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Rajasingham T, Rodriguez HM, Betz A, Sproule DM, Sinha U. Validation of a novel western blot assay to monitor patterns and levels of alpha dystroglycan in skeletal muscle of patients with limb girdle muscular dystrophies. J Muscle Res Cell Motil 2024:10.1007/s10974-024-09670-y. [PMID: 38635147 DOI: 10.1007/s10974-024-09670-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
The cell membrane protein, dystroglycan, plays a crucial role in connecting the cytoskeleton of a variety of mammalian cells to the extracellular matrix. The α-subunit of dystroglycan (αDG) is characterized by a high level of glycosylation, including a unique O-mannosyl matriglycan. This specific glycosylation is essential for binding of αDG to extracellular matrix ligands effectively. A subset of muscular dystrophies, called dystroglycanopathies, are associated with aberrant, dysfunctional glycosylation of αDG. This defect prevents myocytes from attaching to the basal membrane, leading to contraction-induced injury. Here, we describe a novel Western blot (WB) assay for determining levels of αDG glycosylation in skeletal muscle tissue. The assay described involves extracting proteins from fine needle tibialis anterior (TA) biopsies and separation using SDS-PAGE followed by WB. Glycosylated and core αDG are then detected in a multiplexed format using fluorescent antibodies. A practical application of this assay is demonstrated with samples from normal donors and patients diagnosed with LGMD2I/R9. Quantitative analysis of the WB, which employed the use of a normal TA derived calibration curve, revealed significantly reduced levels of αDG in patient biopsies relative to unaffected TA. Importantly, the assay was able to distinguish between the L276I homozygous patients and a more severe form of clinical disease observed with other FKRP variants. Data demonstrating the accuracy and reliability of the assay are also presented, which further supports the potential utility of this novel assay to monitor changes in ⍺DG of TA muscle biopsies in the evaluation of potential therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thulashitha Rajasingham
- Department of Preclinical/Clinical Pharmacology, ML Bio Solutions, a BridgeBio company, Palo Alto, USA.
| | - Hector M Rodriguez
- Department of Preclinical/Clinical Pharmacology, ML Bio Solutions, a BridgeBio company, Palo Alto, USA
| | - Andreas Betz
- Department of Preclinical/Clinical Pharmacology, ML Bio Solutions, a BridgeBio company, Palo Alto, USA
| | - Douglas M Sproule
- Department of Clinical Development, ML Bio Solutions, a BridgeBio company, Palo Alto, USA
| | - Uma Sinha
- Department of Preclinical/Clinical Pharmacology, ML Bio Solutions, a BridgeBio company, Palo Alto, USA
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Ross L, McKelvie P, Reardon K, Wong H, Wicks I, Day J. Muscle biopsy practices in the evaluation of neuromuscular disease: A systematic literature review. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2023; 49:e12888. [PMID: 36734037 PMCID: PMC10946625 DOI: 10.1111/nan.12888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
AIMS Muscle biopsy techniques range from needle muscle biopsy (NMB) and conchotome biopsy to open surgical biopsy. It is unknown whether specific biopsy techniques offer superior diagnostic yield or differ in procedural complication rates. Therefore, we aimed to compare the diagnostic utility of NMB, conchotome and open muscle biopsies in the assessment of neuromuscular disorders. METHODS A systematic literature review of the EMBASE and Medline (Ovid) databases was performed to identify original, full-length research articles that described the muscle biopsy technique used to diagnose neuromuscular disease in both adult and paediatric patient populations. Studies of any design, excluding case reports, were eligible for inclusion. Data pertaining to biopsy technique, biopsy yield and procedural complications were extracted. RESULTS Sixty-four studies reporting the yield of a specific muscle biopsy technique and, or procedural complications were identified. Open surgical biopsies provided a larger tissue sample than any type of percutaneous muscle biopsy. Where anaesthetic details were reported, general anaesthesia was required in 60% of studies that reported open surgical biopsies. Percutaneous biopsies were most commonly performed under local anaesthesia and despite the smaller tissue yield, moderate- to large-gauge needle and conchotome muscle biopsies had an equivalent diagnostic utility to that of open surgical muscle biopsy. All types of muscle biopsy procedures were well tolerated with few adverse events and no scarring complications were reported with percutaneous sampling. CONCLUSIONS When a histological diagnosis of myopathy is required, moderate- to large-gauge NMB and the conchotome technique appear to have an equivalent diagnostic yield to that of an open surgical biopsy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Ross
