Standardization of zebrafish drug testing parameters for muscle diseases

Skeletal muscular diseases predominantly affect skeletal and cardiac muscle, resulting in muscle weakness, impaired respiratory function and decreased lifespan. These harmful outcomes lead to poor health-related quality of life and carry a high healthcare economic burden. The absence of promising treatments and new therapies for muscular disorders requires new methods for candidate drug identification and advancement in animal models. Consequently, the rapid screening of drug compounds in an animal model that mimics features of human muscle disease is warranted. Zebrafish are a versatile model in preclinical studies that support developmental biology and drug discovery programs for novel chemical entities and repurposing of established drugs. Due to several advantages, there is an increasing number of applications of the zebrafish model for high-throughput drug screening for human disorders and developmental studies. Consequently, standardization of key drug screening parameters, such as animal husbandry protocols, drug compound administration and outcome measures, is paramount for the continued advancement of the model and field. Here, we seek to summarize and explore critical drug treatment and drug screening parameters in the zebrafish-based modeling of human muscle diseases. Through improved standardization and harmonization of drug screening parameters and protocols, we aim to promote more effective drug discovery programs.

DOCK3 regulates normal skeletal muscle regeneration and glucose metabolism

DOCK (dedicator of cytokinesis) is an 11-member family of typical guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) expressed in the brain, spinal cord, and skeletal muscle. Several DOCK proteins have been implicated in maintaining several myogenic processes such as fusion. We previously identified DOCK3 as being strongly upregulated in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), specifically in the skeletal muscles of DMD patients and dystrophic mice. Dock3 ubiquitous KO mice on the dystrophin-deficient background exacerbated skeletal muscle and cardiac phenotypes. We generated Dock3 conditional skeletal muscle knockout mice (Dock3 mKO) to characterize the role of DOCK3 protein exclusively in the adult muscle lineage. Dock3 mKO mice presented with significant hyperglycemia and increased fat mass, indicating a metabolic role in the maintenance of skeletal muscle health. Dock3 mKO mice had impaired muscle architecture, reduced locomotor activity, impaired myofiber regeneration, and metabolic dysfunction. We identified a novel DOCK3 interaction with SORBS1 through the C-terminal domain of DOCK3 that may account for its metabolic dysregulation. Together, these findings demonstrate an essential role for DOCK3 in skeletal muscle independent of DOCK3 function in neuronal lineages.

DOCK3 regulates normal skeletal muscle regeneration and glucose metabolism

DOCK (dedicator of cytokinesis) is an 11-member family of typical guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) expressed in the brain, spinal cord, and skeletal muscle. Several DOCK proteins have been implicated in maintaining several myogenic processes such as fusion. We previously identified DOCK3 as being strongly upregulated in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), specifically in the skeletal muscles of DMD patients and dystrophic mice. Dock3 ubiquitous KO mice on the dystrophin-deficient background exacerbated skeletal muscle and cardiac phenotypes. We generated Dock3 conditional skeletal muscle knockout mice (Dock3 mKO) to characterize the role of DOCK3 protein exclusively in the adult muscle lineage. Dock3 mKO mice presented with significant hyperglycemia and increased fat mass, indicating a metabolic role in the maintenance of skeletal muscle health. Dock3 mKO mice had impaired muscle architecture, reduced locomotor activity, impaired myofiber regeneration, and metabolic dysfunction. We identified a novel DOCK3 interaction with SORBS1 through the C-terminal domain of DOCK3 that may account for its metabolic dysregulation. Together, these findings demonstrate an essential role for DOCK3 in skeletal muscle independent of DOCK3 function in neuronal lineages.

Next-Generation SINE Compound KPT-8602 Ameliorates Dystrophic Pathology in Zebrafish and Mouse Models of DMD

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive, X-linked childhood neuromuscular disorder that results from loss-of-function mutations in the DYSTROPHIN gene. DMD patients exhibit muscle necrosis, cardiomyopathy, respiratory failure, and loss of ambulation. One of the major driving forces of DMD disease pathology is chronic inflammation. The current DMD standard of care is corticosteroids; however, there are serious side effects with long-term use, thus identifying novel anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic treatments for DMD is of high priority. We investigated the next-generation SINE compound, KPT-8602 (eltanexor) as an oral therapeutic to alleviate dystrophic symptoms. We performed pre-clinical evaluation of the effects of KPT-8602 in DMD zebrafish (sapje) and mouse (D2-mdx) models. KPT-8602 improved dystrophic skeletal muscle pathologies, muscle architecture and integrity, and overall outcomes in both animal models. KPT-8602 treatment ameliorated DMD pathology in D2-mdx mice, with increased locomotor behavior and improved muscle histology. KPT-8602 altered the immunological profile of the dystrophic mice, and reduced circulating osteopontin serum levels. These findings demonstrate KPT-8602 as an effective therapeutic in DMD through by promotion of an anti-inflammatory environment and overall improvement of DMD pathological outcomes.

miR-486 is essential for muscle function and suppresses a dystrophic transcriptome

miR-486 is a muscle-enriched microRNA, or "myomiR," that has reduced expression correlated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). To determine the function of miR-486 in normal and dystrophin-deficient muscles and elucidate miR-486 target transcripts in skeletal muscle, we characterized mir-486 knockout mice (mir-486 KO). mir-486 KO mice developed disrupted myofiber architecture, decreased myofiber size, decreased locomotor activity, increased cardiac fibrosis, and metabolic defects were exacerbated in mir-486 KO:mdx 5cv (DKO) mice. To identify direct in vivo miR-486 muscle target transcripts, we integrated RNA sequencing and chimeric miRNA eCLIP sequencing to identify key transcripts and pathways that contribute towards mir-486 KO and dystrophic disease pathologies. These targets included known and novel muscle metabolic and dystrophic structural remodeling factors of muscle and skeletal muscle contractile transcript targets. Together, our studies identify miR-486 as essential for normal muscle function, a driver of pathological remodeling in dystrophin-deficient muscle, a useful biomarker for dystrophic disease progression, and highlight the use of multiple omic platforms to identify in vivo microRNA target transcripts.

DOCKopathies: A systematic review of the clinical pathologies associated with human DOCK pathogenic variants

The Dedicator of Cytokinesis (DOCK) family (DOCK1-11) of genes are essential mediators of cellular migration, growth, and fusion in a variety of cell types and tissues. Recent advances in whole-genome sequencing of patients with undiagnosed genetic disorders have identified several rare pathogenic variants in DOCK genes. We conducted a systematic review and performed a patient database and literature search of reported DOCK pathogenic variants that have been identified in association with clinical pathologies such as global developmental delay, immune cell dysfunction, muscle hypotonia, and muscle ataxia among other categories. We then categorized these pathogenic DOCK variants and their associated clinical phenotypes under several unique categories: developmental, cardiovascular, metabolic, cognitive, or neuromuscular. Our systematic review of DOCK variants aims to identify and analyze potential DOCK-regulated networks associated with neuromuscular diseases and other disease pathologies, which may identify novel therapeutic strategies and targets. This systematic analysis and categorization of human-associated pathologies with DOCK pathogenic variants is the first report to the best of our knowledge for a unique class in this understudied gene family that has important implications in furthering personalized genomic medicine, clinical diagnoses, and improve targeted therapeutic outcomes across many clinical pathologies.