Concerted mutation of Phe residues belonging to the ?-dystroglycan ectodomain strongly inhibits the interaction with ?-dystroglycan in�vitro

The enzymatic processing of α-dystroglycan by MMP-2 is controlled by two anchoring sites distinct from the active site

Dystroglycan (DG) is a membrane receptor, belonging to the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) and formed by two subunits, α-dystroglycan (α-DG) and β-dystroglycan (β -DG). The C-terminal domain of α-DG and the N-terminal extracellular domain of β -DG are connected, providing a link between the extracellular matrix and the cytosol. Under pathological conditions, such as cancer and muscular dystrophies, DG may be the target of metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9, contributing to disease progression. Previously, we reported that the C-terminal domain α-DG (483–628) domain is particularly susceptible to the catalytic activity of MMP-2; here we show that the α-DG 621–628 region is required to carry out its complete digestion, suggesting that this portion may represent a MMP-2 anchoring site. Following this observation, we synthesized an α-DG based-peptide, spanning the (613–651) C-terminal region. The analysis of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the whole and the isolated catalytic domain of MMP-2 (cdMMP-2) has shown its inhibitory properties, indicating the presence of (at least) two binding sites for the peptide, both located within the catalytic domain, only one of the two being topologically distinct from the catalytic active groove. However, the different behavior between whole MMP-2 and cdMMP-2 envisages the occurrence of an additional binding site for the peptide on the hemopexin-like domain of MMP-2. Interestingly, mass spectrometry analysis has shown that α-DG (613–651) peptide is cleavable even though it is a very poor substrate of MMP-2, a feature that renders this molecule a promising template for developing a selective MMP-2 inhibitor.

Probing the stability of the "naked" mucin-like domain of human α-dystroglycan

Background

α-Dystroglycan (α-DG) is heavily glycosylated within its central mucin-like domain. The glycosylation shell of α-dystroglycan is known to largely influence its functional properties toward extracellular ligands. The structural features of this α-dystroglycan domain have been poorly studied so far. For the first time, we have attempted a recombinant expression approach in E. coli cells, in order to analyze by biochemical and biophysical techniques this important domain of the α-dystroglycan core protein.

Results

We expressed the recombinant mucin-like domain of human α-dystroglycan in E. coli cells, and purified it as a soluble peptide of 174 aa. A cleavage event, that progressively emerges under repeated cycles of freeze/thaw, occurs at the carboxy side of Arg461, liberating a 151 aa fragment as revealed by mass spectrometry analysis. The mucin-like peptide lacks any particular fold, as confirmed by its hydrodynamic properties and its fluorescence behavior under guanidine hydrochloride denaturation. Dynamic light scattering has been used to demonstrate that this mucin-like peptide is arranged in a conformation that is prone to aggregation at room temperature, with a melting temperature of ~40°C, which indicates a pronounced instability. Such a conclusion has been corroborated by trypsin limited proteolysis, upon which the protein has been fully degraded in less than 60 min.

Conclusions

Our analysis indirectly confirms the idea that the mucin-like domain of α-dystroglycan needs to be extensively glycosylated in order to reach a stable conformation. The absence/reduction of glycosylation by itself may greatly reduce the stability of the dystroglycan complex. Although an altered pattern of α-dystroglycan O-mannosylation, that is not significantly changing its overall glycosylation fraction, represents the primary molecular clue behind currently known dystroglycanopathies, it cannot be ruled out that still unidentified forms of αDG-related dystrophy might originate by a more substantial reduction of α-dystroglycan glycosylation and by its consequent destabilization.

