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Molecular Therapy. Nucleic Acids Jun 2024Dystrophic cardiomyopathy is a significant feature of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Increased cardiomyocyte cytosolic calcium (Ca) and interstitial fibrosis are...
Dystrophic cardiomyopathy is a significant feature of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Increased cardiomyocyte cytosolic calcium (Ca) and interstitial fibrosis are major pathophysiological hallmarks that ultimately result in cardiac dysfunction. MicroRNA-25 (miR-25) has been identified as a suppressor of both sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2a (SERCA2a) and mothers against decapentaplegic homolog-7 (Smad7) proteins. In this study, we created a gene transfer using an miR-25 tough decoy (TuD) RNA inhibitor delivered via recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9) to evaluate the effect of miR-25 inhibition on cardiac and skeletal muscle function in aged dystrophin/utrophin haploinsufficient mice (), a validated transgenic murine model of DMD. We found that the intravenous delivery of AAV9 miR-25 TuD resulted in strong and stable inhibition of cardiac miR-25 levels, together with the restoration of SERCA2a and Smad7 expression. This was associated with the amelioration of cardiomyocyte interstitial fibrosis as well as recovered cardiac function. Furthermore, the direct quadricep intramuscular injection of AAV9 miR-25 TuD significantly restored skeletal muscle Smad7 expression, reduced tissue fibrosis, and enhanced skeletal muscle performance in (+/-) mice. These results imply that miR-25 TuD gene transfer may be a novel therapeutic approach to restore cardiomyocyte Ca homeostasis and abrogate tissue fibrosis in DMD.
PubMed: 38584818
DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2024.102174 -
Matrix Biology : Journal of the... May 2024Extracellular matrix (ECM) pathologic remodeling underlies many disorders, including muscular dystrophy. Tissue decellularization removes cellular components while...
The extracellular matrix differentially directs myoblast motility and differentiation in distinct forms of muscular dystrophy: Dystrophic matrices alter myoblast motility.
Extracellular matrix (ECM) pathologic remodeling underlies many disorders, including muscular dystrophy. Tissue decellularization removes cellular components while leaving behind ECM components. We generated "on-slide" decellularized tissue slices from genetically distinct dystrophic mouse models. The ECM of dystrophin- and sarcoglycan-deficient muscles had marked thrombospondin 4 deposition, while dysferlin-deficient muscle had excess decorin. Annexins A2 and A6 were present on all dystrophic decellularized ECMs, but annexin matrix deposition was excessive in dysferlin-deficient muscular dystrophy. Muscle-directed viral expression of annexin A6 resulted in annexin A6 in the ECM. C2C12 myoblasts seeded onto decellularized matrices displayed differential myoblast mobility and fusion. Dystrophin-deficient decellularized matrices inhibited myoblast mobility, while dysferlin-deficient decellularized matrices enhanced myoblast movement and differentiation. Myoblasts treated with recombinant annexin A6 increased mobility and fusion like that seen on dysferlin-deficient decellularized matrix and demonstrated upregulation of ECM and muscle cell differentiation genes. These findings demonstrate specific fibrotic signatures elicit effects on myoblast activity.
Topics: Animals; Myoblasts; Extracellular Matrix; Mice; Cell Differentiation; Sarcoglycans; Cell Movement; Dysferlin; Muscular Dystrophies; Dystrophin; Annexin A2; Decorin; Cell Line; Disease Models, Animal; Muscle, Skeletal
PubMed: 38582404
DOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2024.04.001 -
European Journal of Cell Biology Jun 2024Neuromuscular junctions transmit signals from the nervous system to skeletal muscles, triggering their contraction, and their proper organization is essential for...
