Biology subjects

Nissan, X.

Publications and source records attributed to Nissan, X..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

DAB2 as a biomarker and mechanistic link between lipid dysregulation and disease progression in LGMD R2

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy R2 (LGMD R2) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by dysferlin deficiency, leading to progressive muscle weakness and wasting. Despite advances in understanding the mechanisms linking dysferlin loss to membrane fragility and muscle degeneration, the lack of robust clinical biomarkers has limited disease monitoring and therapeutic evaluation. Here, we identify Disabled-2 (DAB2) as a molecular and clinical biomarker for LGMD R2. Transcriptomic profiling revealed a significant upregulation of DAB2 in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived myotubes from patients with LGMD R2. Its expression correlated with disease severity in muscle biopsies from a cohort of 14 dysferlin-deficient individuals and in dysferlin knockout Bla/J mice, where levels increased with disease progression. Crucially, we demonstrate that DAB2 upregulation in muscle is normalized following treatment with AAV gene therapy expressing full-length dysferlin, positioning DAB2 as a dynamic biomarker for both disease monitoring and therapeutic response. Based on the role of DAB2 in lipid trafficking and the reported pathological lipid accumulation in LGMD R2, we then investigated its contribution to disease-associated lipid dysregulation. Consistent with this hypothesis, we show that high DAB2 levels paralleled lipid deposition in affected patients, iPSC-derived myotubes and mouse muscles, while siRNA- mediated DAB2 knockdown reduced lipid accumulation in LGMD R2 myotubes. Together, our findings establish DAB2 as a mechanistic link between disease severity and lipid dysregulation, and highlight its potential as a key prognostic marker, opening new avenues for precision medicine approaches in LGMD R2 and other related muscular dystrophies. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=133 SRC="FIGDIR/small/675589v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (40K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@152c1f1org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@3af57eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@cb4630org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@16d384b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Lonafarnib Partially Reverses Cardiac Senescence in Human and Mouse Progeria Models via Autophagy Activation

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), characterised by accelerated ageing, causes cardiovascular defects resembling aspects of cardiovascular ageing. We used human left ventricle cardiomyocytes (CMs) derived from HGPS-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and their isogenic-corrected controls, to investigate HGPS-CM dysfunction and identify potential therapies. Our results revealed that HGPS-iPSC-CMs exhibit greater maturity and associated elevated oxidative stress compared to controls, which they could not contend with, leading to cellular senescence. Increased senescence was also observed in cardiac tissue from mouse and human physiologically-aged and HGPS individuals. Functionally, HGPS-iPSC-CMs showed dysregulated mitochondrial respiration and calcium handling. Amongst the six drugs tested, rapamycin and lonafarnib were the most effective against HGPS-cardiac phenotypes. Although lonafarnib raised safety concerns, it partially reverted the cardiac senescent phenotype by inducing cellular autophagy and decreasing progerin expression in progeroid mice. Our study supports the use of HGPS-iPSC-CMs to identify novel biomarkers and therapies for HGPS, and potentially cardiac physiological-ageing.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Identification of bazedoxifene for the treatment of LGMD R2 by high throughput screening.

LGMD R2 is a rare genetic disorder characterized by progressive proximal muscle weakness and wasting caused by a recessive loss of function of dysferlin, a transmembrane protein controlling plasma membrane repair in skeletal muscles. We report here the development of an in vitro high-throughput assay using immortalized myoblasts and monitored reallocation of an aggregated mutant form of dysferlin (DYSFL1341P). Using this assay, we screened a library of 2239 drugs and identified two autophagy inducers, namely saracatinib and bazedoxifene, as potential drugs to repurpose for LGMD R2 patients carrying the DYSFL1341P mutation. Functional characterization of these drugs revealed that saracatinib and bazedoxifene had a protective effect on the plasma membrane in osmotic shock assay. While saracatinib restores functionality in membrane resealing through a specific rescue of L1341P dysferlin from degradation, bazedoxifene demonstrates an additional protective effect on dysferlin KO mice muscle fibers. Finally, further investigations into the molecular mechanism of action of bazedoxifene revealed an induction of autophagy flux, which may underlie the molecules effect on the survival of LGMD R2 myofibers.

pharmacology and toxicology↗

bioRxiv2023

Ghrelin delays premature aging in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare and fatal genetic condition arising from a single nucleotide alteration in the LMNA gene, which leads to the production of a defective lamin A protein known as progerin. The buildup of progerin hastens the onset of premature and expedited aging. Patients with HGPS exhibit short stature, low body weight, lipodystrophy, metabolic dysfunction, and skin and musculoskeletal abnormalities and, in most cases, die of cardiovascular disease by their early teenage years. Currently, no effective cure or treatment for the disease highlights the importance of discovering new therapeutic strategies. Herein, we present evidence that the hormone ghrelin, besides promoting autophagy and progerin clearance, rescued several cellular hallmarks of premature aging of human HGPS fibroblasts. Using an HGPS mouse model, LmnaG609G/G609G mice, we also show that ghrelin administration rescued the short-lived mice molecular and histopathological progeroid features, prevented progressive weight loss at later stages, reverted the lipodystrophic phenotype, and extended lifespan. Thus, we disclose that modulation of ghrelin signaling may give rise to new treatment targets and translational approaches that may improve outcomes and the health quality of HGPS patients and natural aging pathologies.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Skeletal muscle cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells: a platform for limb girdle muscular dystrophies.

Limb girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD), caused by mutations in 29 different genes, are the fourth most prevalent group of genetic muscle diseases, leading to progressive weakness and atrophy of the skeletal muscles. Although the link between LGMD and their genetic origins has been determined, LGMD still represent an unmet medical need. In this paper, we describe a platform for modeling LGMD based on the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). Thanks to the self-renewing and pluripotency properties of hiPSC, this platform provides an alternative and renewable source of skeletal muscle cells (skMC) to primary, immortalized or overexpressing cells. We report that skMC derived from hiPSC express the majority of the genes and proteins causing LGMD. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the importance of this cellular model for studying LGMDR9 by evaluating disease-specific phenotypes in skMC derived from hiPSC obtained from four patients.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Dual blockade of misfolded alpha-sarcoglycan degradation by bortezomib and givinostat combination

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type R3 (LGMD R3) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a progressive proximal muscle weakness and caused by mutations in the SGCA gene encoding alpha-sarcoglycan (-SG). Here, we report the results of a mechanistic screening ascertaining the molecular mechanisms involved in the degradation of the most prevalent misfolded R77C--SG protein. We performed a combinatorial study to identify drugs potentializing the effect of a low dose of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib on the R77C--SG degradation inhibition. Analysis of the screening associated to artificial intelligence-based predictive ADMET characterization of the hits led to identification of the HDAC inhibitor givinostat as potential therapeutical candidate. Functional characterization revealed that givinostat effect was related to autophagic pathway inhibition, unveiling new theories concerning degradation pathways of misfolded SG proteins. Beyond the identification of a new therapeutic option for LGMD R3 patients, our results shed light on the potential repurposing of givinostat for the treatment of other genetic diseases sharing similar protein degradation defects such as LGMD R5 and cystic fibrosis.

pharmacology and toxicology↗