Defective autophagy and increased apoptosis contribute toward the pathogenesis of FKRP-associated muscular dystrophies

Fukutin-related protein (FKRP) is a glycosyltransferase involved in glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan (a-DG). Mutations in FKRP are associated with muscular dystrophies (MD) ranging from limb-girdle LGMDR9 to Walker-Warburg syndrome (WWS), a severe type of congenital MD. Although hypoglycosylation of a-DG is the main hallmark of this group of diseases, a full understanding of the underlying pathophysiology is still missing. Here, we investigated molecular mechanisms impaired by FKRP mutations in pluripotent stem (PS) cell-derived myotubes. FKRP deficient myotubes show transcriptome alterations in genes involved in extracellular matrix receptor interactions, calcium signaling, PI3K-Akt pathway, and lysosomal function. Accordingly, using a panel of patient-specific LGMDR9 and WWS induced PS cell-derived myotubes, we found a significant reduction in the autophagy-lysosome pathway for both disease phenotypes. Additionally, we show that WWS myotubes display decreased ERK1/2 activity and increased apoptosis, which were restored in gene edited myotubes. Our results suggest the autophagy-lysosome pathway and apoptosis may contribute to the FKRP-associated MD pathogenesis. Gene expression profilling was performed in triplicate from human iPSC-derived myotubes.