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International audience; Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) is characterized by the contraction of the D4Z4 array located in the sub-telomeric region of the chromosome 4, leading to the aberrant expression of the DUX4 transcription factor and the mis-regulation of hundreds of genes. Several therapeutic strategies have been proposed among which the possibility to target the polyadenylation signal to silence the causative gene of the disease. Indeed, defects in mRNA polyadenylation leads to an alteration of the transcription termination, a disruption of mRNA transport from the nucleus to the cytoplasm decreasing the mRNA stability and translation efficiency. This review discusses the polyadenylation mechanisms, why alternative polyadenylation impacts gene expression, and how targeting polyadenylation signal may be a potential therapeutic approach for FSHD.

Muscular dystrophies are characterized by weakness and wasting of skeletal muscle tissues. Several drugs targeting the myostatin pathway have been used in clinical trials to increase muscle mass and function but most showed limited efficacy. Here we show that the expression of components of the myostatin signaling pathway is downregulated in muscle wasting or atrophying diseases, with a decrease of myostatin and activin receptor, and an increase of the myostatin antagonist, follistatin. We also provide in vivo evidence in the congenital myotubular myopathy mouse model (knock-out for the myotubularin coding gene Mtm1) that a down-regulated myostatin pathway can be reactivated by correcting the underlying gene defect. Our data may explain the poor clinical efficacy of anti-myostatin approaches in several of the clinical studies and the apparent contradictory results in mice regarding the efficacy of anti-myostatin approaches and may inform patient selection and stratification for future trials., Drugs targeting myostatin reverse muscle wasting in animal models, but have limited efficacy in patients. The authors show that the myostatin pathway is downregulated in patients, possibly explaining the poor outcome of anti-myostatin approaches, and that it can be reactivated by correcting disease-causing mutations in mice.

Syncytins are envelope genes from endogenous retroviruses, “captured” for a role in placentation. They mediate cell-cell fusion, resulting in the formation of a syncytium (the syncytiotrophoblast) at the fetomaternal interface. These genes have been found in all placental mammals in which they have been searched for. Cell-cell fusion is also pivotal for muscle fiber formation and repair, where the myotubes are formed from the fusion of mononucleated myoblasts into large multinucleated structures. Here we show, taking advantage of mice knocked out for syncytins, that these captured genes contribute to myoblast fusion, with a >20% reduction in muscle mass, mean muscle fiber area and number of nuclei per fiber in knocked out mice for one of the two murine syncytin genes. Remarkably, this reduction is only observed in males, which subsequently show muscle quantitative traits more similar to those of females. In addition, we show that syncytins also contribute to muscle repair after cardiotoxin-induced injury, with again a male-specific effect on the rate and extent of regeneration. Finally, ex vivo experiments carried out on murine myoblasts demonstrate the direct involvement of syncytins in fusion, with a >40% reduction in fusion index upon addition of siRNA against both syncytins. Importantly, similar effects are observed with primary myoblasts from sheep, dog and human, with a 20–40% reduction upon addition of siRNA against the corresponding syncytins. Altogether, these results show a direct contribution of the fusogenic syncytins to myogenesis, with a demonstrated male-dependence of the effect in mice, suggesting that these captured genes could be responsible for the muscle sexual dimorphism observed in placental mammals., Author Summary Syncytins are “captured” genes of retroviral origin, corresponding to the fusogenic envelope gene of endogenized retroviruses. They are present in all placental mammals in which they have been searched for, where they play an essential role in placentation via their cell-cell fusion activity. Here we show that they also contribute to myoblast fusion and muscle formation in development and repair after injury, using both in vivo knock-out mouse models and ex vivo primary myoblast cell cultures from several mammals, including humans, carnivores and ruminants. Interestingly, the effects observed in mice are sex-dependent, thus suggesting that the added “collateral” effect of syncytins on myogenesis could be responsible for the muscle sexual dimorphism observed in placental mammals.

