Caractérisation fonctionnelle de longs ARNs non codants induits par l’hypoxie et impliqués dans l’agressivité des cancers pulmonaires non à petites cellules

Lung cancers, and notably Lung Adenocarcinomas (LUAD) are the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Their high rate of recurrence despite early, requires new prognostic markers and new therapeutic targets. The combined study of local cohort (CHU of Nice) and large scale (TCGA) transcriptomes of LUAD allowed the identification of a shortlist of 28 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) correlated with hypoxia, a factor of tumor aggressiveness, and a poor prognosis. LncRNAs are transcripts that modulate gene expression through the recruitment of proteins and/or nucleic acids and represent an interesting source of new therapeutic targets. Two lncRNAs candidate were selected and molecular characterization was undertaken by sequencing, RT-PCR and smRNA FISH and concern the nuclear lncRNA NLUCAT1 of 9,8kb and the cytosolic lncRNA LINC01116 of 1,2kb. Experiments with loss of function via CRISPR/Cas9 systems, interference RNA and gain of function allowed to characterize the function of these transcripts. Invalidation of NLUCAT1 by CRISPR/Cas9 reduces proliferation, migration, invasion and increases cisplatin sensitivity and ROS production. Bioinformatic analysis of transcriptomes from cells invalidated or not for NLUCAT1 has demonstrated its involvement in the mechanisms of regulation of oxidative stress via a positive feedback from the NRF2 antioxidant pathway. On the other hand, lncRNA LINC01116 is mainly expressed in endothelial cells of the tumor microenvironment and its inhibition by interfering RNA reduces the adhesion capacities and increases the permeability of the endothelium. Mechanistic characterization was perform for LINC01116 via RNA pulldown-MS co-precipitation experiments and idenfied a list of potential partner proteins. The proteins of RNA metabolism and stability, ILF3 and PABPC1 were identified and their interactions with LINC01116 were validated by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP).
Overall, during my thesis, I determine the pro-tumoral action of the NLUCAT1 in LUAD and the involvement of LINC01116 in the modification of the tumor microenvironment. These two transcripts could represent potential therapeutic targets in the management of lung cancer.