Neuromuscular junctions transmit signals from the nervous system to skeletal muscles, triggering their contraction, and their proper organization is essential for breathing and voluntary movements. αDystrobrevin-1 is a cytoplasmic component of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex and has pivotal functions in regulating the integrity of muscle fibers and neuromuscular junctions. Previous studies identified that αDystrobrevin-1 functions in the organization of the neuromuscular junction and that its phosphorylation in the C-terminus is required in this process. Our proteomic screen identified several putative αDystrobrevin-1 interactors recruited to the Y730 site in phosphorylated and unphosphorylated states. Amongst various actin-modulating proteins, we identified the Arp2/3 complex regulator cortactin. We showed that similarly to αDystrobrevin-1, cortactin is strongly enriched at the neuromuscular postsynaptic machinery and obtained results suggesting that these two proteins interact in cell homogenates and at the neuromuscular junctions. Analysis of synaptic morphology in cortactin knockout mice showed abnormalities in the slow-twitching soleus muscle and not in the fast-twitching tibialis anterior. However, muscle strength examination did not reveal apparent deficits in knockout animals.
Topics: Animals; Neuromuscular Junction; Cortactin; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Dystrophin-Associated Proteins; Muscle, Skeletal; Humans; Phosphorylation
PubMed: 38579603
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2024.151409 -
Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases Apr 2024Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disease in which lack of the dystrophin protein causes progressive muscular weakness, cardiomyopathy and respiratory...
BACKGROUND
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disease in which lack of the dystrophin protein causes progressive muscular weakness, cardiomyopathy and respiratory insufficiency. DMD is often associated with other cognitive and behavioral impairments, however the correlation of abnormal dystrophin expression in the central nervous system with brain structure and functioning remains still unclear.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate brain involvement in patients with DMD through a multimodal and multivariate approach accounting for potential comorbidities.
METHODS
We acquired T1-weighted and Diffusion Tensor Imaging data from 18 patients with DMD and 18 age- and sex-matched controls with similar cognitive and behavioral profiles. Cortical thickness, structure volume, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity measures were used in a multivariate analysis performed using a Support Vector Machine classifier accounting for potential comorbidities in patients and controls.
RESULTS
the classification experiment significantly discriminates between the two populations (97.2% accuracy) and the forward model weights showed that DMD mostly affects the microstructural integrity of long fiber bundles, in particular in the cerebellar peduncles (bilaterally), in the posterior thalamic radiation (bilaterally), in the fornix and in the medial lemniscus (bilaterally). We also reported a reduced cortical thickness, mainly in the motor cortex, cingulate cortex, hippocampal area and insula.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study identified a small pattern of alterations in the CNS likely associated with the DMD diagnosis.
PubMed: 38578898
DOI: 10.3233/JND-230075 -
Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and... Jun 2024Glycative stress, characterized by the formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) associated with protein glycation reactions, has been...
BACKGROUND
Glycative stress, characterized by the formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) associated with protein glycation reactions, has been implicated in inducing a decline of muscle function. Although the inverse correlation between glycative stress and muscle mass and strength has been demonstrated, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. This study aimed to elucidate how glycative stress affects the skeletal muscle, particularly the adaptive muscle response to hypertrophic stimuli and its molecular mechanism.
METHODS
Male C57BL/6NCr mice were randomly divided into the following two groups: the bovine serum albumin (BSA)-treated and AGE-treated groups. Mice in the AGE-treated group were intraperitoneally administered AGEs (0.5 mg/g) once daily, whereas those in the BSA-treated group received an equal amount of BSA (0.5 mg/g) as the vehicle control. After 7 days of continuous administration, the right leg plantaris muscle of mice in each group underwent functional overload treatment by synergist ablation for 7 days to induce muscle hypertrophy. In in vitro studies, cultured C2C12 myocytes were treated with AGEs (1 mg/mL) to examine cell adhesion and cell membrane permeability.
