Publications by authors named "Andre Pawlak"

Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a severe form of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS), a glomerulopathy of presumably immune origin that is attributed to extrarenal pathogenic circulating factors. The recurrence of FSGS (rFSGS) after transplant occurs in 30% to 50% of cases. The direct analysis of patient plasma proteome has scarcely been addressed to date, mainly due to the methodological difficulties associated with plasma complexity and dynamic range.

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Tailor-made and designed micro- and nanocarriers can bring significant benefits over their traditional macroscopic counterparts in drug delivery applications. For the successful loading and subsequent release of bioactive compounds, carriers should present a high loading capacity, trigger release mechanisms, biodegradability and biocompatibility. Hydrophobic drug molecules can accumulate in fat tissues, resulting in drawbacks for the patient's recovery.

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Bacteria resistance to antibiotics has emerged as a major health problem. Developing new antibacterial systems is then of major interest. In this sense, we present biocapsules presenting inherent antibacterial capacity.

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Background: The Wilms tumor 1 suppressor gene, WT1, is expressed throughout life in podocytes and is essential for their function. Downregulation of WT1 has been reported in podocyte diseases but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Podocyte injury is the hallmark of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS), the most frequent glomerular disease in children and young adults.

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Escherichia coli is one of the most common commensal aerobic bacteria in the gut microbiota of humans (and other mammals). Nevertheless, if left free to proliferate, it can induce a large range of diseases from diarrhoea to extra-intestinal diseases. In recent years, this bacterium had become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

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The analysis of T cell lipid raft proteome is challenging due to the highly dynamic nature of rafts and the hydrophobic character of raft-resident proteins. We explored an innovative strategy for bottom-up lipid raftomics based on suspension-trapping (S-Trap) sample preparation. Mouse T cells were prepared from splenocytes by negative immunoselection, and rafts were isolated by a detergent-free method and OptiPrep gradient ultracentrifugation.

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Upon their interaction with cognate antigen, T cells integrate different extracellular and intracellular signals involving basal and induced protein-protein interactions, as well as the binding of proteins to lipids, which can lead to either cell activation or inhibition. Here, we show that the selective T cell expression of CMIP, a new adapter protein, by targeted transgenesis drives T cells toward a naïve phenotype. We found that CMIP inhibits activation of the Src kinases Fyn and Lck after CD3/CD28 costimulation and the subsequent localization of Fyn and Lck to LRs.

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Most of the drug molecules are partially insoluble in aqueous solution and then may accumulate in fat tissues hampering efficient therapy. Innovative drug delivery strategies have emerged in industry or academia over the last decades, however preserving the activity of the encapsulated drug, having high drug loading capacity and controlling drug release kinetics, are still challenging. In this context, we explored the preparation of new nanocarriers, namely nanocapsules, via a templating method, and using polysaccharides exhibiting biological functions.

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Lupus glomerulopathies are classified into various histological patterns, which probably result from different pathophysiological origins. Podocyte injury can be demonstrated in lupus nephritis but its clinical relevance is far little appreciated and is often masked by proliferative lesions and inflammatory cell infiltrations. Two patterns of podocyte lesions may be considered, either occurring in the context of renal inflammation or reflecting podocyte dysfunction in non-proliferative and non-inflammatory glomerulopathies.

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Minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) is an immune-mediated glomerular disease. We have analyzed the modifications on T-cell subsets in twenty-three patients who were highly steroid/calcineurin inhibitor and/or mycophenolate mofetil-dependent for frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (FRNS) and who were enrolled in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo vs Rituximab-controlled trial. Patients with FRNS entered the trial at remission and were randomly assigned to receive either Rituximab or placebo.

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The WT1 (Wilm's tumor suppressor) gene is expressed throughout life in podocytes and is essential for the functional integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier. We have previously shown that CMIP (C-Maf inducing protein) is overproduced in podocyte diseases and alters intracellular signaling. Here we isolated the proximal region of the human CMIP promoter and showed by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays and electrophoretic-mobility shift that Wilm's tumor protein (WT1) bound to 2 WT1 response elements, located at positions -290/-274 and -57/-41 relative to transcription start site.

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Idiopathic change nephrotic syndrome (INS), the most frequent glomerular disease in children and young adults, is characterized by heavy proteinuria and a relapsing remitting course. Although the mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of proteinuria remain unclear, clinical and experimental observations suggest that lymphocyte and podocyte disturbances are two sides of the disease. The current hypothesis suggests that immune cells release a putative factor, which alters podocyte function resulting in nephrotic proteinuria.

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Renal toxicity constitutes a dose-limiting side effect of anticancer therapies targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). In order to study this further, we followed up 29 patients receiving this treatment, who experienced proteinuria, hypertension, and/or renal insufficiency. Eight developed minimal change nephropathy/focal segmental glomerulopathy (MCN/FSG)-like lesions and 13 developed thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA).

