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Zambon AA, Muntoni F. Congenital muscular dystrophies: What is new? Neuromuscul Disord 2021; 31:931-942. [PMID: 34470717 DOI: 10.1016/j.nmd.2021.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Congenital muscular dystrophies (CMDs) are a group of inherited conditions defined by muscle weakness occurring before the acquisition of ambulation, delayed motor milestones, and characterised by muscle dystrophic pathology. A large number of genes - at least 35- are responsible for CMD phenotypes, and it is therefore not surprising that CMDs comprise a wide spectrum of phenotypes, with variable involvement of cardiac/respiratory muscles, central nervous system, and ocular structures. The identification of several new genes over the past few years has further expanded both the clinical and the molecular spectrum underlying CMDs. Comprehensive gene panels allow to arrive at a final diagnosis in around 60% of cases, suggesting that both new genes, and unusual mutations of the currently known genes are likely to account for the remaining cases. The aim of this review is to present the most recent advances in this field. We will outline recent natural history studies that provide additional information on disease progression, discuss recently discovered genes and the current status of the most promising therapeutic options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto A Zambon
- Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health & Great Ormond Street Hospital, 30 Guilford street, London, United Kingdom; Neuromuscular Repair Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology (InSpe), Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesco Muntoni
- Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health & Great Ormond Street Hospital, 30 Guilford street, London, United Kingdom; NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom.
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Brown SC, Fernandez-Fuente M, Muntoni F, Vissing J. Phenotypic Spectrum of α-Dystroglycanopathies Associated With the c.919T>a Variant in the FKRP Gene in Humans and Mice. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2021; 79:1257-1264. [PMID: 33051673 DOI: 10.1093/jnen/nlaa120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the fukutin-related protein gene, FKRP, are the most frequent single cause of α-dystroglycanopathy. Rare FKRP mutations are clinically not well characterized. Here, we review the phenotype associated with the rare c.919T>A mutation in FKRP in humans and mice. We describe clinical and paraclinical findings in 6 patients, 2 homozygous, and 4-compound heterozygous for c.919T>A, and compare findings with a mouse model we generated, which is homozygous for the same mutation. In patients, the mutation at the homozygous state is associated with a severe congenital muscular dystrophy phenotype invariably characterized by severe multisystem disease and early death. Compound heterozygous patients have a severe limb-girdle muscular dystrophy phenotype, loss of ambulation before age 20 and respiratory insufficiency. In contrast, mice homozygous for the same mutation show no symptoms or signs of muscle disease. Evidence therefore defines the FKRP c.919T>A as a very severe mutation in humans. The huge discrepancy between phenotypes in humans and mice suggests that differences in protein folding/processing exist between human and mouse Fkrp. This emphasizes the need for more detailed structural analyses of FKRP and shows the challenges of developing appropriate animal models of dystroglycanopathies that mimic the disease course in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan C Brown
- Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
| | | | - Francesco Muntoni
- Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health & Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK and National Institute for Health Research Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London
| | - John Vissing
- Copenhagen Neuromuscular Center, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Yatsenko AS, Kucherenko MM, Xie Y, Urlaub H, Shcherbata HR. Exocyst-mediated membrane trafficking of the lissencephaly-associated ECM receptor dystroglycan is required for proper brain compartmentalization. eLife 2021; 10:63868. [PMID: 33620318 PMCID: PMC7929561 DOI: 10.7554/elife.63868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
To assemble a brain, differentiating neurons must make proper connections and establish specialized brain compartments. Abnormal levels of cell adhesion molecules disrupt these processes. Dystroglycan (Dg) is a major non-integrin cell adhesion receptor, deregulation of which is associated with dramatic neuroanatomical defects such as lissencephaly type II or cobblestone brain. The previously established Drosophila model for cobblestone lissencephaly was used to understand how Dg is regulated in the brain. During development, Dg has a spatiotemporally dynamic expression pattern, fine-tuning of which is crucial for accurate brain assembly. In addition, mass spectrometry analyses identified numerous components associated with Dg in neurons, including several proteins of the exocyst complex. Data show that exocyst-based membrane trafficking of Dg allows its distinct expression pattern, essential for proper brain morphogenesis. Further studies of the Dg neuronal interactome will allow identification of new factors involved in the development of dystroglycanopathies and advance disease diagnostics in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andriy S Yatsenko
- Institute of Cell Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Mariya M Kucherenko
- Max Planck Research Group of Gene Expression and Signaling, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Yuanbin Xie
