg beta3 (ratio = 3.39 +/- 0.8; n=3 for Tg beta3 vs wild type [WT] animals). Surprisingly, we observed in Tg beta3 a decrease of beta1-AR transcripts (ratio = 0.76...
Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.), 2002
Fas ligand expression by cells of the vessel wall has been proposed to play a role in normal and ... more Fas ligand expression by cells of the vessel wall has been proposed to play a role in normal and pathologic conditions. Genetic engineering of vascularized organs for endothelial cell (EC) expression of FasL could protect the endothelium and underlying tissues from infiltrating Fas+ leukocytes. Nevertheless, the endogenous expression of FasL by ECs of different species and the potential deleterious effects of enforced FasL expression by ECs are largely unknown. In human ECs, levels of FLICE/caspase 8-inhibitory protein (FLIP) have been shown to control apoptosis mediated by Fas. Cell surface expression of FasL in rat, mouse, human, and pig ECs was obtained using recombinant adenoviruses or transient plasmid transfection assays. FasL expression was evaluated by FACS analysis and cytotoxicity assays. Apoptosis was evaluated using annexin V, TUNEL, and cytotoxicity assays. FLIP levels were evaluated by Western blot analysis and overexpression was obtained by transient transfection. Ana...
Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy, 2002
Vectors derived from oncoretroviruses can transduce a small proportion of hepatocytes when inject... more Vectors derived from oncoretroviruses can transduce a small proportion of hepatocytes when injected in the regenerating liver. Transgene expression may be sustained for months without immune response. In striking contrast, we observed a rapid extinction when the intravenous injection of a high input of nuclear beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) expression vector, one day after partial hepatectomy, led to a significant proportion of transduced cells in the liver. Extinction was associated with liver inflammation on tissue sections and appearance of antibodies against the transgene product, while vector genomes became undetectable in liver tissue by PCR. These observations suggested the elimination of transduced cells by an immune response. Transgenic rats tolerant for cytoplasmic beta-gal, or normal rats depleted in CD8 T lymphocytes, steadily expressed the beta-gal vector. In the spleen of normal rats, we detected cytotoxic cells directed against cells expressing beta-gal after the injec...
Transgenic research, 2002
Successful identification of homozygous and heterozygous transgenic animals with currently availa... more Successful identification of homozygous and heterozygous transgenic animals with currently available techniques demands tedious and time-consuming procedures with a high proportion of ambiguous results. Real-time PCR is a quantitative and extremely precise method with high throughput that could be applied to the analysis of large numbers of animals differing only by a factor of two in the amount of target sequences. We defined the technical conditions of real-time PCR to co-amplify a transgene and a reference gene using two fluorogenic probes and the comparative cycle threshold method. We applied these conditions to the analysis of zygosity in a line of transgenic rats. Real-time PCR allowed clear-cut identification of all transgenic animals analysed (n = 45) as homozygous or heterozygous. Southern blot analysis of these animals using an internal quantitative control and PhosphorImager quantification showed ambiguous results in six of them and was concordant with real-time PCR in th...
PLOS ONE, 2015
We previously described that in a rat model of heart transplantation tolerance was dependent on C... more We previously described that in a rat model of heart transplantation tolerance was dependent on CD8 + CD45RC low Tregs that over-expressed fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2)/fibroleukin. Little is known on the immunoregulatory properties of FGL2. Here we analyzed the transplantation tolerance mechanisms that are present in Lewis 1A rats treated with FGL2. Over-expression of FGL2 in vivo through adenovirus associated virus-mediated gene transfer without any further treatment resulted in inhibition of cardiac allograft rejection. Adoptive cell transfer of splenocytes from FGL2-treated rats with long-term graft survival (> 80 days) in animals that were transplanted with cardiac allografts inhibited acute and chronic organ rejection in a donor-specific and transferable tolerance manner, since iterative adoptive transfer up to a sixth consecutive recipient resulted in transplantation tolerance. Adoptive cell transfer also efficiently inhibited anti-donor antibody production. Analysis of all possible cell populations among splenocytes revealed that B lymphocytes were sufficient for this adoptive cell tolerance. These B cells were also capable of inhibiting the proliferation of CD4 + T cells in response to allogeneic stimuli. Moreover, gene transfer of FGL2 in B cell deficient rats did not prolong graft survival. Thus, this is the first description of FGL2 resulting in long-term allograft survival. Furthermore, allograft tolerance was transferable and B cells were the main cells responsible for this effect.