Dystroglycan is associated to the disulfide isomerase ERp57

Dystroglycan (DG) is an extracellular receptor composed of two subunits, α-DG and β-DG, connected through the α-DG C-terminal domain and the β-DG N-terminal domain. We report an alanine scanning of all DG cysteine residues performed on DG-GFP constructs overexpressed in 293-Ebna cells, demonstrating that Cys-669 and Cys-713, both located within the β-DG N-terminal domain, are key residues for the DG precursor cleavage and trafficking, but not for the interaction between the two DG subunits. In addition, we have used immunprecipitation and confocal microscopy showing that ERp57, a member of the disulfide isomerase family involved in glycoprotein folding, is associated and colocalizes immunohistochemically with β-DG in the ER and at the plasma membrane of 293-Ebna cells. The β-DG–ERp57 complex also included α-DG. DG mutants, unable to undergo the precursor cleavage, were still associated to ERp57. β-DG and ERp57 were also co-immunoprecipitated in rat heart and kidney tissues. In vitro, a mutant ERp57, mimicking the reduced form of the wild-type protein, interacts directly with the recombinant N-terminal domain of both α-DG and β-DG with apparent dissociation constant values in the micromolar range. ERp57 is likely to be involved in the DG processing/maturation pathway, but its association to the mature DG complex might also suggest some further functional role that needs to be investigated.

A second Ig-like domain identified in dystroglycan by molecular modelling and dynamics

Dystroglycan (DG) is a cell surface receptor which is composed of two subunits that interact noncovalently, namely α- and β-DG. In skeletal muscle, DG is the central component of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) that anchors the actin cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix. To date only the three-dimensional structure of the N-terminal region of α-DG has been solved by X-ray crystallography. To expand such a structural analysis, a theoretical molecular model of the murine α-DG C-terminal region was built based on folding recognition/threading techniques. Although there is no a significant (<30%) sequence homology with the N-terminal region of α-DG, protein fold recognition methods found a significant resemblance to the α-DG N-terminal crystallographic structure. Our in silico structural prediction identified two subdomains in this region. Amino acid residues ∼ 500-600 of α-DG were predicted to adopt an immunoglobulin-like (Ig-like) β-sandwich fold. Such modeled domain includes the β-DG binding epitope of α-DG and, confirming our previous experimental results, suggests that the linear epitope (residues 550-565) assumes a β-strand conformation. The remaining segment of the α-DG C-terminal region (residues 601-653) is organized in a coil-helix-coil motif. A 20-ns molecular dynamics simulation in explicit water solvent provided support to the predicted Ig-like model structure. The identification of a second Ig-like domain in DG represents another important step towards a full structural and functional description of the α/β DG interface. Preliminary characterization of a novel recombinant peptide (505-600) encompassing this second Ig-like domain demonstrates that it is soluble and stable, further corroborating our in silico analysis.

Mutagenesis at the alpha-beta interface impairs the cleavage of the dystroglycan precursor

The interaction between a-dystroglycan (alpha-DG) and beta-dystroglycan (beta-DG), the two constituent subunits of the adhesion complex dystroglycan, is crucial in maintaining the integrity of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. The importance of the alpha-beta interface can be seen in the skeletal muscle of humans affected by severe conditions, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, where the alpha-beta interaction can be secondarily weakened or completely lost, causing sarcolemmal instability and muscular necrosis. The reciprocal binding epitopes of the two subunits reside within the C-terminus of alpha-DG and the ectodomain of beta-DG. As no ultimate structural data are yet available on the alpha-beta interface, site-directed mutagenesis was used to identify which specific amino acids are involved in the interaction. A previous alanine-scanning analysis of the recombinant beta-DG ectodomain allowed the identification of two phenylalanines important for alpha-DG binding, namely F692 and F718. In this article, similar experiments performed on the alpha-DG C-terminal domain pinpointed two residues, G563 and P565, as possible binding counterparts of the two beta-DG phenylalanines. In 293-Ebna cells, the introduction of alanine residues instead of F692, F718, G563 and P565 prevented the cleavage of the DG precursor that liberates alpha- and beta-DG, generating a pre-DG of about 160 kDa. This uncleaved pre-DG tetramutant is properly targeted at the cell membrane, is partially glycosylated and still binds laminin in pull-down assays. These data reinforce the notion that DG processing and its membrane targeting are two independent processes, and shed new light on the molecular mechanism that drives the maturation of the DG precursor.

