Transgenic overexpression of LARGE induces α-dystroglycan hyperglycosylation in skeletal and cardiac muscle

Background

LARGE is one of seven putative or demonstrated glycosyltransferase enzymes defective in a common group of muscular dystrophies with reduced glycosylation of α-dystroglycan. Overexpression of LARGE induces hyperglycosylation of α-dystroglycan in both wild type and in cells from dystroglycanopathy patients, irrespective of their primary gene defect, restoring functional glycosylation. Viral delivery of LARGE to skeletal muscle in animal models of dystroglycanopathy has identical effects in vivo, suggesting that the restoration of functional glycosylation could have therapeutic applications in these disorders. Pharmacological strategies to upregulate Large expression are also being explored.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In order to asses the safety and efficacy of long term LARGE over-expression in vivo, we have generated four mouse lines expressing a human LARGE transgene. On observation, LARGE transgenic mice were indistinguishable from the wild type littermates. Tissue analysis from young mice of all four lines showed a variable pattern of transgene expression: highest in skeletal and cardiac muscles, and lower in brain, kidney and liver. Transgene expression in striated muscles correlated with α-dystroglycan hyperglycosylation, as determined by immunoreactivity to antibody IIH6 and increased laminin binding on an overlay assay. Other components of the dystroglycan complex and extracellular matrix ligands were normally expressed, and general muscle histology was indistinguishable from wild type controls. Further detailed muscle physiological analysis demonstrated a loss of force in response to eccentric exercise in the older, but not in the younger mice, suggesting this deficit developed over time. However this remained a subclinical feature as no pathology was observed in older mice in any muscles including the diaphragm, which is sensitive to mechanical load-induced damage.

Conclusions/Significance

This work shows that potential therapies in the dystroglycanopathies based on LARGE upregulation and α-dystroglycan hyperglycosylation in muscle should be safe.     

Altered PPARγ expression inhibits myogenic differentiation in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily known to regulate adipocyte differentiation. However, its role in skeletal muscle differentiation is not known. To investigate possible involvement of PPARγ in skeletal muscle differentiation, we modulated its expression in C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells by stable transfection with sense or antisense plasmid constructs of PPARγ cDNA. Phenotypic observations and biochemical analysis of different myogenic markers showed that altered expression of PPARγ inhibited the formation of myotubes, as well as expression of muscle-specific myogenic proteins including myogenin, MyoD and creatine kinase activity. Together, we show that critical expression of PPARγ is required for skeletal muscle cells differentiation. *These authors contributed equally to this work.     

Mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced prostaglandin synthesis in skeletal muscle of Group VIB Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2γ-deficient mice

Group VIB Ca²⁺-independent phospholipase A₂γ (iPLA₂γ) is a membrane-bound iPLA₂ enzyme with unique features, such as the utilization of distinct translation initiation sites and the presence of mitochondrial and peroxisomal localization signals. Here we investigated the physiological functions of iPLA₂γ by disrupting its gene in mice. iPLA₂γ-knockout (KO) mice were born with an expected Mendelian ratio and appeared normal and healthy at the age of one month but began to show growth retardation from the age of two months as well as kyphosis and significant muscle weakness at the age of four months. Electron microscopy revealed swelling and reduced numbers of mitochondria and atrophy of myofilaments in iPLA₂γ-KO skeletal muscles. Increased lipid peroxidation and the induction of several oxidative stress-related genes were also found in the iPLA₂γ-KO muscles. These results provide evidence that impairment of iPLA₂γ causes mitochondrial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress, leading to the loss of skeletal muscle structure and function. We further found that the compositions of cardiolipin and other phospholipid subclasses were altered and that the levels of myoprotective prostanoids were reduced in iPLA₂γ-KO skeletal muscle. Thus, in addition to maintenance of homeostasis of the mitochondrial membrane, iPLA₂γ may contribute to modulation of lipid mediator production in vivo.     