Previous work on blockade of CD40-CD40 ligand interaction in mice and primates with anti-CD40 lig... more Previous work on blockade of CD40-CD40 ligand interaction in mice and primates with anti-CD40 ligand mAbs has resulted in a moderate prolongation of allograft survival without the development of true allograft tolerance. In this study, we show in rats that adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of CD40Ig sequences into the graft resulted in prolonged (>200 days) expression of CD40Ig and in long-term (>300 days) survival. Recipients expressing CD40Ig displayed strongly (>90%) inhibited mixed leukocyte reactions and alloantibody production at early (days 5 and 17) and late time points (>100 day) after transplantation, but showed limited inhibition of leukocyte infiltration and cytokine production as evaluated by immunohistology at early time points (day 5). Recipients of long-surviving hearts showed donor-specific hyporesponsiveness since acceptance of second cardiac allografts was donor specific. Nevertheless, long-term allografts (>100 days) displayed signs of chronic rejection vasculopathy. Occluded vessels showed leukocyte infiltration, mainly composed of CD4 ؉ and CD8 ؉ cells, macrophages, and mast cells. These recipients also showed antidonor CTL activity. Recipients expressing CD40Ig did not show nonspecific immunosuppression, as they were able to mount anticognate immune responses that were partially inhibited at early time points and were normal thereafter. We conclude that gene transfer-mediated expression of CD40Ig resulted in a highly efficient inhibition of acute heart allograft rejection in rats. This treatment induced donor-specific inhibition of certain alloreactive mechanisms in the short-, but not the long-term, which resulted in long-term survival of allografts concomitant with the development of chronic rejection.
Frontiers in Genetics
The rat has been extensively used as a small animal model. Many genetically engineered rat models... more The rat has been extensively used as a small animal model. Many genetically engineered rat models have emerged in the last two decades, and the advent of gene-specific nucleases has accelerated their generation in recent years. This review covers the techniques and advances used to generate genetically engineered rat lines and their application to the development of rat models more broadly, such as conditional knockouts and reporter gene strains. In addition, genome-editing techniques that remain to be explored in the rat are discussed. The review also focuses more particularly on two areas in which extensive work has been done: human genetic diseases and immune system analysis. Models are thoroughly described in these two areas and highlight the competitive advantages of rat models over available corresponding mouse versions. The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive description of the advantages and potential of rat models for addressing specific scientific questi...
Molecular Therapy - Methods & Clinical Development
Transplantation
In vivo analysis of human immune responses in immunodeficient rats.
The Journal of Immunology
Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) deficiency in humans induces a life-threatening generalized autoimmun... more Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) deficiency in humans induces a life-threatening generalized autoimmune disease called autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), and no curative treatments are available. Several models of AIRE-deficient mice have been generated, and although they have been useful in understanding the role of AIRE in central tolerance, they do not reproduce accurately the APECED symptoms, and thus there is still a need for an animal model displaying APECED-like disease. We assessed, in this study, the potential of the rat as an accurate model for APECED. In this study, we demonstrate that in rat, AIRE is expressed by MHC class II (MCH-II) + and MHC-II 2 medullary thymic epithelial cells in thymus and by CD4 int conventional dendritic cells in periphery. To our knowledge, we generated the first AIRE-deficient rat model using zinc-finger nucleases and demonstrated that they display several of the key symptoms of APECED disease, including alopecia, skin depigmentation, and nail dystrophy, independently of the genetic background. We observed severe autoimmune lesions in a large spectrum of organs, in particular in the pancreas, and identified several autoantibodies in organs and cytokines such as type I IFNs and IL-17 at levels similar to APECED. Finally, we demonstrated a biased Ab response to IgG1, IgM, and IgA isotypes. Altogether, our data demonstrate that AIRE-deficient rat is a relevant APECED animal model, opening new opportunity to test curative therapeutic treatments.