RESULTS
Continuous AGE administration increased the levels of fluorescent AGEs, Nε-(carboxymethyl) lysine, and methylglyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone-1 in both plasma and skeletal muscle. Plantaris muscle weight, muscle fibre cross-sectional area, protein synthesis rate, and the number of myonuclei increased with functional overload in both groups; however, the increase was significantly reduced by AGE treatment. Some muscles of AGE-treated mice were destroyed by functional overload. Proteomic analysis was performed to explore the mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy suppression and myofibre destruction by AGEs. When principal component analysis was performed on 4659 data obtained by proteomic analysis, AGE treatment was observed to affect protein expression only in functionally overloaded muscles. Enrichment analysis of the 436 proteins extracted using the K-means method further identified a group of proteins involved in cell adhesion. Consistent with this finding, dystrophin-glycoprotein complex proteins and cell adhesion-related proteins were confirmed to increase with functional overload; however, this was attenuated by AGE treatment. Additionally, the treatment of C2C12 muscle cells with AGEs inhibited their ability to adhere and increased cell membrane permeability.
CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that glycative stress may be a novel pathogenic factor in skeletal muscle dysfunctions by causing loss of membrane integrity and preventing muscle mass gain.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Muscle, Skeletal; Glycation End Products, Advanced; Hypertrophy; Cell Membrane; Male; Disease Models, Animal
PubMed: 38575520
DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.13444 -
Molecular Therapy. Nucleic Acids Jun 2024Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most prevalent herediatry disease in men, characterized by dystrophin deficiency, progressive muscle wasting, cardiac...
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most prevalent herediatry disease in men, characterized by dystrophin deficiency, progressive muscle wasting, cardiac insufficiency, and premature mortality, with no effective therapeutic options. Here, we investigated whether adenine base editing can correct pathological nonsense point mutations leading to premature stop codons in the dystrophin gene. We identified 27 causative nonsense mutations in our DMD patient cohort. Treatment with adenine base editor (ABE) could restore dystrophin expression by direct A-to-G editing of pathological nonsense mutations in cardiomyocytes generated from DMD patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells. We also generated two humanized mouse models of DMD expressing mutation-bearing exons 23 or 30 of human dystrophin gene. Intramuscular administration of ABE, driven by ubiquitous or muscle-specific promoters could correct these nonsense mutations , albeit with higher efficiency in exon 30, restoring dystrophin expression in skeletal fibers of humanized DMD mice. Moreover, a single systemic delivery of ABE with human single guide RNA (sgRNA) could induce body-wide dystrophin expression and improve muscle function in rotarod tests of humanized DMD mice. These findings demonstrate that ABE with human sgRNAs can confer therapeutic alleviation of DMD in mice, providing a basis for development of adenine base editing therapies in monogenic diseases.
PubMed: 38571746
DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2024.102165 -
JCI Insight Apr 2024Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle-wasting disease associated with cardiomyopathy. DMD cardiomyopathy is characterized by abnormal intracellular...
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle-wasting disease associated with cardiomyopathy. DMD cardiomyopathy is characterized by abnormal intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and mitochondrial dysfunction. We used dystrophin and utrophin double-knockout (mdx:utrn-/-) mice in a sarcolipin (SLN) heterozygous-knockout (sln+/-) background to examine the effect of SLN reduction on mitochondrial function in the dystrophic myocardium. Germline reduction of SLN expression in mdx:utrn-/- mice improved cardiac sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ cycling, reduced cardiac fibrosis, and improved cardiac function. At the cellular level, reducing SLN expression prevented mitochondrial Ca2+ overload, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential loss, and improved mitochondrial function. Transmission electron microscopy of myocardial tissues and proteomic analysis of mitochondria-associated membranes showed that reducing SLN expression improved mitochondrial structure and SR-mitochondria interactions in dystrophic cardiomyocytes. These findings indicate that SLN upregulation plays a substantial role in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy and that reducing SLN expression has clinical implications in the treatment of DMD cardiomyopathy.
Topics: Animals; Male; Mice; Calcium; Cardiomyopathies; Disease Models, Animal; Dystrophin; Mice, Inbred mdx; Mice, Knockout; Mitochondria, Heart; Muscle Proteins; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne; Myocardium; Myocytes, Cardiac; Proteolipids; Utrophin
PubMed: 38564291
DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.170185 -
Cureus Feb 2024Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is an underrecognized condition with a myriad of etiologies, but it is often labeled idiopathic. However, genetic mutations are emerging as...