International audience; The molecular mechanisms by which aging affects stem cell number and function are poorly understood. Murine data have implicated cellular senescence in the loss of muscle stem cells with aging. Here, using human cells and by carrying out experiments within a strictly pre-senescent division count, we demonstrate an impaired capacity for stem cell self-renewal in elderly muscle. We link aging to an increased methylation of the SPRY1 gene, a known regulator of muscle stem cell quiescence. Replenishment of the reserve cell pool was modulated experimentally by demethylation or siRNA knockdown of SPRY1. We propose that suppression of SPRY1 by age-associated methylation in humans inhibits the replenishment of the muscle stem cell pool, contributing to a decreased regenerative response in old age. We further show that aging does not affect muscle stem cell senescence in humans.

International audience; Background :Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is an autosomal-dominant disorder and is one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy. We have recently shown that some hallmarks of FSHD are already expressed in fetal FSHD biopsies, thus opening a new field of investigation for mechanisms leading to FSHD. As microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in myogenesis and muscle disorders, in this study we compared miRNAs expression levels during normal and FSHD muscle development. Methods :Muscle biopsies were obtained from quadriceps of both healthy control and FSHD1 fetuses with ages ranging from 14 to 33 weeks of development. miRNA expression profiles were analyzed using TaqMan Human MicroRNA Arrays. Results :During human skeletal muscle development, in control muscle biopsies we observed changes for 4 miRNAs potentially involved in secondary muscle fiber formation and 5 miRNAs potentially involved in fiber maturation. When we compared the miRNA profiles obtained from control and FSHD biopsies, we did not observe any differences in the muscle specific miRNAs. However, we identified 8 miRNAs exclusively expressed in FSHD1 samples (miR-330, miR-331-5p, miR-34a, miR-380-3p, miR-516b, miR-582-5p, miR-517* and miR-625) which could represent new biomarkers for this disease. Their putative targets are mainly involved in muscle development and morphogenesis. Interestingly, these FSHD1 specific miRNAs do not target the genes previously described to be involved in FSHD. Conclusions :This work provides new candidate mechanisms potentially involved in the onset of FSHD pathology. Whether these FSHD specific miRNAs cause deregulations during fetal development, or protect against the appearance of the FSHD phenotype until the second decade of life still needs to be investigated.

International audience; Facio-scapulo-humeral dystrophy (FSHD) results from deletions in the subtelomeric macrosatellite D4Z4 array on the 4q35 region. Upregulation of the DUX4 retrogene from the last D4Z4 repeated unit is thought to underlie FSHD pathophysiology. However, no one knows what triggers muscle defect and when alteration arises. To gain further insights into the molecular mechanisms of the disease, we evaluated at the molecular level, the perturbation linked to the FSHD genotype with no a priori on disease onset, severity or penetrance and prior to any infiltration by fibrotic or adipose tissue in biopsies from fetuses carrying a short pathogenic D4Z4 array (n 5 6) compared with fetuses with a non-pathogenic D4Z4 array (n 5 21). By measuring expression of several muscle-specific markers and 4q35 genes including the DUX4 retrogene by an RT-PCR and western blotting, we observed a global dysregulation of genes involved in myogenesis including MYOD1 in samples with