Identification of novel PPARγ target genes by integrated analysis of ChIP-on-chip and microarray expression data during adipocyte differentiation

PPARγ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) acts as a key molecule of adipocyte differentiation, and transactivates multiple target genes involved in lipid metabolic pathways. Identification of PPARγ target genes will facilitate to predict the extent to which the drugs can affect and also to understand the molecular basis of lipid metabolism. Here, we have identified five target genes regulated directly by PPARγ during adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells using integrated analyses of ChIP-on-chip and expression microarray. We have confirmed the direct PPARγ regulation of five genes by luciferase reporter assay in NIH-3T3 cells. Of these five genes Hp, Tmem143 and 1100001G20Rik are novel PPARγ targets. We have also detected PPREs (PPAR response elements) sequences in the promoter region of the five genes computationally. Unexpectedly, most of the PPREs detected proved to be atypical, suggesting the existence of more atypical PPREs than previously thought in the promoter region of PPARγ regulated genes.     

Fructose ingestion impairs expression of genes involved in skeletal muscle’s adaptive response to aerobic exercise

Background

The inverse relationship between exercise capacity and its variation over time and both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality suggests the existence of an etiological nexus between cardiometabolic diseases and the molecular regulators of exercise capacity. Coordinated adaptive responses elicited by physical training enhance exercise performance and metabolic efficiency and possibly mediate the health benefits of physical exercise. In contrast, impaired expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis or protein turnover in skeletal muscle—key biological processes involved in adaptation to physical training—leads to insulin resistance and obesity. Ingestion of fructose has been shown to suppress the exercise-induced GLUT4 response in rat skeletal muscle. To evaluate in greater detail how fructose ingestion might blunt the benefits of physical training, we investigated the effects of fructose ingestion on exercise induction of genes that participate in regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and protein turnover in rat’s skeletal muscle.

Methods

Eight-week-old Wistar rats were randomly assigned to sedentary (C), exercise (treadmill running)-only (E), fructose-only (F), and fructose + exercise (FE) groups and treated accordingly for 8 weeks. Blood and quadriceps femoris were collected for biochemistry, serum insulin, and gene expression analysis. Expression of genes involved in regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and autophagy, GLUT4, and ubiquitin E3 ligases MuRF-1, and MAFbx/Atrogin-1 were assayed with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Aerobic training improved exercise capacity in both E and FE groups. A main effect of fructose ingestion on body weight and fasting serum triglyceride concentration was detected. Fructose ingestion impaired the expression of PGC-1α, FNDC5, NR4A3, GLUT4, Atg9, Lamp2, Ctsl, Murf-1, and MAFBx/Atrogin-1 in skeletal muscle of both sedentary and exercised animals while expression of Errα and Pparδ was impaired only in exercised rats.

Conclusions

Our results show that fructose ingestion impairs the expression of genes involved in biological processes relevant to exercise-induced remodeling of skeletal muscle. This might provide novel insight on how a dietary factor contributes to the genesis of disorders of glucose metabolism.

     

Fiber-type specific expression of α-actinin isoforms in rat skeletal muscle

α-Actinins are actin-binding proteins, and two isoforms (α-actinin-2 and -3) are major structural components of the sarcomeric Z line in mammalian skeletal muscle. Based on human and knockout mice studies, α-actinin-3 is thought to be associated with muscle force output and high contraction velocities. However, fiber-type specific expression of α-actinin isoforms is not well understood and may vary among species. In this study, we investigated the expression of α-actinin isoforms and the difference between fiber types in rat skeletal muscle and compared it with those of humans and mice from previous reports. Soleus and plantaris muscles were analyzed immunohistochemically to identify muscle fiber types and α-actinin protein expression. α-Actinin-2 was stained in all muscle fibers in both the soleus and plantaris muscles; i.e., all α-actinin-3 co-expressed with α-actinin-2 in rat skeletal muscles. The proportions of α-actinin-3 expression, regardless of fiber type, were significantly higher in the plantaris (75.8 ± 0.6%) than the soleus (8.0 ± 1.7%). No α-actinin-3 expression was observed in type I fibers, whereas all type IIx+b fibers expressed α-actinin-3. α-Actinin-3 was also expressed in type IIa fibers; however, approximately 75% of type IIa fibers were not stained by α-actinin-3, and the proportion varied between muscles. The proportion of α-actinin-3 expression in type IIa fibers was significantly higher in the soleus muscle than the plantaris muscle. Our results showed that fiber-type specific expression of α-actinin isoforms in rats is more similar to that in humans compared to that of the mouse, whereas the proportion of α-actinin-3 protein varied between muscles.     