- Department of RheumatologySt Vincent's Hospital MelbourneFitzroyVictoriaAustralia
- Department of MedicineThe University of Melbourne at St Vincent's HospitalFitzroyVictoriaAustralia
| | - Penny McKelvie
- Department of Anatomical PathologySt Vincent's Hospital MelbourneFitzroyVictoriaAustralia
| | - Katrina Reardon
- Department of NeurologySt Vincent's Hospital MelbourneFitzroyVictoriaAustralia
| | - Huon Wong
- Inflammation DivisionWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical ResearchParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Ian Wicks
- Inflammation DivisionWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical ResearchParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Department of RheumatologyRoyal Melbourne HospitalParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Medical BiologyUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Jessica Day
- Inflammation DivisionWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical ResearchParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Department of RheumatologyRoyal Melbourne HospitalParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Medical BiologyUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
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Morales F, Corrales E, Vásquez M, Zhang B, Fernández H, Alvarado F, Cortés S, Santamaría-Ulloa C, Initiative-Mmdbdi MMDBD, Krahe R, Monckton DG. Individual-specific levels of CTG•CAG somatic instability are shared across multiple tissues in myotonic dystrophy type 1. Hum Mol Genet 2023; 32:621-631. [PMID: 36099027 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is a complex disease caused by a genetically unstable CTG repeat expansion in the 3'-untranslated region of the DMPK gene. Age-dependent, tissue-specific somatic instability has confounded genotype-phenotype associations, but growing evidence suggests that it also contributes directly toward disease progression. Using a well-characterized clinical cohort of DM1 patients from Costa Rica, we quantified somatic instability in blood, buccal cells, skin and skeletal muscle. Whilst skeletal muscle showed the largest expansions, modal allele lengths in skin were also very large and frequently exceeded 2000 CTG repeats. Similarly, the degree of somatic expansion in blood, muscle and skin were associated with each other. Notably, we found that the degree of somatic expansion in skin was highly predictive of that in skeletal muscle. More importantly, we established that individuals whose repeat expanded more rapidly than expected in one tissue (after correction for progenitor allele length and age) also expanded more rapidly than expected in other tissues. We also provide evidence suggesting that individuals in whom the repeat expanded more rapidly than expected in skeletal muscle have an earlier age at onset than expected (after correction for the progenitor allele length). Pyrosequencing analyses of the genomic DNA flanking the CTG repeat revealed that the degree of methylation in muscle was well predicted by the muscle modal allele length and age, but that neither methylation of the flanking DNA nor levels of DMPK sense and anti-sense transcripts could obviously explain individual- or tissue-specific patterns of somatic instability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Morales
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA), Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 2060, Costa Rica
| | - Eyleen Corrales
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA), Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 2060, Costa Rica
| | - Melissa Vásquez
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA), Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 2060, Costa Rica
| | - Baili Zhang
- Department of Genetics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA
| | - Huberth Fernández
- Hospital Calderón Guardia/Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 2060, Costa Rica
| | - Fernando Alvarado
- Hospital Calderón Guardia/Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 2060, Costa Rica
| | - Sergio Cortés
- Hospital Calderón Guardia/Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 2060, Costa Rica
| | | | | | - Ralf Krahe
- Department of Genetics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA
| | - Darren G Monckton
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