International audience; : Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is one of the most prevalent adult muscular dystrophies. The common clinical signs usually appear during the second decade of life but when the first molecular dysregulations occur is still unknown. Our aim was to determine whether molecular dysregulations can be identified during FSHD fetal muscle development. We compared muscle biopsies derived from FSHD1 fetuses and the cells derived from some of these biopsies with biopsies and cells derived from control fetuses. We mainly focus on DUX4 isoform expression because the expression of DUX4 has been confirmed in both FSHD cells and biopsies by several laboratories. We measured DUX4 isoform expression by using qRT-PCR in fetal FSHD1 myotubes treated or not with an shRNA directed against DUX4 mRNA. We also analyzed DUX4 downstream target gene expression in myotubes and fetal or adult FSHD1 and control quadriceps biopsies. We show that both DUX4-FL isoforms are already expressed in FSHD1 myotubes. Interestingly, DUX4-FL expression level is much lower in trapezius than in quadriceps myotubes, which is confirmed by the level of expression of DUX4 downstream genes. We observed that TRIM43 and MBD3L2 are already overexpressed in FSHD1 fetal quadriceps biopsies, at similar levels to those observed in adult FSHD1 quadriceps biopsies. These results indicate that molecular markers of the disease are already expressed during fetal life, thus opening a new field of investigation for mechanisms leading to FSHD.

Background The clinical features of myofibrillar myopathies display a wide phenotypic heterogeneity. To this date, no studies have evaluated this parameter due to the absence of pertinent animal models. By studying two mutants of desmin, which induce subtle phenotypic differences in patients, we address this issue using an animal model based on the use of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors carrying mutated desmin cDNA. Methods After preparation of the vectors, they were injected directly into the tibialis anterior muscles of C57BL/6 mice to allow expression of wild-type (WT) or mutated (R406W or E413K) desmin. Measurements of maximal force were carried out on the muscle in situ and then the injected muscles were analyzed to determine the structural consequences of the desmin mutations on muscle structure (microscopic observations, histology and immunohistochemistry). Results Injection of AAV carrying WT desmin results in the expression of exogenous desmin in 98% of the muscle fibers without any pathological or functional perturbations. Exogenous WT and endogenous desmin are co-localized and no differences were observed compared to non-injected muscle. Expression of desmin mutants in mouse muscles induce morphological changes of muscle fibers (irregular shape and size) and the appearance of desmin accumulations around the nuclei (for R406W) or in subsarcolemmal regions of fibers (for E413K). These accumulations seem to occur and disrupt the Z-line, and a strong regeneration was observed in muscle expressing the R406W desmin, which is not the case for E413K. Moreover, both mutants of desmin studied here induce a decrease in muscle force generation capacity. Conclusions In this study we show that AAV-mediated expression of desmin mutants in mouse muscles recapitulate the aggregation features, the decrease in contractile function and the morphological changes observed in patients with myofibrillar myopathy. More importantly, our results suggest that the R406W desmin mutant induces a robust muscle regeneration, which is not the case for the E413K mutant. This difference could help to explain the phenotypic differences observed in patients. Our results highlight the heterogeneous pathogenic mechanisms between different desmin mutants and open the way for new advances in the study of myofibrillar myopathies.