Transplantation, Jan 24, 2018
Immunodeficient mice are invaluable tools to analyze the long-term effects of potentially immunog... more Immunodeficient mice are invaluable tools to analyze the long-term effects of potentially immunogenic molecules in the absence of adaptive immune responses. Nevertheless, there are models and experimental situations that would beneficiate of larger immunodeficient recipients. Rats are ideally suited to perform experiments in which larger size is needed and are still a small animal model suitable for rodent facilities. Additionally, rats reproduce certain human diseases better than mice, such as ankylosing spondylitis and Duchenne disease and these disease models would greatly benefit of immunodeficient rats to test different immunogenic treatments. We describe the generation of Il2rg-deficient rats and their crossing with previously described Rag1-deficient rats to generate double-mutant RRG animals. As compared to Rag1-deficient rats, Il2rg-deficient rats were more immunodeficient since partially lacked not only T and B cells but also NK cells. RRG animals showed a more profound im...
Transplantation
identification of a more potent and stable Treg product for cellular ther All indicates that CD27... more identification of a more potent and stable Treg product for cellular ther All indicates that CD27/CD70 pathway has a direct role in the activity o man Tregs, and its modulation may facilitate the generation of Tregs with hanced suppressive properties. CD27 costimulation may activate dis intracellular pathways in conventional and regulatory Tcells, and there CD27/CD70 axis could be exploited for regulating the balance between ventional and regulatory T cell responses.
Scientific reports, Aug 17, 2016
BAC transgenic mammalian systems offer an important platform for recapitulating human gene expres... more BAC transgenic mammalian systems offer an important platform for recapitulating human gene expression and disease modeling. While the larger body mass, and greater genetic and physiologic similarity to humans render rats well suited for reproducing human immune diseases and evaluating therapeutic strategies, difficulties of generating BAC transgenic rats have hindered progress. Thus, an efficient method for BAC transgenesis in rats would be valuable. Immunodeficient mice carrying a human SIRPA transgene have previously been shown to support improved human cell hematopoiesis. Here, we have generated for the first time, human SIRPA BAC transgenic rats, for which the gene is faithfully expressed, functionally active, and germline transmissible. To do this, human SIRPA BAC was modified with elements to work in coordination with genome engineering technologies-piggyBac, CRISPR/Cas9 or TALEN. Our findings show that piggyBac transposition is a more efficient approach than the classical BAC...
Scientific reports, Jan 7, 2015
The generation of genetically-modified organisms has been revolutionized by the development of ne... more The generation of genetically-modified organisms has been revolutionized by the development of new genome editing technologies based on the use of gene-specific nucleases, such as meganucleases, ZFNs, TALENs and CRISPRs-Cas9 systems. The most rapid and cost-effective way to generate genetically-modified animals is by microinjection of the nucleic acids encoding gene-specific nucleases into zygotes. However, the efficiency of the procedure can still be improved. In this work we aim to increase the efficiency of CRISPRs-Cas9 and TALENs homology-directed repair by using TALENs and Cas9 proteins, instead of mRNA, microinjected into rat and mouse zygotes along with long or short donor DNAs. We observed that Cas9 protein was more efficient at homology-directed repair than mRNA, while TALEN protein was less efficient than mRNA at inducing homology-directed repair. Our results indicate that the use of Cas9 protein could represent a simple and practical methodological alternative to Cas9 mRN...
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2016
The rat is an important animal model to understand gene function and model human diseases. Since ... more The rat is an important animal model to understand gene function and model human diseases. Since recent years, the development of gene-specific nucleases has become important for generating new rat models of human diseases, to analyze the role of genes and to generate human antibodies. Transcription activator-like (TALE) nucleases efficiently create gene-specific knockout rats and lead to the possibility of gene targeting by homology-directed recombination (HDR) and generating knock-in rats. We describe a detailed protocol for generating knockout and knock-in rats via microinjection of TALE nucleases into fertilized eggs. This technology is an efficient, cost- and time-effective method for creating new rat models.
