Project description:Pompe disease is a genetic disorder resulting from a deficiency of lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) that manifests as a clinical spectrum with regard to symptom severity and rate of progression. In this study, we used microarrays to examine gene expression from the muscle of two cohorts of infantile-onset Pompe patients to identify transcriptional differences that may contribute to the disease phenotype. We found strong similarities among the gene expression profiles generated from biceps and quadriceps, and identified a number of signaling pathways altered in both cohorts. We also found that infantile-onset Pompe patient muscle had a gene expression pattern characteristic of immature or regenerating muscle, and exhibited many transcriptional markers of inflammation, despite having few overt signs of inflammatory infiltrate. Further, we identified genes exhibiting correlation between expression at baseline and response to therapy. This combined dataset can serve as a foundation for biological discovery and biomarker development to improve the treatment of Pompe disease.
Project description:Pompe disease (glycogen storage disease type II, or acid maltase deficiency) is an autosomal-recessive disorder of metabolism caused by mutations in the lysosomal hydrolase, acid alpha-glucosidase gene (GAA), resulting in progressive muscle atrophy. The current standard of care treatment, enzyme replacement therapy, consists of delivering recombinant human GAA (rhGAA) to reduce muscle glycogen and improve patient quality of life. With the aim of developing in vitro systems to study human disease and test therapies, we applied RNA sequencing to 3D tissue-engineered human skeletal muscle to compare healthy, (infantile onset) Pompe disease, and rhGAA-treated Pompe engineered tissues.
Project description:Pompe disease is a Lysosomal glycogen storage disorder due to the deficiency of acid alpha glucosidase. The enzyme degrades glycogen to glucose and its deficiency results in progressive enlargement of glycogen-filled lysosomes in multiple tissues with skeletal and cardiac muscle most severely affected clinically. Clinical spectrum ranges from most severe infantile cardiomegally and skeletal muscle myopathy to milder late onset forms with only skeletal muscle pathology. The currently available enzyme replacement therapy has only limited effect in skeletal muscle. Here we use RNA sequencing of therapy-resistant skeletal muscle (white part of gastrocnemius muscle) to identify the differencies between the diseased and healthy muscle. Total RNA was obtained from gastrocnemius muscle (white part) of acid alpha glucosidase knock-out and wild-type mice.
Project description:Pompe disease is a Lysosomal glycogen storage disorder due to the deficiency of acid alpha glucosidase. The enzyme degrades glycogen to glucose and its deficiency results in progressive enlargement of glycogen-filled lysosomes in multiple tissues with skeletal and cardiac muscle most severely affected clinically. Clinical spectrum ranges from most severe infantile cardiomegally and skeletal muscle myopathy to milder late onset forms with only skeletal muscle pathology. The currently available enzyme replacement therapy has only limited effect in skeletal muscle. Here we use RNA sequencing of therapy-resistant skeletal muscle (white part of gastrocnemius muscle) to identify the differencies between the diseased and healthy muscle.
