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Chiles JW, Wilson AC, Tindal R, Lavin K, Windham S, Rossiter HB, Casaburi R, Thalacker-Mercer A, Buford TW, Patel R, Wells JM, Bamman MM, Hanaoka BY, Dransfield M, McDonald MLN. Differentially co-expressed myofibre transcripts associated with abnormal myofibre proportion in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2024. [PMID: 38649783 DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.13473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Skeletal muscle dysfunction is a common extrapulmonary manifestation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Alterations in skeletal muscle myosin heavy chain expression, with reduced type I and increased type II myosin heavy chain expression, are associated with COPD severity when studied in largely male cohorts. The objectives of this study were (1) to define an abnormal myofibre proportion phenotype in both males and females with COPD and (2) to identify transcripts and transcriptional networks associated with abnormal myofibre proportion in COPD. METHODS Forty-six participants with COPD were assessed for body composition, strength, endurance and pulmonary function. Skeletal muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis were assayed for fibre-type distribution and cross-sectional area via immunofluorescence microscopy and RNA-sequenced to generate transcriptome-wide gene expression data. Sex-stratified k-means clustering of type I and IIx/IIax fibre proportions was used to define abnormal myofibre proportion in participants with COPD and contrasted with previously defined criteria. Single transcripts and weighted co-expression network analysis modules were tested for correlation with the abnormal myofibre proportion phenotype. RESULTS Abnormal myofibre proportion was defined in males with COPD (n = 29) as <18% type I and/or >22% type IIx/IIax fibres and in females with COPD (n = 17) as <36% type I and/or >12% type IIx/IIax fibres. Half of the participants with COPD were classified as having an abnormal myofibre proportion. Participants with COPD and an abnormal myofibre proportion had lower median handgrip strength (26.1 vs. 34.0 kg, P = 0.022), 6-min walk distance (300 vs. 353 m, P = 0.039) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s-to-forced vital capacity ratio (0.42 vs. 0.48, P = 0.041) compared with participants with COPD and normal myofibre proportions. Twenty-nine transcripts were associated with abnormal myofibre proportions in participants with COPD, with the upregulated NEB, TPM1 and TPM2 genes having the largest fold differences. Co-expression network analysis revealed that two transcript modules were significantly positively associated with the presence of abnormal myofibre proportions. One of these co-expression modules contained genes classically associated with muscle atrophy, as well as transcripts associated with both type I and type II myofibres, and was enriched for genetic loci associated with bone mineral density. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that there are significant transcriptional alterations associated with abnormal myofibre proportions in participants with COPD. Transcripts canonically associated with both type I and type IIa fibres were enriched in a co-expression network associated with abnormal myofibre proportion, suggesting altered transcriptional regulation across multiple fibre types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe W Chiles
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Ava C Wilson
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Rachel Tindal
- School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Kaleen Lavin
- Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, Pensacola, FL, USA
| | - Samuel Windham
- Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Harry B Rossiter
- Institute of Respiratory Medicine and Exercise Physiology, Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA
| | - Richard Casaburi
- Institute of Respiratory Medicine and Exercise Physiology, Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA
| | - Anna Thalacker-Mercer
- Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Thomas W Buford
- Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Rakesh Patel
- Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - J Michael Wells
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Birmingham Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Marcas M Bamman
- Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, Pensacola, FL, USA
- Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Beatriz Y Hanaoka
- Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Mark Dransfield
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Birmingham Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Merry-Lynn N McDonald
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
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