Absence of the protein dystrophin causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dystrophin directly binds to microtubules in vitro, and its absence in vivo correlates with disorganization of the subsarcolemmal microtubule lattice, increased detyrosination of α-tubulin, and altered redox signaling. We previously demonstrated that the dystrophin homologue utrophin neither binds microtubules in vitro nor rescues microtubule lattice organization when overexpressed in muscles of dystrophin-deficient mdx mice. Here, we fine-mapped the dystrophin domain necessary for microtubule binding to spectrin-like repeats 20–22. We show that transgenic mdx mice expressing a full-length dystrophin/utrophin chimera completely lacking microtubule binding activity are surprisingly rescued for all measured dystrophic phenotypes, including full restoration of microtubule lattice organization. Conversely, despite the presence of dystrophin at the sarcolemma, β-sarcoglycan-deficient skeletal muscle presents with a disorganized and densified microtubule lattice. Finally, we show that the levels of α-tubulin detyrosination remain significantly elevated to that of mdx levels in transgenic mdx mice expressing nearly full-length dystrophin. Our results demonstrate that the microtubule-associated perturbations of mdx muscle are distinct, separable, and can vary independently from other parameters previously ascribed to dystrophin deficiency.

In healthy adult skeletal muscle fibers microtubules form a three-dimensional grid-like network. In the mdx mouse, a model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), microtubules are mostly disordered, without periodicity. These microtubule defects have been linked to the mdx mouse pathology. We now report that increased expression of the beta 6 class V β-tubulin (tubb6) contributes to the microtubule changes of mdx muscles. Wild-type muscle fibers overexpressing green f luorescent protein (GFP)-tubb6 (but not GFP-tubb5) have disorganized microtubules whereas mdx muscle fibers depleted of tubb6 (but not of tubb5) normalize their microtubules, suggesting that increasing tubb6 is toxic. However, tubb6 increases spontaneously during differentiation of mouse and human muscle cultures. Furthermore, endogenous tubb6 is not uniformly expressed in mdx muscles but is selectively increased in fiber clusters, which we identify as regenerating. Similarly, mdx-based rescued transgenic mice that retain a higher than expected tubb6 level show focal expression of tubb6 in subsets of fibers. Tubb6 is also upregulated in cardiotoxin-induced mouse muscle regeneration, in human myositis and DMD biopsies, and the tubb6 level correlates with that of embryonic myosin heavy chain, a regeneration marker. In conclusion, modulation of a β-tubulin isotype plays a role in muscle differentiation and regeneration. Increased tubb6 expression and microtubule reorganization are not pathological per se but ref lect a return to an earlier developmental stage. However, chronic elevation of tubb6, as occurs in the mdx mouse, may contribute to the repeated cycles of regeneration and to the pathology of the disease.

N-Glycanase 1 (NGLY1) is a cytoplasmic deglycosylating enzyme. Loss-of-function mutations in the NGLY1 gene cause NGLY1 deficiency, which is characterized by developmental delay, seizures, and a lack of sweat and tears. To model the phenotypic variability observed among patients, we crossed a Drosophila model of NGLY1 deficiency onto a panel of genetically diverse strains. The resulting progeny showed a phenotypic spectrum from 0 to 100% lethality. Association analysis on the lethality phenotype, as well as an evolutionary rate covariation analysis, generated lists of modifying genes, providing insight into NGLY1 function and disease. The top association hit was Ncc69 (human NKCC1/2), a conserved ion transporter. Analyses in NGLY1-/- mouse cells demonstrated that NKCC1 has an altered average molecular weight and reduced function. The misregulation of this ion transporter may explain the observed defects in secretory epithelium function in NGLY1 deficiency patients.

The 427-kDa protein dystrophin is expressed in striated muscle where it physically links the interior of muscle fibers to the extracellular matrix. A range of mutations in the DMD gene encoding dystrophin lead to a severe muscular dystrophy known as Duchenne (DMD) or a typically milder form known as Becker (BMD). Patients with nonsense mutations in dystrophin are specifically targeted by stop codon read-through drugs, whereas out-of-frame deletions and insertions are targeted by exon-skipping therapies. Both treatment strategies are currently in clinical trials. Dystrophin missense mutations, however, cause a wide range of phenotypic severity in patients. The molecular and cellular consequences of such mutations are not well understood, and there are no therapies specifically targeting this genotype. Here, we have modeled two representative missense mutations, L54R and L172H, causing DMD and BMD, respectively, in full-length dystrophin. In vitro, the mutation associated with the mild phenotype (L172H) caused a minor decrease in tertiary stability, whereas the L54R mutation associated with a severe phenotype had a more dramatic effect. When stably expressed in mammalian muscle cells, the mutations caused steadystate decreases in dystrophin protein levels inversely proportional to the tertiary stability and directly caused by proteasomal degradation. Both proteasome inhibitors and heat shock activators were able to increase mutant dystrophin to WT levels, establishing the new cell lines as a platform to screen for potential therapeutics personalized to patients with destabilized dystrophin.Duchenne muscular dystrophy | missense mutation | protein folding | proteasome inhibitor | heat shock activator