- Max Planck Research Group of Gene Expression and Signaling, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Henning Urlaub
- Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.,University Medical Center Göttingen, Bioanalytics, Institute for Clinical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Halyna R Shcherbata
- Institute of Cell Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.,Max Planck Research Group of Gene Expression and Signaling, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
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Yatsenko AS, Kucherenko MM, Xie Y, Aweida D, Urlaub H, Scheibe RJ, Cohen S, Shcherbata HR. Profiling of the muscle-specific dystroglycan interactome reveals the role of Hippo signaling in muscular dystrophy and age-dependent muscle atrophy. BMC Med 2020; 18:8. [PMID: 31959160 PMCID: PMC6971923 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-019-1478-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dystroglycanopathies are a group of inherited disorders characterized by vast clinical and genetic heterogeneity and caused by abnormal functioning of the ECM receptor dystroglycan (Dg). Remarkably, among many cases of diagnosed dystroglycanopathies, only a small fraction can be linked directly to mutations in Dg or its regulatory enzymes, implying the involvement of other, not-yet-characterized, Dg-regulating factors. To advance disease diagnostics and develop new treatment strategies, new approaches to find dystroglycanopathy-related factors should be considered. The Dg complex is highly evolutionarily conserved; therefore, model genetic organisms provide excellent systems to address this challenge. In particular, Drosophila is amenable to experiments not feasible in any other system, allowing original insights about the functional interactors of the Dg complex. METHODS To identify new players contributing to dystroglycanopathies, we used Drosophila as a genetic muscular dystrophy model. Using mass spectrometry, we searched for muscle-specific Dg interactors. Next, in silico analyses allowed us to determine their association with diseases and pathological conditions in humans. Using immunohistochemical, biochemical, and genetic interaction approaches followed by the detailed analysis of the muscle tissue architecture, we verified Dg interaction with some of the discovered factors. Analyses of mouse muscles and myocytes were used to test if interactions are conserved in vertebrates. RESULTS The muscle-specific Dg complexome revealed novel components that influence the efficiency of Dg function in the muscles. We identified the closest human homologs for Dg-interacting partners, determined their significant enrichment in disease-associations, and verified some of the newly identified Dg interactions. We found that Dg associates with two components of the mechanosignaling Hippo pathway: the WW domain-containing proteins Kibra and Yorkie. Importantly, this conserved interaction manages adult muscle size and integrity. CONCLUSIONS The results presented in this study provide a new list of muscle-specific Dg interactors, further analysis of which could aid not only in the diagnosis of muscular dystrophies, but also in the development of new therapeutics. To regulate muscle fitness during aging and disease, Dg associates with Kibra and Yorkie and acts as a transmembrane Hippo signaling receptor that transmits extracellular information to intracellular signaling cascades, regulating muscle gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andriy S Yatsenko
- Gene Expression and Signaling Group, Institute of Cell Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany
| | - Mariya M Kucherenko
- Max Planck Research Group of Gene Expression and Signaling, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.,Present Address: Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, German Heart Center Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Physiology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Yuanbin Xie
- Max Planck Research Group of Gene Expression and Signaling, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.,Present Address: University Medical Center, Centre for Anatomy, Institute of Neuroanatomy, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Kreuzbergring 36, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dina Aweida
- Faculty of Biology, Technion, 32000, Haifa, Israel
| | - Henning Urlaub
- Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.,Bioanalytics Institute for Clinical Chemistry, University Medical Center Goettingen, Robert Koch Strasse 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Renate J Scheibe
- Gene Expression and Signaling Group, Institute of Cell Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Halyna R Shcherbata
- Gene Expression and Signaling Group, Institute of Cell Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. .,Max Planck Research Group of Gene Expression and Signaling, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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Kim J, Lana B, Torelli S, Ryan D, Catapano F, Ala P, Luft C, Stevens E, Konstantinidis E, Louzada S, Fu B, Paredes‐Redondo A, Chan AWE, Yang F, Stemple DL, Liu P, Ketteler R, Selwood DL, Muntoni F, Lin Y. A new patient-derived iPSC model for dystroglycanopathies validates a compound that increases glycosylation of α-dystroglycan. EMBO Rep 2019; 20:e47967. [PMID: 31566294 PMCID: PMC6832011 DOI: 10.15252/embr.201947967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 08/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Dystroglycan, an extracellular matrix receptor, has essential functions in various tissues. Loss of α-dystroglycan-laminin interaction due to defective glycosylation of α-dystroglycan underlies a group of congenital muscular dystrophies often associated