Dystroglycan: a possible mediator for reducing congenital muscular dystrophy?

Alpha-dystroglycan is a highly glycosylated peripheral protein forming a complex with the membrane-spanning beta-dystroglycan and establishing a connection between the extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton. In skeletal muscle, as part of the larger dystrophin-glycoprotein complex, dystroglycan is believed to be essential for maintaining the structural and functional stability of muscle fibers. Recent work highlights the role of abnormal dystroglycan glycosylation at the basis of glycosyltransferase-deficient congenital muscular dystrophies. Notably, modulation of glycosyltransferase activity can restore alpha-dystroglycan receptor function in these disorders. Moreover, transgenic approaches favoring the interaction between dystroglycan and the extracellular matrix molecules also represent an innovative way to restore skeletal muscle structure. These pioneering approaches might comprise an important first step towards the design of gene-transfer-based strategies for the rescue of congenital muscular dystrophies involving dystroglycan.

Duplication of the dystroglycan gene in most branches of teleost fish

Background

The dystroglycan (DG) complex is a major non-integrin cell adhesion system whose multiple biological roles involve, among others, skeletal muscle stability, embryonic development and synapse maturation. DG is composed of two subunits: α-DG, extracellular and highly glycosylated, and the transmembrane β-DG, linking the cytoskeleton to the surrounding basement membrane in a wide variety of tissues. A single copy of the DG gene (DAG1) has been identified so far in humans and other mammals, encoding for a precursor protein which is post-translationally cleaved to liberate the two DG subunits. Similarly, D. rerio (zebrafish) seems to have a single copy of DAG1, whose removal was shown to cause a severe dystrophic phenotype in adult animals, although it is known that during evolution, due to a whole genome duplication (WGD) event, many teleost fish acquired multiple copies of several genes (paralogues).

Results

Data mining of pufferfish (T. nigroviridis and T. rubripes) and other teleost fish (O. latipes and G. aculeatus) available nucleotide sequences revealed the presence of two functional paralogous DG sequences. RT-PCR analysis proved that both the DG sequences are transcribed in T. nigroviridis. One of the two DG sequences harbours an additional mini-intronic sequence, 137 bp long, interrupting the uncomplicated exon-intron-exon pattern displayed by DAG1 in mammals and D. rerio. A similar scenario emerged also in D. labrax (sea bass), from whose genome we have cloned and sequenced a new DG sequence that also harbours a shorter additional intronic sequence of 116 bp. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of DG protein products in all the species analysed including two teleost Antarctic species (T. bernacchii and C. hamatus).

Conclusion

Our evolutionary analysis has shown that the whole-genome duplication event in the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) involved also DAG1. We unravelled new important molecular genetic details about fish orthologous DGs, which might help to increase the current knowledge on DG expression, maturation and targeting and on its physiopathological role in higher organisms.

Genetic analysis of the dystroglycan gene in bronchopulmonary dysplasia affected premature newborns

BACKGROUND

Dystroglycan (DG) is an extracellular matrix receptor that serves as an adhesion molecule and is essential for the stability of the plasma membrane. DG is highly expressed within the epithelial cell layer where it supports morphogenesis, adhesion and wound repair. Mechanically ventilated newborns often develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), characterized by a progressive impairment of wound repair capacity in their lung.

METHODS

To verify if the susceptibility to BPD might be linked to genetic abnormalities in the DG gene (DAG1), we searched for possible mutations in 33 premature newborns with gestational age<34 weeks with risk of developing BPD. DAG1 genotype was determined in 11 premature newborns with BPD as compared to 22 premature infants without lung complications.

RESULTS

Eight polymorphisms were found, four of them being new DAG1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Only one significant association was found with BPD positive infants: the N494H homozygous genotype (p=0.033). The same polymorphism was found significantly associated with BPD when allelic frequencies were considered (p=0.0015).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data enrich the list of DAG1 SNPs and could be useful to trigger further genetic studies about the involvement of DG in human diseases.