Missense mutations in the dystrophin protein can cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) through an undefined pathomechanism. In vitro studies suggest that missense mutations in the N-terminal actin-binding domain (ABD1) cause protein instability, and cultured myoblast studies reveal decreased expression levels that can be restored to wild-type with proteasome inhibitors. To further elucidate the pathophysiology of missense dystrophin in vivo, we generated two transgenic mdx mouse lines expressing L54R or L172H mutant dystrophin, which correspond to missense mutations identified in human patients with DMD or BMD, respectively. Our biochemical, histologic and physiologic analysis of the L54R and L172H mice show decreased levels of dystrophin which are proportional to the phenotypic severity. Proteasome inhibitors were ineffective in both the L54R and L172H mice, yet mice homozygous for the L172H transgene were able to express even higher levels of dystrophin which caused further improvements in muscle histology and physiology. Given that missense dystrophin is likely being degraded by the proteasome but whole body proteasome inhibition was not possible, we screened for ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes involved in targeting dystrophin to the proteasome. A myoblast cell line expressing L54R mutant dystrophin was screened with an siRNA library targeting E1, E2 and E3 ligases which identified Amn1, FBXO33, Zfand5 and Trim75. Our study establishes new mouse models of dystrophinopathy and identifies candidate E3 ligases that may specifically regulate dystrophin protein turnover in vivo.

BackgroundThe X-linked recessive disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the protein dystrophin. Despite its large size, dystrophin is a highly stable protein, demonstrating cooperative unfolding during thermal denaturation as monitored by circular dichroism spectroscopy. In contrast, internal sequence deletions have been associated with a loss of the cooperative unfolding and cause in vitro protein aggregation. Several emerging therapy options for DMD utilize internally deleted micro-dystrophins and multi-exon-skipped dystrophins that produce partially functional proteins, but the stability of such internally truncated proteins has not been investigated.MethodsIn this study, we analyzed the in vitro stability of human dystrophin constructs skipped around exon 45 or exon 51, several dystrophin gene therapy constructs, as well as human full-length and micro-utrophin. Constructs were expressed in insect cells using the baculovirus system, purified by affinity chromatography, and analyzed by high-speed sedimentation, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and differential scanning fluorimetry.ResultsOur results reveal that not all gene therapy constructs display stabilities consistent with full-length human dystrophin. However, all dystrophins skipped in-frame around exon 45 or exon 51 show stability profiles congruent with intact human dystrophin. Similar to previous studies of mouse proteins, full-length human utrophin also displays stability similar to human dystrophin and does not appear to be affected by a large internal deletion.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the in vitro stability of human dystrophin is less sensitive to smaller deletions at natural exon boundaries than larger, more complex deletions present in some gene therapy constructs.

15N-Glycanase 1 (NGLY1) is a cytoplasmic deglycosylating enzyme. Loss-of-function mutations in 16the NGLY1 gene cause NGLY1 deficiency, which is characterized by developmental delay, 17seizures, and a lack of sweat and tears. To model the phenotypic variability observed among 18 patients, we crossed a Drosophila model of NGLY1 deficiency onto a panel of genetically diverse 19 strains. The resulting progeny showed a phenotypic spectrum from 0-100% lethality. Association 20analysis on the lethality phenotype as well as an evolutionary rate covariation analysis generated 21lists of modifying genes, providing insight into NGLY1 function and disease. The top association 22hit was Ncc69 (human NKCC1/2), a conserved ion transporter. Analyses in NGLY1 -/-mouse 23 cells demonstrated that NKCC1 is misglycosylated and has reduced function, making it only the 24 second confirmed NGLY1 enzymatic substrate. The misregulation of this ion transporter may 25 explain the observed defects in secretory epithelium function in NGLY1 deficiency patients. 26

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