Most glucose is processed in muscle, for energy or glycogen stores. Malignant Hyperthermia Susceptibility (MHS) exemplifies muscle conditions that increase [Ca2+]cytosol. 42% of MHS patients have hyperglycemia. We show that phosphorylated glycogen phosphorylase (GPa), glycogen synthase (GSa) – respectively activated and inactivated by phosphorylation – and their Ca2+-dependent kinase (PhK), are elevated in microsomal extracts from MHS patients’ muscle. Glycogen and glucose transporter GLUT4 are decreased. [Ca2+]cytosol, increased to MHS levels, promoted GP phosphorylation. Imaging at ~100 nm resolution located GPa at sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) junctional cisternae, and apo-GP at Z disk. MHS muscle therefore has a wide-ranging alteration in glucose metabolism: high [Ca2+]cytosol activates PhK, which inhibits GS, activates GP and moves it toward the SR, favoring glycogenolysis. The alterations probably cause these patients’ hyperglycemia. For basic studies, MHS emerges as a variable stressor, which forces glucose pathways from the normal to the diseased range, thereby exposing novel metabolic links.

No abstract

The auxiliary β4subunit of the cardiac Cav1.2 channel plays a poorly understood role in gene transcription. Here, we characterized the regulatory effects of the β4subunit in H9c2 rat cardiac cells on the abundances ofIfnbmRNA [which encodes interferon-β (IFN-β)] and of the IFN-β–related genesDdx58,Ifitm3,Irf7,Stat2,Ifih1, andMx1, as well as on the abundances of the antiviral proteins DDX58, IRF7, STAT2, and IFITM3. Knocking down the β4subunit in H9c2 cells reduced the expression of IFN-β–stimulated genes. In response to inhibition of the kinase JAK1, the abundances of β4subunit mRNA and protein were decreased. β4subunit abundance was increased, and it translocated to the nucleus, in cells treated with IFN-β, infected with dengue virus (DENV), or transfected with poly(I:C), a synthetic analog of double-stranded RNA. Cells that surrounded the virus-infected cells showed translocation of β4subunit proteins to nuclei in response to spreading infection. We showed that the β4subunit interacted with the transcriptional regulator IRF7 and that the activity of anIrf7promoter–driven reporter was increased in cells overexpressing the β4subunit. Last, overexpressing β4in undifferentiated and differentiated H9c2 cells reduced DENV infection and decreased the abundance of the viral proteins NS1, NS3, and E-protein. DENV infection and poly(I:C) also increased the concentration of intracellular Ca2+in these cells. These findings suggest that the β4subunit plays a role in promoting the expression of IFN-related genes, thereby reducing viral infection.

No abstract

Integrator 1 (BIN1), in the clustering of Ca v 1.2 channels in ventricular myocytes. Both of these proteins are known to directly interact with Ca v 1.2 channels. AKAP150 is important for local membrane targeting of PKA, PKCa and calcineurin, while Bin1 has established roles in cardiac t-tubule folding and in the trafficking and localization of Ca v 1.2 channels to t-tubules. Using GSD superresolution imaging, we found that clustering of Ca v 1.2 channels in these cells is unaltered by genetic ablation of AKAP79/150 such that the area of Ca V 1.2 clusters was similar in WT (2379 5 43 nm) and AKAP150 -/myocytes (2379 5 43 nm). However, heterozygous deletion of Bin1 significantly reduced Ca v 1.2 channel cluster size. The area of Ca V 1.2 channel clusters was approximately 42% smaller in BIN1 þ/-(1379 5 43 nm) than in WT (2349 5 76 nm 2 ) ventricular myocytes (p< 0.0001). This data suggests that Bin1 is a key regulator of Ca v 1.2 channel clustering in heart.

