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Stéphanie Certain

Bio: Stéphanie Certain is an academic researcher from French Institute of Health and Medical Research. The author has contributed to research in topics: Perforin & UNC13D. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 10 publications receiving 6665 citations. Previous affiliations of Stéphanie Certain include Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital & University of Paris.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
28 Apr 2000-Science
TL;DR: A gene therapy trial for SCID-X1 was initiated, based on the use of complementary DNA containing a defective gammac Moloney retrovirus-derived vector and ex vivo infection of CD34+ cells, which provided full correction of disease phenotype and clinical benefit.
Abstract: Severe combined immunodeficiency-X1 (SCID-X1) is an X-linked inherited disorder characterized by an early block in T and natural killer (NK) lymphocyte differentiation. This block is caused by mutations of the gene encoding the gammac cytokine receptor subunit of interleukin-2, -4, -7, -9, and -15 receptors, which participates in the delivery of growth, survival, and differentiation signals to early lymphoid progenitors. After preclinical studies, a gene therapy trial for SCID-X1 was initiated, based on the use of complementary DNA containing a defective gammac Moloney retrovirus-derived vector and ex vivo infection of CD34+ cells. After a 10-month follow-up period, gammac transgene-expressing T and NK cells were detected in two patients. T, B, and NK cell counts and function, including antigen-specific responses, were comparable to those of age-matched controls. Thus, gene therapy was able to provide full correction of disease phenotype and, hence, clinical benefit.

2,639 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
03 Dec 1999-Science
TL;DR: In this paper, the coding regions of the perforin gene of eight unrelated 10q21-22-linked FHL patients revealed homozygous nonsense mutations in four patients and missense mutations in the other four patients.
Abstract: Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a rare, rapidly fatal, autosomal recessive immune disorder characterized by uncontrolled activation of T cells and macrophages and overproduction of inflammatory cytokines. Linkage analyses indicate that FHL is genetically heterogeneous and linked to 9q21.3-22, 10q21-22, or another as yet undefined locus. Sequencing of the coding regions of the perforin gene of eight unrelated 10q21-22–linked FHL patients revealed homozygous nonsense mutations in four patients and missense mutations in the other four patients. Cultured lymphocytes from patients had defective cytotoxic activity, and immunostaining revealed little or no perforin in the granules. Thus, defects in perforin are responsible for 10q21-22–linked FHL. Perforin-based effector systems are, therefore, involved not only in the lysis of abnormal cells but also in the down-regulation of cellular immune activation.

1,126 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The GTP-binding protein RAB27A appears to be involved in the control of the immune system, as all patients with RAB 27A mutations, but none with the MYO5A mutation, developed HS.
Abstract: Griscelli syndrome (GS, MIM 214450), a rare, autosomal recessive disorder, results in pigmentary dilution of the skin and the hair, the presence of large clumps of pigment in hair shafts and an accumulation of melanosomes in melanocytes. Most patients also develop an uncontrolled T-lymphocyte and macrophage activation syndrome (known as haemophagocytic syndrome, HS), leading to death in the absence of bone-marrow transplantation. In contrast, early in life some GS patients show a severe neurological impairment without apparent immune abnormalities. We previously mapped the GS locus to chromosome 15q21 and found a mutation in a gene (MYO5A) encoding a molecular motor in two patients. Further linkage analysis suggested a second gene associated with GS was in the same chromosomal region. Homozygosity mapping in additional families narrowed the candidate region to a 3.1-cM interval between D15S1003 and D15S962. We detected mutations in RAB27A, which lies within this interval, in 16 patients with GS. Unlike MYO5A, the GTP-binding protein RAB27A appears to be involved in the control of the immune system, as all patients with RAB27A mutations, but none with the MYO5A mutation, developed HS. In addition, RAB27A-deficient T cells exhibited reduced cytotoxicity and cytolytic granule exocytosis, whereas MYO5A-defective T cells did not. RAB27A appears to be a key effector of cytotoxic granule exocytosis, a pathway essential for immune homeostasis.

889 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
14 Nov 2003-Cell
TL;DR: In this article, the locus of a perforin (+) FHL subtype (FHL3), observed in 10 patients, was mapped to 17q25. This region contains hMunc13-4, a member of the Munc13 family of proteins involved in vesicle priming.

828 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that CIAS1 missense mutations can result in distinct phenotypes with only a few overlapping symptoms and suggest that this gene may function as a potential inducer of apoptosis.
Abstract: Chronic infantile neurological cutaneous and articular (CINCA) syndrome is a severe chronic inflammatory disease of early onset, characterized by cutaneous symptoms, central-nervous-system involvement, and arthropathy. In the present study, we report, in seven unrelated patients with CINCA syndrome, distinct missense mutations within the nucleotide-binding site of CIAS1, a gene encoding cryopyrin and previously shown to cause Muckle-Wells syndrome and familial cold urticaria. Because of the severe cartilage overgrowth observed in some patients with CINCA syndrome and the implications of polymorphonuclear cell infiltration in the cutaneous and neurological manifestations of this syndrome, the tissue-specific expression of CIAS1 was evaluated. A high level of expression of CIAS1 was found to be restricted to polymorphonuclear cells and chondrocytes. These findings demonstrate that CIAS1 missense mutations can result in distinct phenotypes with only a few overlapping symptoms and suggest that this gene may function as a potential inducer of apoptosis.

