Researchers at the University of Iowa have worked out the exact function of an enzyme that is critical for normal muscle structure and is involved in several muscular dystrophies. The findings, which were published Jan. 6 in the journal Science, could be used to develop rapid, large-scale testing of potential muscular dystrophy therapies.
The enzyme, called LARGE, adds a critical sugar chain onto an important membrane protein called dystroglycan. This sugar chain acts like a glue allowing dystroglycan to attach to other proteins and by doing so, reinforce cell membranes in many tissues including muscle and brain. Dystroglycan does not function properly without this sugar link, and that malfunction causes muscular dystrophies and brain abnormalities.
“LARGE is a critical enzyme involved in maintaining muscle cell viability,” says Kevin Campbell, Ph.D., professor and head of molecular physiology and biophysics at the UI Carver College of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “It adds on a unique sugar chain that allows the muscle cell to protect its membrane from injury. By figuring out the function of this enzyme we’ve finally identified this critical sugar link.”
The new study shows that the enzyme activity of LARGE has two specific sugar-adding functions — it transfers the sugars xylose and glucuronic acid. Using nuclear magnetic resonance analysis (NMR), the team was also able to determine the precise structure of the sugar chain produced by LARGE, which has not been seen before.
The study confirmed that this unique sugar chain is responsible for dystroglycan’s ability to attach to its protein partners, which include laminin in muscle and neurexin in brain.
In addition to LARGE, several other enzymes are involved in building the important dystroglycan sugar chain, and mutations in all these enzymes cause congenital muscular dystrophies collectively known as secondary dystroglycanopathies. These disorders include Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, Walker-Warburg Syndrome, Muscle-Eye-Brain disease, Congenital Muscular Dystrophy 1C and 1D, and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2I.
Science Brief thanks to EurekAlert.
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Study reveals enzyme function, could help find muscular dystrophy therapies
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