FacioScapuloHumeral Dystrophy (FSHD) is a rare autosomal dominant neuromuscular disorder. This disease is caused by a loss of epigenetic marks within the D4Z4 macrosatellite located in the subtelomeric region of chromosome 4 leading to chromatin relaxation, aberrant expression of the DUX4 transcription factor and a cascade of gene deregulations. So far, there is no curative treatment for FSHD. The aim of this project was to determine whether or not targeting 3’-end key sequences involved in the polyadenylation of mRNA by antisens oligonucleotides (AOs) can be used as an efficient strategy for DUX4 gene silencing in FSHD. Indeed, cleavage and polyadenylation of the 3’-end of mRNAs are fundamental mechanisms of mRNAs maturation required for nuclear export, stability of the mRNAs and efficient translation and consequently could represent interesting targets for suppression of gene expression for gain of function diseases. For the first time, we demonstrated in vitro that targeting 3’-end key sequences involved in the addition of the poly(A) tail, such as the polyadenylation signal and the cleavage site, leads to an efficient extinction of the mRNA targeted and in particular DUX4. Because AOs have a weak cellular uptake and a rapid clearance in vivo, the sequences of the most promising AOs have been vectorised into an AAV vector under the control of the U7 promoter. The first results that we obtained with a FSHD mouse model treated with these vectors are promising. This innovating strategy appears as a therapeutic option for FSHD.; La dystrophie facio-scapulo-humérale (FSHD) est une maladie musculaire autosomique dominante rare. Cette pathologie est causée par la perte des marques épigénétiques répressives au macrosatellite D4Z4 en région subtélomérique du chromosome 4, ce qui conduit à la relaxation de la chromatine, l’expression aberrante du facteur de transcription DUX4 et la dérégulation de centaines de gènes. A ce jour, aucun traitement thérapeutique n’existe pour la FSHD. Le but de ce projet était de déterminer si cibler ou non par des oligonucléotides antisens (AOs) les séquences clés impliquées dans la polyadénylation des ARNm peut-être une stratégie thérapeutique pour inhiber l’expression de DUX4 chez les patients FSHD. En effet, le clivage et la polyadénylation en 3’ des ARNm sont des mécanismes fondamentaux de la maturation des ARNm nécessaires à leur export nucléaire, leur stabilité ou leur traduction efficace. Ces mécanismes représentent donc des cibles intéressantes pour une suppression de l’expression d’un gène dans des maladies à gain de fonction. Pour la première fois, nous avons pu montrer in vitro que l’utilisation d’AOs ciblant les séquences clés impliquées dans l’ajout d’une queue poly(A), notamment le signal de polyadénylation ou le site de clivage, conduit à une sous-expression de l’ARNm gène ciblé, et en particulier DUX4. Les AOs présentant in vivo une faible capacité à pénétrer les cellules et une forte clairance, les séquences des AOs les plus prometteurs ont été insérées dans un vecteur AAV sous promoteur U7. Les premiers résultats obtenus avec ces vecteurs sur un modèle murin sont prometteurs. Cette stratégie innovante apparait comme une option thérapeutique pour la FSHD.

FacioScapuloHumeral Dystrophy (FSHD) is a rare autosomal dominant neuromuscular disorder. This disease is caused by a loss of epigenetic marks within the D4Z4 macrosatellite located in the subtelomeric region of chromosome 4 leading to chromatin relaxation, aberrant expression of the DUX4 transcription factor and a cascade of gene deregulations. So far, there is no curative treatment for FSHD. The aim of this project was to determine whether or not targeting 3’-end key sequences involved in the polyadenylation of mRNA by antisens oligonucleotides (AOs) can be used as an efficient strategy for DUX4 gene silencing in FSHD. Indeed, cleavage and polyadenylation of the 3’-end of mRNAs are fundamental mechanisms of mRNAs maturation required for nuclear export, stability of the mRNAs and efficient translation and consequently could represent interesting targets for suppression of gene expression for gain of function diseases. For the first time, we demonstrated in vitro that targeting 3’-end key sequences involved in the addition of the poly(A) tail, such as the polyadenylation signal and the cleavage site, leads to an efficient extinction of the mRNA targeted and in particular DUX4. Because AOs have a weak cellular uptake and a rapid clearance in vivo, the sequences of the most promising AOs have been vectorised into an AAV vector under the control of the U7 promoter. The first results that we obtained with a FSHD mouse model treated with these vectors are promising. This innovating strategy appears as a therapeutic option for FSHD.; La dystrophie facio-scapulo-humérale (FSHD) est une maladie musculaire autosomique dominante rare. Cette pathologie est causée par la perte des marques épigénétiques répressives au macrosatellite D4Z4 en région subtélomérique du chromosome 4, ce qui conduit à la relaxation de la chromatine, l’expression aberrante du facteur de transcription DUX4 et la dérégulation de centaines de gènes. A ce jour, aucun traitement thérapeutique n’existe pour la FSHD. Le but de ce projet était de déterminer si cibler ou non par des oligonucléotides antisens (AOs) les séquences clés impliquées dans la polyadénylation des ARNm peut-être une stratégie thérapeutique pour inhiber l’expression de DUX4 chez les patients FSHD. En effet, le clivage et la polyadénylation en 3’ des ARNm sont des mécanismes fondamentaux de la maturation des ARNm nécessaires à leur export nucléaire, leur stabilité ou leur traduction efficace. Ces mécanismes représentent donc des cibles intéressantes pour une suppression de l’expression d’un gène dans des maladies à gain de fonction. Pour la première fois, nous avons pu montrer in vitro que l’utilisation d’AOs ciblant les séquences clés impliquées dans l’ajout d’une queue poly(A), notamment le signal de polyadénylation ou le site de clivage, conduit à une sous-expression de l’ARNm gène ciblé, et en particulier DUX4. Les AOs présentant in vivo une faible capacité à pénétrer les cellules et une forte clairance, les séquences des AOs les plus prometteurs ont été insérées dans un vecteur AAV sous promoteur U7. Les premiers résultats obtenus avec ces vecteurs sur un modèle murin sont prometteurs. Cette stratégie innovante apparait comme une option thérapeutique pour la FSHD.