707 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: HLH‐2004 chemo‐immunotherapy includes etoposide, dexamethasone, cyclosporine A upfront and, in selected patients, intrathecal therapy with methotrexate and corticosteroids, and subsequent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is recommended for patients with familial disease or molecular diagnosis, and patients with severe and persistent, or reactivated, disease.
Abstract: In HLH-94, the first prospective international treatment study for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), diagnosis was based on five criteria (fever, splenomegaly, bicytopenia, hypertriglyceridemia and/or hypofibrinogenemia, and hemophagocytosis). In HLH-2004 three additional criteria are introduced; low/absent NK-cell-activity, hyperferritinemia, and high-soluble interleukin-2-receptor levels. Altogether five of these eight criteria must be fulfilled, unless family history or molecular diagnosis is consistent with HLH. HLH-2004 chemo-immunotherapy includes etoposide, dexamethasone, cyclosporine A upfront and, in selected patients, intrathecal therapy with methotrexate and corticosteroids. Subsequent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is recommended for patients with familial disease or molecular diagnosis, and patients with severe and persistent, or reactivated, disease. In order to hopefully further improve diagnosis, therapy and biological understanding, participation in HLH studies is encouraged.

3,848 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
17 Oct 2003-Science
TL;DR: Retrovirus vector insertion can trigger deregulated premalignant cell proliferation with unexpected frequency, most likely driven by retrovirus enhancer activity on the LMO2 gene promoter.
Abstract: We have previously shown correction of X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency [SCID-X1, also known as gamma chain (gamma(c)) deficiency] in 9 out of 10 patients by retrovirus-mediated gamma(c) gene transfer into autologous CD34 bone marrow cells. However, almost 3 years after gene therapy, uncontrolled exponential clonal proliferation of mature T cells (with gammadelta+ or alphabeta+ T cell receptors) has occurred in the two youngest patients. Both patients' clones showed retrovirus vector integration in proximity to the LMO2 proto-oncogene promoter, leading to aberrant transcription and expression of LMO2. Thus, retrovirus vector insertion can trigger deregulated premalignant cell proliferation with unexpected frequency, most likely driven by retrovirus enhancer activity on the LMO2 gene promoter.

3,514 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Cellular organelles in the exocytic and endocytic pathways have a distinctive spatial distribution and communicate through an elaborate system of vesiculo-tubular transport.
Abstract: Cellular organelles in the exocytic and endocytic pathways have a distinctive spatial distribution and communicate through an elaborate system of vesiculo-tubular transport. Rab proteins and their effectors coordinate consecutive stages of transport, such as vesicle formation, vesicle and organelle motility, and tethering of vesicles to their target compartment. These molecules are highly compartmentalized in organelle membranes, making them excellent candidates for determining transport specificity and organelle identity.

3,373 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Crosstalk between multiple Rab GTPases through shared effectors, or through effectors that recruit selective Rab activators, ensures the spatiotemporal regulation of vesicle traffic.
Abstract: Rab GTPases control intracellular vesicle traffic by acting as regulatable switches that recruit effector molecules when in their GTP-bound form. The functional coupling between multiple Rab GTPases ensures the spatiotemporally coordinated regulation of vesicle traffic. Membrane trafficking between organelles by vesiculotubular carriers is fundamental to the existence of eukaryotic cells. Central in ensuring that cargoes are delivered to their correct destinations are the Rab GTPases, a large family of small GTPases that control membrane identity and vesicle budding, uncoating, motility and fusion through the recruitment of effector proteins, such as sorting adaptors, tethering factors, kinases, phosphatases and motors. Crosstalk between multiple Rab GTPases through shared effectors, or through effectors that recruit selective Rab activators, ensures the spatiotemporal regulation of vesicle traffic. Functional impairments of Rab pathways are associated with diseases, such as immunodeficiencies, cancer and neurological disorders.

2,893 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
09 Mar 2006-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that cryopyrin-deficient macrophages cannot activate caspase-1 in response to Toll-like receptor agonists plus ATP, the latter activating the P2X7 receptor to decrease intracellular K+ levels.
Abstract: A crucial part of the innate immune response is the assembly of the inflammasome, a cytosolic complex of proteins that activates caspase-1 to process the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18. The adaptor protein ASC is essential for inflammasome function, binding directly to caspase-1 (refs 3, 4), but the triggers of this interaction are less clear. ASC also interacts with the adaptor cryopyrin (also known as NALP3 or CIAS1). Activating mutations in cryopyrin are associated with familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome, Muckle-Wells syndrome and neonatal onset multisystem inflammatory disease, diseases that are characterized by excessive production of IL-1beta. Here we show that cryopyrin-deficient macrophages cannot activate caspase-1 in response to Toll-like receptor agonists plus ATP, the latter activating the P2X7 receptor to decrease intracellular K+ levels. The release of IL-1beta in response to nigericin, a potassium ionophore, and maitotoxin, a potent marine toxin, was also found to be dependent on cryopyrin. In contrast to Asc-/- macrophages, cells deficient in the gene encoding cryopyrin (Cias1-/-) activated caspase-1 and secreted normal levels of IL-1beta and IL-18 when infected with Gram-negative Salmonella typhimurium or Francisella tularensis. Macrophages exposed to Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus or Listeria monocytogenes, however, required both ASC and cryopyrin to activate caspase-1 and secrete IL-1beta. Therefore, cryopyrin is essential for inflammasome activation in response to signalling pathways triggered specifically by ATP, nigericin, maitotoxin, S. aureus or L. monocytogenes.

2,789 citations