Transgenic research, Jan 10, 2015
On July 2-3 2015 was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Transgenic animals and g... more On July 2-3 2015 was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Transgenic animals and genetic engineering techniques.'' (www.trm.univnantes.fr/). This biennial meeting is the fifth one of its kind to be organized by the Transgenic Rats ImmunoPhenomic (TRIP) Nantes facility (www.tgr. nantes.inserm.fr/). The meeting was supported by private companies (genOway, Charles River, Taconic Biosciences, Harlan, and Cosmo Bio Co, Ltd) and by public institutions (the
The innate immune system functions as a defensive front line against pathogenic invasion, but the... more The innate immune system functions as a defensive front line against pathogenic invasion, but the proinflammatory products of activated monocytes and macrophages (e.g., TNF and NO) can also injure normal cells. Anti-inflammatory mediators restrain the innate immune response and prevent excessive collateral tissue damage. Spermine, a ubiquitous biogenic polyamine, specifically and reversibly suppresses the synthesis of monocyte proinflammatory cytokines. This may provide a counterregulatory mechanism to restrain monocyte activation in injured or infected tissues and in tumors where spermine levels are significantly increased. Here we show that monocyte spermine uptake was signifi-cantly increased following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. The polyamine analogue 1,4-bis(3-aminopropyl)-piperazine (BAP) inhibited LPS-stimulated monocyte spermine uptake via the "nonselective" polyamine transporter. BAP fully restored macrophage TNF synthesis despite the presence of spermine, ind...
Transgenic research, 2013
was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Technical advances in the generation of t... more was held in Nantes, France, the international meeting ''Technical advances in the generation of transgenic animals and in their applications'' (www.trm.nantes.inserm.fr/index.php). This biennial meeting is the fourth one of its kind to be organized by the Transgenic Rats Nantes facility (http:// www.tgr.nantes.inserm.fr/). The meeting was supported by private companies (Charles River, genOway,
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2010
The genetic dissection of physiological and pathological traits in laboratory model organisms is ... more The genetic dissection of physiological and pathological traits in laboratory model organisms is accelerated by the ability to engineer loss-of-function mutations at investigator-specified loci. This chapter describes the use of zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) for the targeted disruption of endogenous rat genes directly in the embryo. ZFNs can specifically disrupt target genes in cultured rat cells and in embryos from inbred and outbred strains, leading to permanently genetically modified animals. This technology allows for the rapid, targeted modification of the rat genome.
Archives des maladies du coeur et des vaisseaux
In rat thoracic aorta, the stimulation of endothelial beta3-adrenoceptors (beta-AR) produces a va... more In rat thoracic aorta, the stimulation of endothelial beta3-adrenoceptors (beta-AR) produces a vasorelaxation through activation of a NO synthase pathway and an increase in cGMP levels. In hypertension, a global decrease of the beta-AR response has been described. In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), we have shown that beta3-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation was not modified in SHR aorta at the age of 12 weeks, in spite of an upregulation of beta3-adrenoceptors. In order to determine the consequences of an over-expression of the beta3-AR, we have developed a transgenic rat over-expressing specifically in endothelial cells the human beta3-AR (Tg beta3). By real-time quantitative PCR, we have determined the expression level of the different beta-AR subtypes. We confirmed an over-expression of the beta3-AR transcripts in Tg beta3 (ratio = 3.39 +/- 0.8; n=3 for Tg beta3 vs wild type [WT] animals). Surprisingly, we observed in Tg beta3 a decrease of beta1-AR transcripts (ratio = 0.76...
Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.), 2002
Fas ligand expression by cells of the vessel wall has been proposed to play a role in normal and ... more Fas ligand expression by cells of the vessel wall has been proposed to play a role in normal and pathologic conditions. Genetic engineering of vascularized organs for endothelial cell (EC) expression of FasL could protect the endothelium and underlying tissues from infiltrating Fas+ leukocytes. Nevertheless, the endogenous expression of FasL by ECs of different species and the potential deleterious effects of enforced FasL expression by ECs are largely unknown. In human ECs, levels of FLICE/caspase 8-inhibitory protein (FLIP) have been shown to control apoptosis mediated by Fas. Cell surface expression of FasL in rat, mouse, human, and pig ECs was obtained using recombinant adenoviruses or transient plasmid transfection assays. FasL expression was evaluated by FACS analysis and cytotoxicity assays. Apoptosis was evaluated using annexin V, TUNEL, and cytotoxicity assays. FLIP levels were evaluated by Western blot analysis and overexpression was obtained by transient transfection. Ana...
Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy, 2002
Vectors derived from oncoretroviruses can transduce a small proportion of hepatocytes when inject... more Vectors derived from oncoretroviruses can transduce a small proportion of hepatocytes when injected in the regenerating liver. Transgene expression may be sustained for months without immune response. In striking contrast, we observed a rapid extinction when the intravenous injection of a high input of nuclear beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) expression vector, one day after partial hepatectomy, led to a significant proportion of transduced cells in the liver. Extinction was associated with liver inflammation on tissue sections and appearance of antibodies against the transgene product, while vector genomes became undetectable in liver tissue by PCR. These observations suggested the elimination of transduced cells by an immune response. Transgenic rats tolerant for cytoplasmic beta-gal, or normal rats depleted in CD8 T lymphocytes, steadily expressed the beta-gal vector. In the spleen of normal rats, we detected cytotoxic cells directed against cells expressing beta-gal after the injec...
Transgenic research, 2002
Successful identification of homozygous and heterozygous transgenic animals with currently availa... more Successful identification of homozygous and heterozygous transgenic animals with currently available techniques demands tedious and time-consuming procedures with a high proportion of ambiguous results. Real-time PCR is a quantitative and extremely precise method with high throughput that could be applied to the analysis of large numbers of animals differing only by a factor of two in the amount of target sequences. We defined the technical conditions of real-time PCR to co-amplify a transgene and a reference gene using two fluorogenic probes and the comparative cycle threshold method. We applied these conditions to the analysis of zygosity in a line of transgenic rats. Real-time PCR allowed clear-cut identification of all transgenic animals analysed (n = 45) as homozygous or heterozygous. Southern blot analysis of these animals using an internal quantitative control and PhosphorImager quantification showed ambiguous results in six of them and was concordant with real-time PCR in th...
PLOS ONE, 2015
We previously described that in a rat model of heart transplantation tolerance was dependent on C... more We previously described that in a rat model of heart transplantation tolerance was dependent on CD8 + CD45RC low Tregs that over-expressed fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2)/fibroleukin. Little is known on the immunoregulatory properties of FGL2. Here we analyzed the transplantation tolerance mechanisms that are present in Lewis 1A rats treated with FGL2. Over-expression of FGL2 in vivo through adenovirus associated virus-mediated gene transfer without any further treatment resulted in inhibition of cardiac allograft rejection. Adoptive cell transfer of splenocytes from FGL2-treated rats with long-term graft survival (> 80 days) in animals that were transplanted with cardiac allografts inhibited acute and chronic organ rejection in a donor-specific and transferable tolerance manner, since iterative adoptive transfer up to a sixth consecutive recipient resulted in transplantation tolerance. Adoptive cell transfer also efficiently inhibited anti-donor antibody production. Analysis of all possible cell populations among splenocytes revealed that B lymphocytes were sufficient for this adoptive cell tolerance. These B cells were also capable of inhibiting the proliferation of CD4 + T cells in response to allogeneic stimuli. Moreover, gene transfer of FGL2 in B cell deficient rats did not prolong graft survival. Thus, this is the first description of FGL2 resulting in long-term allograft survival. Furthermore, allograft tolerance was transferable and B cells were the main cells responsible for this effect.