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is an underrecognized condition with a myriad of etiologies, but it is often labeled idiopathic. However, genetic mutations are emerging as a more common cause of idiopathic DCM than previously believed. Herein, we present a case of a previously healthy 45-year-old woman who presented with three weeks of exertional dyspnea and orthopnea. An echocardiogram showed DCM with severely reduced systolic function and diastolic dysfunction. She was extensively worked up for potential etiologies of her heart failure which included HIV testing, parasite smear, viral serologies, autoimmune testing, cardiac MRI for infiltrative diseases, and coronary catheterization. She was ultimately tested for genetic mutations which revealed a 49-51 exon deletion of the dystrophin (Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)) gene. This case highlights the guideline-based evaluation and management of new-onset heart failure in a healthy 45-year-old female without known predisposing risk factors or family history. It also sheds light on the expansive genetic etiologies that have only recently been identified in those with idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Further research is crucial to improve our understanding of genetic associations of cardiomyopathy.
PubMed: 38562263
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.55170 -
International Heart Journal 2024Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an intractable X-linked myopathy caused by dystrophin gene mutations. Patients with DMD suffer from progressive muscle weakness,...
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an intractable X-linked myopathy caused by dystrophin gene mutations. Patients with DMD suffer from progressive muscle weakness, inevitable cardiomyopathy, increased heart rate (HR), and decreased blood pressure (BP). The aim of this study was to clarify the efficacy and tolerability of ivabradine treatment for DMD cardiomyopathy.A retrospective analysis was performed in 11 patients with DMD, who received ivabradine treatment for more than 1 year. Clinical results were analyzed before (baseline), 6 months after, and 12 months after the ivabradine administration.The initial ivabradine dose was 2.0 ± 1.2 mg/day and the final dose was 5.6 ± 4.0 mg/day. The baseline BP was 95/64 mmHg. A non-significant BP decrease to 90/57 mmHg was observed at 1 month but it recovered to 97/62 mmHg at 12 months after ivabradine administration. The baseline HR was 93 ± 6 bpm and it decreased to 74 ± 12 bpm at 6 months (P = 0.011), and to 77 ± 10 bpm at 12 months (P = 0.008). A linear correlation (y = 2.2x + 5.1) was also observed between the ivabradine dose (x mg/day) and HR decrease (y bpm). The baseline LVEF was 38 ± 12% and it significantly increased to 42 ± 9% at 6 months (P = 0.011) and to 41 ± 11% at 12 months (P = 0.038). Only 1 patient with the lowest BMI of 11.0 kg/m and BP of 79/58 mmHg discontinued ivabradine treatment at 6 months, while 1-year administration was well-tolerated in the other 10 patients.Ivabradine decreased HR and increased LVEF without lowering BP, suggesting it can be a treatment option for DMD cardiomyopathy.
Topics: Humans; Ivabradine; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne; Retrospective Studies; Cardiomyopathies; Dystrophin
PubMed: 38556332
DOI: 10.1536/ihj.23-563 -
Heliyon Mar 2024Most pathogenic variants are detectable and interpretable by standard genetic testing for dystrophinopthies. However, approximately 1∼3% of dystrophinopthies patients...
Most pathogenic variants are detectable and interpretable by standard genetic testing for dystrophinopthies. However, approximately 1∼3% of dystrophinopthies patients still do not have a detectable variant after standard genetic testing, most likely due to structural chromosome rearrangements and/or deep intronic pseudoexon-activating variants. Here, we report on a boy with a suspected diagnosis of Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) who remained without a detectable variant after exonic DNA-based standard genetic testing. mRNA studies and genomic Sanger sequencing were performed in the boy, followed by splicing analyses. We successfully detected a novel deep intronic disease-causing variant in the gene (c.2380 + 3317A > T), which consequently resulting in a new pseudoexon activation through the enhancement of a cryptic donor splice site. The patient was therefore genetically diagnosed with BMD. Our case report further emphasizes the significant role of disease-causing splicing variants within deep intronic regions in genetically undiagnosed dystrophinopathies.
PubMed: 38545205
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28020