with brain malformations, referred to as dystroglycanopathies. The lack of isogenic human dystroglycanopathy cell models has limited our ability to test potential drugs in a human- and neural-specific context. Here, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from a severe dystroglycanopathy patient with homozygous FKRP (fukutin-related protein gene) mutation. We showed that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene correction of FKRP restored glycosylation of α-dystroglycan in iPSC-derived cortical neurons, whereas targeted gene mutation of FKRP in wild-type cells disrupted this glycosylation. In parallel, we screened 31,954 small molecule compounds using a mouse myoblast line for increased glycosylation of α-dystroglycan. Using human FKRP-iPSC-derived neural cells for hit validation, we demonstrated that compound 4-(4-bromophenyl)-6-ethylsulfanyl-2-oxo-3,4-dihydro-1H-pyridine-5-carbonitrile (4BPPNit) significantly augmented glycosylation of α-dystroglycan, in part through upregulation of LARGE1 glycosyltransferase gene expression. Together, isogenic human iPSC-derived cells represent a valuable platform for facilitating dystroglycanopathy drug discovery and therapeutic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihee Kim
- Centre for Genomics and Child HealthBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
- Stem Cell LaboratoryNational Bowel Research CentreBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
| | - Beatrice Lana
- Centre for Genomics and Child HealthBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
- Stem Cell LaboratoryNational Bowel Research CentreBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
| | - Silvia Torelli
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child HealthLondonUK
| | - David Ryan
- Wellcome Sanger InstituteHinxtonCambridgeUK
| | | | - Pierpaolo Ala
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child HealthLondonUK
| | - Christin Luft
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell BiologyUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | | | - Evangelos Konstantinidis
- Centre for Genomics and Child HealthBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
- Stem Cell LaboratoryNational Bowel Research CentreBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
| | | | - Beiyuan Fu
- Wellcome Sanger InstituteHinxtonCambridgeUK
| | - Amaia Paredes‐Redondo
- Centre for Genomics and Child HealthBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
- Stem Cell LaboratoryNational Bowel Research CentreBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
| | - AW Edith Chan
- The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical ResearchUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | | | | | - Pentao Liu
- Wellcome Sanger InstituteHinxtonCambridgeUK
| | - Robin Ketteler
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell BiologyUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - David L Selwood
- The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical ResearchUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Francesco Muntoni
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child HealthLondonUK
- NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Great Ormond Street HospitalLondonUK
| | - Yung‐Yao Lin
- Centre for Genomics and Child HealthBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
- Stem Cell LaboratoryNational Bowel Research CentreBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
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Cataldi MP, Lu P, Blaeser A, Lu QL. Ribitol restores functionally glycosylated α-dystroglycan and improves muscle function in dystrophic FKRP-mutant mice. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3448. [PMID: 30150693 PMCID: PMC6110760 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05990-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/09/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
O-mannosylated α-dystroglycan (α-DG) serves as receptors for cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion and signaling. Hypoglycosylation of α-DG is involved in cancer progression and underlies dystroglycanopathy with aberrant neuronal development. Here we report that ribitol, a pentose alcohol with previously unknown function in mammalian cells, partially restores functional O-mannosylation of α-DG (F-α-DG) in the dystroglycanopathy model containing a P448L mutation in fukutin-related protein (FKRP) gene, which is clinically associated with severe congenital muscular dystrophy. Oral administration of ribitol increases levels of ribitol-5-phosphate and CDP-ribitol and restores therapeutic levels of F-α-DG in skeletal and cardiac muscles. Furthermore, ribitol, given before and after the onset of disease phenotype, reduces skeletal muscle pathology, significantly decreases cardiac fibrosis and improves skeletal and respiratory functions in the FKRP mutant mice. Ribitol treatment presents a new class, low risk, and easy to administer experimental therapy to restore F-α-DG in FKRP-related muscular dystrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcela P Cataldi
- McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research, Cannon Research Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC, 28203, USA
| | - Peijuan Lu
- McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research, Cannon Research Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC, 28203, USA
| | - Anthony Blaeser
- McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research, Cannon Research Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC, 28203, USA
| | - Qi Long Lu
- McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research, Cannon Research Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC, 28203, USA.
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