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Ballester-Lopez A, Koehorst E, Linares-Pardo I, Núñez-Manchón J, Almendrote M, Lucente G, Arbex A, Alonso CP, Lucia A, Monckton DG, Cumming SA, Pintos-Morell G, Coll-Cantí J, Ramos-Fransi A, Martínez-Piñeiro A, Nogales-Gadea G. Preliminary Findings on CTG Expansion Determination in Different Tissues from Patients with Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11111321. [PMID: 33171734 PMCID: PMC7695006 DOI: 10.3390/genes11111321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is characterized by a high genetic and clinical variability. Determination of the genetic variability in DM1 might help to determine whether there is an association between CTG (Cytosine-Thymine-Guanine) expansion and the clinical manifestations of this condition. We studied the variability of the CTG expansion (progenitor, mode, and longest allele, respectively, and genetic instability) in three tissues (blood, muscle, and tissue) from eight patients with DM1. We also studied the association of genetic data with the patients’ clinical characteristics. Although genetic instability was confirmed in all the tissues that we studied, our results suggest that CTG expansion is larger in muscle and skin cells compared with peripheral blood leukocytes. While keeping in mind that more research is needed in larger cohorts, we have provided preliminary evidence suggesting that the estimated progenitor CTG size in muscle could be potentially used as an indicator of age of disease onset and muscle function impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfonsina Ballester-Lopez
- Neuromuscular and Neuropediatric Research Group, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Campus Can Ruti, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (A.B.-L.); (E.K.); (I.L.-P.); (J.N.-M.)
- Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain;
| | - Emma Koehorst
- Neuromuscular and Neuropediatric Research Group, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Campus Can Ruti, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (A.B.-L.); (E.K.); (I.L.-P.); (J.N.-M.)
| | - Ian Linares-Pardo
- Neuromuscular and Neuropediatric Research Group, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Campus Can Ruti, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (A.B.-L.); (E.K.); (I.L.-P.); (J.N.-M.)
| | - Judit Núñez-Manchón
- Neuromuscular and Neuropediatric Research Group, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Campus Can Ruti, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (A.B.-L.); (E.K.); (I.L.-P.); (J.N.-M.)
| | - Miriam Almendrote
- Neuromuscular Pathology Unit, Neurology Service, Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (M.A.); (G.L.); (A.A.); (J.C.-C.); (A.R.-F.); (A.M.-P.)
| | - Giuseppe Lucente
- Neuromuscular Pathology Unit, Neurology Service, Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (M.A.); (G.L.); (A.A.); (J.C.-C.); (A.R.-F.); (A.M.-P.)
| | - Andrea Arbex
- Neuromuscular Pathology Unit, Neurology Service, Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (M.A.); (G.L.); (A.A.); (J.C.-C.); (A.R.-F.); (A.M.-P.)
| | - Carles Puente Alonso
- Servei de Cirugia Ortopèdica i Traumatologia, Unitat de mà i nervi Perifèric, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain;
| | - Alejandro Lucia
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad física y el Deporte, Universidad Europea, 28670 Madrid, Spain;
- Instituto de Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre (i+12), 28041 Madrid, Spain
| | - Darren G. Monckton
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G126QQ, UK; (D.G.M.); (S.A.C.)
| | - Sarah A. Cumming
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G126QQ, UK; (D.G.M.); (S.A.C.)
| | - Guillem Pintos-Morell
- Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain;
- Division of Rare Diseases, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jaume Coll-Cantí
- Neuromuscular Pathology Unit, Neurology Service, Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (M.A.); (G.L.); (A.A.); (J.C.-C.); (A.R.-F.); (A.M.-P.)
| | - Alba Ramos-Fransi
- Neuromuscular Pathology Unit, Neurology Service, Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (M.A.); (G.L.); (A.A.); (J.C.-C.); (A.R.-F.); (A.M.-P.)
| | - Alicia Martínez-Piñeiro
- Neuromuscular Pathology Unit, Neurology Service, Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (M.A.); (G.L.); (A.A.); (J.C.-C.); (A.R.-F.); (A.M.-P.)
| | - Gisela Nogales-Gadea
- Neuromuscular and Neuropediatric Research Group, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Campus Can Ruti, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08916 Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; (A.B.-L.); (E.K.); (I.L.-P.); (J.N.-M.)
- Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-93-4978684
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Renna LV, Bosè F, Iachettini S, Fossati B, Saraceno L, Milani V, Colombo R, Meola G, Cardani R. Receptor and post-receptor abnormalities contribute to insulin resistance in myotonic dystrophy type 1 and type 2 skeletal muscle. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0184987. [PMID: 28915272 PMCID: PMC5600405 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2017] [Accepted: 09/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are autosomal dominant multisystemic disorders caused by expansion of microsatellite repeats. In both forms, the mutant transcripts accumulate in nuclear foci altering the function of alternative splicing regulators which are necessary for the physiological mRNA processing. Missplicing of insulin receptor (IR) gene (INSR) has been associated with insulin resistance, however, it cannot be excluded that post-receptor signalling abnormalities could also contribute to this feature in DM. We have analysed the insulin pathway in skeletal muscle biopsies and in myotube cultures from DM patients to assess whether downstream metabolism might be dysregulated and to better characterize the mechanism inducing insulin resistance. DM skeletal muscle exhibits alterations of basal phosphorylation levels of Akt/PKB, p70S6K, GSK3β and ERK1/2, suggesting that these changes might be accompanied by a lack of further insulin stimulation. Alterations of insulin pathway have been confirmed on control and DM myotubes expressing fetal INSR isoform (INSR-A). The results indicate that insulin action appears to be lower in DM than in control myotubes in terms of protein activation and glucose uptake. Our data indicate that post-receptor signalling abnormalities might contribute to DM insulin resistance regardless the alteration of INSR splicing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Valentina Renna
- Laboratory of Muscle Histopathology and Molecular Biology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Bosè
- Laboratory of Muscle Histopathology and Molecular Biology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
| | - Sara Iachettini
- Laboratory of Muscle Histopathology and Molecular Biology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
| | - Barbara Fossati
- Department of Neurology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Saraceno
- Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Valentina Milani
- Scientific Directorate, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
| | - Roberto Colombo
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Giovanni Meola
- Laboratory of Muscle Histopathology and Molecular Biology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy.,Department of Neurology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Rosanna Cardani
- Laboratory of Muscle Histopathology and Molecular Biology, IRCCS-Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy
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Pellicciari C. Histochemistry in biology and medicine: a message from the citing journals. Eur J Histochem 2015; 59:2610. [PMID: 26708189 PMCID: PMC4698620 DOI: 10.4081/ejh.2015.2610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Especially in recent years, biomedical research has taken advantage of the progress in several disciplines, among which microscopy and histochemistry. To assess the influence of histochemistry in the biomedical field, the articles published during the period 2011-2015 have been selected from different databases and grouped by subject categories: as expected, biological and biomedical studies where histochemistry has been used as a major experimental approach include a wide of basic and applied researches on both humans and other animal or plant organisms. To better understand the impact of histochemical publications onto the different biological and medical disciplines, it was useful to look at the journals where the articles published in a multidisciplinary journal of histochemistry have been cited: it was observed that, in the five-years period considered, 20% only of the citations were in histochemical periodicals, the remaining ones being in journals of Cell & Tissue biology, general and experimental Medicine, Oncology, Biochemistry & Molecular biology, Neurobiology, Anatomy & Morphology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Reproductive biology, Veterinary sciences, Physiology, Endocrinology, Tissue engineering & Biomaterials, as well as in multidisciplinary journals.It is easy to foresee that also in the future the histochemical journals will be an attended forum for basic and applied scientists in the biomedical field. It will be crucial that these journals be open to an audience as varied as possible, publishing articles on the application of refined techniques to very different experimental models: this will stimulate non-histochemist scientists to approach histochemistry whose application horizon could expand to novel and possibly exclusive subjects.
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