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Membranous nephropathy is a glomerular disease typified by a nephrotic syndrome without infiltration of inflammatory cells or proliferation of resident cells. Although the cause of the disease is unknown, the primary pathology involves the generation of autoantibodies against antigen targets on the surface of podocytes. The mechanisms of nephrotic proteinuria, which reflect a profound podocyte dysfunction, remain unclear.

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The mechanisms of podocyte disorders in cases of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) are complex and remain incompletely elucidated. The abnormal regulation of NF-κB may play a key role in the pathophysiology of these podocyte diseases, but at present, NF-κB has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we report that induction of c-mip in podocytes of patients with INS is associated with a down-regulation of RelA, a potent antiapoptotic factor that belongs to the NF-κB family.

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Immune mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, the most frequent glomerular disease in children, are believed to involve a systemic disorder of T cell function and cell mediated immunity. How these perturbations take place remains unclear. We report here that NFRKB, a member of the chromatin remodeling complex, is upregulated in MCNS relapse, mainly in CD4+T cells and B cells and undergo post-translational modifications including sumoylation.

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Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is the most frequent glomerular disease in children. The mechanisms underlying its pathophysiology have been investigated by genetic, cellular and molecular approaches. While genetic analyses have provided new insights into disease pathogenesis through the discovery of several podocyte genes mutated in distinct forms of inherited nephrotic syndrome, the molecular bases of minimal change nephrotic syndrome and focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis with relapse remain unclear.

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Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome comprises several podocyte diseases of unknown origin that affect the glomerular podocyte, which controls the permeability of the filtration barrier in the kidney to proteins. It is characterized by the daily loss of more than 3 g of protein in urine and the lack of inflammatory lesions or cell infiltration. We found that the abundance of c-mip (c-maf inducing protein) was increased in the podocytes of patients with various acquired idiopathic nephrotic syndromes in which the podocyte is the main target of injury.

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It is currently considered that idiopathic minimal change nephrotic syndrome is an immune-mediated glomerular disease. Its association with classical Hodgkin lymphoma minimal change nephrotic syndrome (cHL-MCNS) suggests a molecular link, which remains to be elucidated. We analyzed the expression of cmaf inducing protein (c-mip) in lymphomatous tissues and kidney biopsy samples of patients with cHL-MCNS (n = 8) and in lymphomatous tissues of patients with isolated cHL (n = 9).

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In naive T cells, Lck exerts a negative control on the ERK/MAPK pathway. We show that c-mip (c-maf inducing protein) interacts with the p85 subunit of PI3 kinase and inactivates Lck, which results in Erk1/2 and p38 MAPK activation. This effect is not enough to activate AP1 given the inability of ERK to migrate into the nucleus and to transactivate its target genes.

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The fine regulation of NF-kappaB activity is crucial for both resting and stimulated cells and relies on complex balance between multiple activators and inhibitors. We report here that c-mip, a recently identified pleckstrin homology (PH) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-domain-containing protein, inactivates GSKbeta and interacts with RelA, a key member of the NF-kappaB family. We show that c-mip inhibits the degradation of I-kappaBalpha and impedes the dissociation of the NF-kappaB/I-kappaBalpha complexes.

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Mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS), the most frequent glomerular disease in children, remain elusive, but recent findings argue for a T cell dysfunction. Starting from a differential cDNA library from T cells of a patient under relapse and remission, we identified 16 transcripts specific for MCNS. All of these transcripts that were selectively up-regulated during the relapse phase of the disease were generated by alternative splicing of known genes.

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Mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS), the most frequent of glomerular diseases in children, remain elusive, although recent arguments suggest that T cell dysfunction may be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. Recently, we reported that activated T cells of these patients display a down-regulation of IL-12R beta2 chain, suggesting an early commitment toward Th2 phenotype. In this study, we show that the short form of the proto-oncogene c-maf, a known activator of the IL-4 gene, is highly induced in MCNS T cells during relapse, where it translocates to the nuclear compartment and binds to the DNA responsive element.

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We have recently established that enhancement of intracellular calcium cycling and contraction in response to beta2-adrenergic receptor (beta2-AR) stimulation exclusively relies on the activation of the cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) and arachidonic acid production, via a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein (possibly Gi), in embryonic chick cardiomyocytes. We aimed to investigate the relevance of the beta2-AR/Gi/cPLA2 pathway in the human myocardium. In left ventricular biopsies obtained from explanted hearts, beta2-AR stimulation exerted either an inhibition of cPLA2 that was insensitive to pertussis toxin (PTX) treatment, or an activation of cPLA2, sensitive to PTX treatment.

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Several arguments suggest that minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) results from yet unknown systemic disorder of T cell function. By screening a cDNA library from T cell relapse, we identified a new pleckstrin homology (PH) domain-containing protein encoded by a gene located on chromosome 16q24. Two alternative transcripts were identified.

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