The mechanisms that link the primary increase in SR Ca2+ leak of MH susceptibility and related conditions to their disease phenotypes are not well understood. We found that abnormal Ca2+ homeostasis in MHS individuals induces proteolysis of junctophilin1 (JPh1), an essential structural protein of EC coupling (Perni, in 2017). Guo (in 2018) and Lahiri (in 2020) reported similar fragmentation of JPh2 in stressed hearts. Western blot of patients’ muscle with domain-specific antibodies showed a deficit of full-length JPh1 and excess of a 44-kD C-terminal fragment (JPh44) in MHS subjects. While JPh1 was located in T-SR junctions, JPh44 was found anywhere within the I band, and at high densities within nuclei—a location forbidden for JPh1. Expression and cleavage in mice of a JPh1 plasmid tagged at both ends showed that its N-terminal fragment remained in triads, and the C-terminal fragment, orthologue to JPh44, entered nuclei, which indicates that JPh44 is the C-terminal cleavage product. Endogenous calpain1 appeared in T-SR junctions, colocalized with JPh1. On muscle extracts and primary cultures, Ca2+-activated calpain1 cleaved a 44-kD JPh1 piece, consistent with the C-terminal fragment that starts at Ser241, the highest probability cleavage site found by calpain1 algorithms. Completing the identification of Ser241 as the likely start of JPh44, the tagged deletion plasmid GFP-JPh1_Δ1-240, expressed in mice, copied the location and migration of JPh44. Expression of GFP-JPh1_Δ1-240 in C2C12 myoblasts reduced by more than twofold the transcription of PI3K-Akt genes that inhibit muscle uptake and storage of glucose, including GSK3β, an inhibitor of glycogen synthase that is activated in MHS patients. In agreement with the genetic profile, GSK3β protein content decreased upon expression of GFP-JPh1_Δ1-240. In sum, the identified gene control roles of JPh44 oppose the deleterious effects of chronically elevated cytosolic [Ca2+], including late-onset hyperglycemia and type-2 diabetes (Tammineni, in 2020).

Triadin, a protein of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of striated muscles, anchors the calcium-storing protein calsequestrin to calcium release RyR channels at the junction with t-tubules, and modulates these channels by conformational effects. Triadin ablation induces structural SR changes and alters the expression of other proteins. Here we quantify alterations of calcium signaling in single skeletal myofibers of constitutive triadin-null mice. We find higher resting cytosolic and lower SR-luminal [Ca2+], 40% lower calsequestrin expression, and more CaV1.1, RyR1 and SERCA1. Despite the increased CaV1.1, the mobile intramembrane charge was reduced by ~20% in Triadin-null fibers. The initial peak of calcium release flux by pulse depolarization was minimally altered in the null fibers (revealing an increase in peak calcium permeability). The “hump” phase that followed, attributable to calcium detaching from calsequestrin, was 25% lower, a smaller change than expected from the reduced calsequestrin content and calcium saturation. The exponential decay rate of calcium transients was 25% higher, consistent with the higher SERCA1 content. Recovery of calcium flux after a depleting depolarization was faster in triadin-null myofibers, consistent with the increased uptake rate and lower SR calsequestrin content. In sum, the triadin knockout determines an increased RyR1 channel openness, which depletes the SR, a substantial loss of calsequestrin and gains in other couplon proteins. Powerful functional compensations ensue: activation of SOCE that increases [Ca2+]cyto; increased SERCA1 activity, which limits the decrease in [Ca2+]SR and a restoration of SR calcium storage of unknown substrate. Together, they effectively limit the functional loss in skeletal muscles.

This work describes a simple way to identify fiber types in living muscles by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). We quantified the mean values of lifetimes τ1 and τ2 derived from a two-exponential fit in freshly dissected mouse flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) and soleus muscles. While τ1 values changed following a bimodal behavior between muscles, the distribution of τ2 is shifted to higher values in FDB. To understand the origin of this difference, we obtained maps of autofluorescence lifetimes of flavin mononucleotide and dinucleotide (FMN/FAD) in cryosections, where excitation was set at 440 nm and emission at a bandwidth of between 500 and 570 nm, and paired them with immunofluorescence images of myosin heavy chain isoforms, which allowed identification of fiber types. In soleus, τ2 was 3.16 ns for type I (SD 0.11, 97 fibers), 3.45 ns for IIA (0.10, 69), and 3.46 ns for IIX (0.12, 65). In FDB muscle, τ2 was 3.17 ns for type I (0.08, 22), 3.46 ns for IIA (0.16, 48), and 3.66 ns for IIX (0.15, 43). From τ2 distributions, it follows that an FDB fiber with τ2 &gt; 3.3 ns is expected to be of type II, and of type I otherwise. This simple classification method has first and second kind errors estimated at 0.02 and 0.10, which can be lowered by reducing the threshold for identification of type I and increasing it for type II. Lifetime maps of autofluorescence, therefore, constitute a tool to identify fiber types that, for being practical, fast, and noninvasive, can be applied in living tissue without compromising other experimental interventions.