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern and is one of the most common muscular dystrophies (7/100 000). FSHD usually manifests in the second decade of life and includes an asymmetric wasting and weakness of facial, shoulder and arm muscles and is affecting the distal muscles in later stages of the disease. D4Z4 repetitions, which are known to be decreased in FSHD patients, comprise an open reading frame encoding a transcription factor called DUX4 that is only expressed in patients affected by FSHD. My PhD thesis project is aiming to better understanding of the role played by DUX4 in human skeletal muscle in order to elucidate its involvement in the pathophysiology of FSHD. As FSHD is a progressive disease, I studied DUX4 mRNA expression in both primary human fetal muscle cells and in fetal muscle tissue of control subjects and FSHD1 patients. For the first time, we were able to demonstrate DUX4 expression at the fetal stage, and in addition, we showed abnormal expression of various genes that has been reported to be altered in adult FSHD patients. Also, our experiments on fetus and adult FSHD patient cells suggested an equal expression of DUX4 protein. Although DUX4 protein is expressed at a very low level in patients (about 0.5 to 10% of the nuclei), it leads to a strong misexpression of a large number of DUX4 target genes. By performing co-cultures between C2C12 mouse myoblasts and control or FSHD human myoblasts, we demonstrated that expression of toxic DUX4 protein occurs only in a limited number of nuclei in FSHD patient cells. Interestingly, we revealed that the expressed DUX4 protein is able to spread from one nucleus into nearby nuclei within the myotubes and hence transmitting the molecular pathological abnormalities. Our research project will give us new insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying FSHD., La Dystrophie Facio-Scapulo-Humérale (FSHD) est la plus fréquente maladie neuromusculaire chez l'adulte (7 cas pour 100 000 naissances). D'origine autosomique dominante, elle apparait en général durant la seconde décade et se caractérise principalement par une perte de force et une fonte asymétrique des muscles du visage, des épaules et des bras puis progresse au reste du corps. L'analyse du motif répété D4Z4, dont le nombre de répétitions est diminué chez les patients, a mis en évidence la présence d'une phase ouverte de lecture codant pour un facteur de transcription appelé DUX4. Son expression a été retrouvée spécifiquement chez les patients FSHD. Mes travaux de thèse se sont concentrés sur l'étude de DUX4 et son implication dans la physiopathologie de la FSHD. Parce que la FSHD est une maladie progressive, nos analyses ont été faites sur des cultures de cellules et des biopsies f¿tales FSHD1 et Contrôles. Nous avons ainsi mis en évidence pour la première fois que DUX4 est exprimé dès le stade f¿tal et que les dérégulations géniques identifiées chez l'adulte sont également présentent à ce stade. De plus nos expériences semblent montrer que le niveau d'expression de DUX4 entre le f¿tus et l'adulte FSHD est similaire. Enfin, le niveau d'expression de DUX4 est extrêmement restreint (environs 0,5 à 10% des noyaux), mais son effet sur un grand nombre de gènes cibles est lui très fortement prononcé et quantifiable. Des essais de co-cultures ont ainsi mis en évidence que in vivo, DUX4 est à même de diffuser d'un noyau à l'autre au sein d'une fibre musculaire et de diffuser le phénomène pathologique. Nos travaux ouvrent ainsi un nouveau champ d'étude pour la compréhension des mécanismes physiopathologiques conduisant à la FSHD.

