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Panza E, Vellecco V, Iannotti FA, Paris D, Manzo OL, Smimmo M, Mitilini N, Boscaino A, de Dominicis G, Bucci M, Di Lorenzo A, Cirino G. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy involves a defective transsulfuration pathway activity. Redox Biol 2021; 45:102040. [PMID: 34174560 PMCID: PMC8246642 DOI: 10.1016/j.redox.2021.102040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most frequent X chromosome-linked disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding for dystrophin, leading to progressive and unstoppable degeneration of skeletal muscle tissues. Despite recent advances in the understanding of the molecular processes involved in the pathogenesis of DMD, there is still no cure. In this study, we aim at investigating the potential involvement of the transsulfuration pathway (TSP), and its by-end product namely hydrogen sulfide (H2S), in primary human myoblasts isolated from DMD donors and skeletal muscles of dystrophic (mdx) mice. In myoblasts of DMD donors, we demonstrate that the expression of key genes regulating the H2S production and TSP activity, including cystathionine γ lyase (CSE), cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), 3 mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST), cysteine dioxygenase (CDO), cysteine sulfonic acid decarboxylase (CSAD), glutathione synthase (GS) and γ -glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS) is reduced. Starting from these findings, using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) we show that the levels of TSP-related metabolites such as methionine, glycine, glutathione, glutamate and taurine, as well as the expression levels of the aforementioned TSP related genes, are significantly reduced in skeletal muscles of mdx mice compared to healthy controls, at both an early (7 weeks) and overt (17 weeks) stage of the disease. Importantly, the treatment with sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), a commonly used H2S donor, fully recovers the impaired locomotor activity in both 7 and 17 old mdx mice. This is an effect attributable to the reduced expression of pro-inflammatory markers and restoration of autophagy in skeletal muscle tissues. In conclusion, our study uncovers a defective TSP pathway activity in DMD and highlights the role of H2S-donors for novel and safe adjuvant therapy to treat symptoms of DMD.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Panza
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - V Vellecco
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - F A Iannotti
- Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), Pozzuoli (NA), Italy
| | - D Paris
- Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), Pozzuoli (NA), Italy
| | - O L Manzo
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; Center for Vascular Biology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
| | - M Smimmo
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - N Mitilini
- UOSC, Pathological Anatomy, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy
| | - A Boscaino
- UOSC, Pathological Anatomy, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy
| | - G de Dominicis
- UOSC, Pathological Anatomy, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy
| | - M Bucci
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
| | - A Di Lorenzo
- Center for Vascular Biology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
| | - G Cirino
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
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