Myotonic dystrophy (DM), the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adult humans, results from expansion of a CTG repeat in the 3' untranslated region of the DMPK gene. The mutant DMPK messenger RNA (mRNA) contains an expanded CUG repeat and is retained in the nucleus. We have expressed an untranslated CUG repeat in an unrelated mRNA in transgenic mice. Mice that expressed expanded CUG repeats developed myotonia and myopathy, whereas mice expressing a nonexpanded repeat did not. Thus, transcripts with expanded CUG repeats are sufficient to generate a DM phenotype. This result supports a role for RNA gain of function in disease pathogenesis.
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are caused by genomic expansions of CTG or CCTG repeats. When transcribed, these mutations give rise to repeat expansion RNAs that form nuclear inclusions and compromise the function of myonuclei. Here, we have used in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence to compare DM1 and DM2 and search for proteins that associate with the RNA nuclear (ribonuclear) inclusions. Although muscle disease is generally more severe in DM1, the ribonuclear inclusions were 8- to 13-fold more intense in DM2, implying greater amounts of repeat expansion RNA. Expression of repeat expansion RNA in myoblasts has been implicated in the pathogenesis of congenital DM1. However, we found that repeat expansion RNA is also expressed in myoblasts in DM2, a disorder that has not been associated with a congenital phenotype. Of 10 putative CUG binding proteins tested for colocalization with mutant RNA, only proteins in the muscleblind family were recruited into ribonuclear inclusions. Previous studies have shown activation of the protein kinase, PKR, by expanded CUG repeats in vitro. However, breeding experiments utilizing PKR knockout mice indicate that this kinase is not required for disease pathogenesis in a transgenic mouse model of DM1. We conclude that ribonuclear inclusions are a key feature of the muscle pathology in DM and that sequestration of muscleblind proteins may have a direct role in the disease process.
We investigated the associations of baseline epidermal nerve fiber (ENF) densities and morphology (percent ENF swellings) and quantitative sensory testing (QST) with clinically defined human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated distal polyneuropathy (DSP) and whether these measures are predictive of development of symptomatic DSP over time. Fifty-seven HIV-infected subjects with and without DSP and 19 controls participated. Mean ENF densities were lower at the distal leg and proximal thigh in asymptomatic or symptomatic DSP than in controls. Mean ENF densities did not differ significantly among the HIV groups. Percent ENF swellings was higher in patients with symptomatic DSP than controls at the distal leg, and was also greater at the proximal thigh in patients with asymptomatic or symptomatic DSP than in controls. The percent ENF swellings at the distal leg correlated with the thresholds for both minimal (HP 0.5) and intermediate (HP 5.0) heat pain (HP) intensity. A higher percent ENF swellings in the distal leg [hazard ratio (HR) 1.16, 95% CI 1.02-1.31] and HP 0.5 thresholds (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.05) were the only two measures associated with a shorter time to development of symptomatic DSP. Quantitation of ENF swellings and heat pain thresholds deserve further study as predictors of symptomatic neuropathy.
Background As we move towards planning for clinical trials in Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD), a better understanding of the clinical relationship with morphological changes in FSHD muscle biopsies will be important for stratifying patients and understanding post-therapeutic changes in muscle. Methods We performed a prospective cross-sectional study of quadriceps muscle biopsies in 74 genetically confirmed FSHD participants (64 FSHD1, 10 FSHD2). We compared a 12-point muscle pathology grade to genetic mutation, disease severity score, and quantitative myometry. Results Pathology grade had moderate correlations with genetic mutation (rho=−0.45, P<0.001), clinical severity score (rho=0.53, P<0.001), disease duration (rho=0.31, P=0.03), and quantitative myometry (rho=−0.47, P<0.001). We found no difference in the frequency of inflammation between FSHD types 1 and 2. Conclusions The pathology grade of quadriceps muscle may be a useful marker of disease activity in FSHD, and it may have a role in stratification for future clinical trials.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is an autosomal-dominant myopathy, characterised by slowly progressive skeletal muscle weakness and wasting. While a regenerative response is often provoked in many muscular dystrophies, little is known about whether a regenerative response is regularly elicited in FSHD muscle. For comparison, we also examined the similarly slowly progressing Myotonic Dystrophy type 2 (DM2). To investigate regeneration at the transcriptomic level, we first used the 200 human gene Hallmark Myogenesis list. This Myogenesis biomarker was elevated in FSHD and control healthy myotubes compared to their myoblast counterparts, so is higher in myogenic differentiation. The Myogenesis biomarker was also elevated in muscle biopsies from most independent FSHD, DM2 or Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) studies compared to control biopsies, and on meta-analysis for each condition. The Myogenesis biomarker was also a robust binary discriminator of FSHD, DM2 and DMD from controls. We also analysed muscle regeneration at the protein level by immunolabelling muscle biopsies for Developmental Myosin Heavy Chain. Such immunolabelling revealed one or more regenerating myofibres in 76% of FSHD muscle biopsies from quadriceps and 91% from tibialis anterior. The mean proportion of regenerating myofibres per quadriceps biopsy was 0.48%, significantly less that the 1.72% in the tibialis anterior. All DM2 muscle biopsies contained regenerating myofibres, with a mean of 1.24% per biopsy. Muscle regeneration in FSHD was correlated with the pathological hallmarks of fibre size variation, central nucleation, fibrosis and necrosis/regeneration/inflammation. In summary, the regenerative response in FSHD muscle biopsies correlates with the severity of pathology.
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