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern and is one of the most common muscular dystrophies (7/100 000). FSHD usually manifests in the second decade of life and includes an asymmetric wasting and weakness of facial, shoulder and arm muscles and is affecting the distal muscles in later stages of the disease. D4Z4 repetitions, which are known to be decreased in FSHD patients, comprise an open reading frame encoding a transcription factor called DUX4 that is only expressed in patients affected by FSHD. My PhD thesis project is aiming to better understanding of the role played by DUX4 in human skeletal muscle in order to elucidate its involvement in the pathophysiology of FSHD. As FSHD is a progressive disease, I studied DUX4 mRNA expression in both primary human fetal muscle cells and in fetal muscle tissue of control subjects and FSHD1 patients. For the first time, we were able to demonstrate DUX4 expression at the fetal stage, and in addition, we showed abnormal expression of various genes that has been reported to be altered in adult FSHD patients. Also, our experiments on fetus and adult FSHD patient cells suggested an equal expression of DUX4 protein. Although DUX4 protein is expressed at a very low level in patients (about 0.5 to 10% of the nuclei), it leads to a strong misexpression of a large number of DUX4 target genes. By performing co-cultures between C2C12 mouse myoblasts and control or FSHD human myoblasts, we demonstrated that expression of toxic DUX4 protein occurs only in a limited number of nuclei in FSHD patient cells. Interestingly, we revealed that the expressed DUX4 protein is able to spread from one nucleus into nearby nuclei within the myotubes and hence transmitting the molecular pathological abnormalities. Our research project will give us new insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying FSHD., La Dystrophie Facio-Scapulo-Humérale (FSHD) est la plus fréquente maladie neuromusculaire chez l'adulte (7 cas pour 100 000 naissances). D'origine autosomique dominante, elle apparait en général durant la seconde décade et se caractérise principalement par une perte de force et une fonte asymétrique des muscles du visage, des épaules et des bras puis progresse au reste du corps. L'analyse du motif répété D4Z4, dont le nombre de répétitions est diminué chez les patients, a mis en évidence la présence d'une phase ouverte de lecture codant pour un facteur de transcription appelé DUX4. Son expression a été retrouvée spécifiquement chez les patients FSHD. Mes travaux de thèse se sont concentrés sur l'étude de DUX4 et son implication dans la physiopathologie de la FSHD. Parce que la FSHD est une maladie progressive, nos analyses ont été faites sur des cultures de cellules et des biopsies f¿tales FSHD1 et Contrôles. Nous avons ainsi mis en évidence pour la première fois que DUX4 est exprimé dès le stade f¿tal et que les dérégulations géniques identifiées chez l'adulte sont également présentent à ce stade. De plus nos expériences semblent montrer que le niveau d'expression de DUX4 entre le f¿tus et l'adulte FSHD est similaire. Enfin, le niveau d'expression de DUX4 est extrêmement restreint (environs 0,5 à 10% des noyaux), mais son effet sur un grand nombre de gènes cibles est lui très fortement prononcé et quantifiable. Des essais de co-cultures ont ainsi mis en évidence que in vivo, DUX4 est à même de diffuser d'un noyau à l'autre au sein d'une fibre musculaire et de diffuser le phénomène pathologique. Nos travaux ouvrent ainsi un nouveau champ d'étude pour la compréhension des mécanismes physiopathologiques conduisant à la FSHD.