SCD1 activity in muscle increases triglyceride PUFA content,exercise capacity,and PPARδ expression in mice

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD)1 converts saturated fatty acids into monounsaturated fatty acids. Using muscle overexpression, we sought to determine the role of SCD1 expression in glucose and lipid metabolism and its effects on exercise capacity in mice. Wild-type C57Bl/6 (WT) and SCD1 muscle transgenic (SCD1-Tg) mice were generated, and expression of the SCD1 transgene was restricted to skeletal muscle. SCD1 overexpression was associated with increased triglyceride (TG) content. The fatty acid composition of the muscle revealed a significant increase in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of TG, including linoleate (18:2n6). Untrained SCD1-Tg mice also displayed significantly increased treadmill exercise capacity (WT = 6.6 ± 3 min, Tg = 71.9 ± 9.5 min; P = 0.0009). SCD1-Tg mice had decreased fasting plasma glucose, glucose transporter (GLUT)1 mRNA, fatty acid oxidation, mitochondrial content, and increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)δ and Pgc-1 protein expression in skeletal muscle. In vitro studies in C2C12 myocytes revealed that linoleate (18:2n6) and not oleate (18:1n9) caused a 3-fold increase in PPARδ and a 9-fold increase in CPT-1b with a subsequent increase in fat oxidation. The present model suggests that increasing delta-9 desaturase activity of muscle increases metabolic function, exercise capacity, and lipid oxidation likely through increased PUFA content, which increases PPARδ expression and activity. However, the mechanism of action that results in increased PUFA content of SCD1-Tg mice remains to be elucidated.     

Altered exosomal protein expression in the serum of NF-κB knockout mice following skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury

Background

The NF-κB signaling pathway plays a role in local and remote tissue damage following ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury to skeletal muscles. Evidence suggests that exosomes can act as intercellular communicators by transporting active proteins to remote cells and may play a role in regulating inflammatory processes. This study aimed to profile the exosomal protein expression in the serum of NF-κB knockout mice following skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Results

To investigate the potential changes in protein expression mediated by NF-κB in secreted exosomes in the serum following I/R injury, the levels of circulating exosomal proteomes in C57BL/6 and NF-κB^−/− mice were compared using two dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2-DE), liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and proteomic analysis. In C57BL/6 mice, the levels of circulating exosomal proteins, including complement component C3 prepropeptide, PK-120 precursor, alpha-amylase one precursor, beta-enolase isoform 1, and adenylosuccinate synthetase isozyme 1, increased following I/R injury. However, in the NF-κB^−/− mice, the expression of the following was upregulated in the exosomes: protease, serine 1; glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-like isoform 1; glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; and pregnancy zone protein. In contrast, the expression of apolipoprotein B, complement component C3 prepropeptide, and immunoglobulin kappa light chain variable region was downregulated in NF-κB^−/− mice. Bioinformatic annotation using the Protein Analysis Through Evolutionary Relationships (PANTHER) database revealed that the expression of the exosomal proteins that participate in metabolic processes and in biological regulation was lower in NF-κB^−/− mice than in C57BL/6 mice, whereas the expression of proteins that participate in the response to stimuli, in cellular processes, and in the immune system was higher.

Conclusions

The data presented in this study suggest that NF-κB might regulate exosomal protein expression at a remote site via circulation following I/R injury.     

Gene expression profile and overexpression of apoptosis-related genes (NGFI-B and Gadd 45 γ) in early phase of Thy-1 nephritis model

Mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) is a disease of high incidence in humans. Rat Thy-1 nephritis (Thy-1 N), namely, anti-thymocyte serum (ATS)-induced nephritis, is considered to be an animal model for studying MPGN. Although previous studies have demonstrated that glomerular mesangial cell (GMCs) injury might be a feature of Thy-1 N, the mechanism of the disease (i.e., GMC apoptosis) remains unclear. We have examined the pathologic changes of GMCs and the gene expression profile of renal tissues in Thy-1 N. The pathologic changes of Thy-1 N include three phages: GMC apoptosis (40 min), necrosis (2 h), and proliferation (5 days). Many TUNEL-positive cells are found 40 min after administration of ATS. Concomitantly, 341 genes are up-regulated, whereas 392 genes are down-regulated, as shown by microarrays analysis. The mRNA and protein of two of the up-regulated genes (nerve growth factor induced protein I-B, NGFI-B; growth arrest- and DNA-damage-inducible protein 45 gamma, Gadd 45 γ) in the GMC apoptotic phase of Thy-1 N are markedly elevated, as observed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Our data indicate that pathologic changes of Thy-1 N are involved in the abnormal gene profile. The overexpression of the NGFI-B and Gadd 45 γ genes may be associated with GMC apoptosis of Thy-1 N.This work was supported by grants (no. 30571728, 30471615, and no. 03KJA310074) from the National Natural Science Foundations of China and Jiangsu Province.     

Ectopic expression of β-lactoglobulin/human serum albumin fusion genes in transgenic mice: hormonal regulation andin situ localization

We produced transgenic mice carrying the native sheep -lactoglobulin (BLG) or fusion genes composed of the BLG promoter and human serum albumin (HSA) minigenes. BLG was expressed exclusively in the mammary glands of the virgin and lactating transgenic mice evaluated. In contrast, transgenic females carrying the BLG/HSA fusion constructs also expressed the HSA RNA ectopically in skeletal muscle, kidney, brain, spleen, salivary gland and skin. Ectopic expression of HSA RNA was detected only in strains that express the transgene in the mammary gland. There was no obvious correlation between the level of the HSA RNA expressed in the mammary gland and that found ectopically. In three transgenic strains analysed, the expression of HSA RNA in kidney and skeletal muscle increased during pregnancy and lactation, whereas in the brain HSA expression decreased during lactation in one of the strains. HSA protein was synthesized in skeletal muscle and skin of strain #23 and its level was higher in lactating mice compared with virgin mice. Expression of HSA was also analysed in males and was found to be more stringently controlled than in females of the same strains.In situ hybridization analyses localized the expressed transgene in the skin, kidney, brain and salivary glands of various transgenic strains. Distinct strain-specific and cell-type specific HSA expression patterns were observed in the skin. This is in contrast to the exclusive expression of the HSA transgene in epithelial cells surrounding the alveoli of the mammary gland. Taken together, these results suggest that the absence of sufficient mammary-specific regulatory elements in the BLG promoter sequences and/or the juxtaposition of the BLG promoter with the HSA coding sequences leads to novel tissue- and cell-specific expression in ectopic tissues of transgenic mice.     

Inulin-type fructans with prebiotic properties counteract GPR43 overexpression and PPARγ-related adipogenesis in the white adipose tissue of high-fat diet-fed mice

Inulin-type fructans (ITF) are nondigestible/fermentable carbohydrates which are able — through the modification of the gut microbiota — to counteract high-fat (HF) diet-induced obesity, endotoxemia and related-metabolic alterations. However, their influence on adipose tissue metabolism has been poorly studied until now. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of ITF supplementation on adipose tissue metabolism, by focusing on a G protein-coupled receptor (GPR), GPR43, as a potential link between gut fermentation processes and white adipose tissue development. Male C57bl6/J mice were fed a standard diet or an HF diet without or with ITF (0.2 g/day per mouse) during 4 weeks. The HF diet induced an accumulation of large adipocytes, promoted peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ)-activated differentiation factors and led to a huge increase in GPR43 expression in the subcutaneous adipose tissue. All those effects were blunted by ITF treatment, which modulated the gut microbiota in favor of bifidobacteria at the expense of Roseburia spp. and of Clostridium cluster XIVa. The dietary modulation of GPR43 expression seems independent of endotoxemia, in view of data obtained in vivo (acute and chronic lipopolysaccharides treatment). In conclusion, ITF, which promote gut fermentation, paradoxically counteract GPR43 overexpression induced in the adipose tissue by an HF diet, a phenomenon that correlates with a beneficial effect on adiposity and with potential decrease in PPARγ-activated processes.