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Survival transcriptome in coenzyme Q10 deficiency syndrome is acquired by epigenetic modifications: a modelling study for human coenzyme Q10 deficiencies.
For peer review only Journal: BMJ Open
Manuscript ID: bmjopen-2012-002524
Article Type: Research
Date Submitted by the Author: 20-Dec-2012
Complete List of Authors: Fernández-Ayala, Daniel; University Pablo Olavide, Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD-CSIC/UPO); CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Guerra, Ignacio; University Pablo Olavide, Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD-CSIC/UPO); CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Jiménez-Gancedo, Sandra; University Pablo Olavide, Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD-CSIC/UPO); CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cascajo, Maria; University Pablo Olavide, Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD-CSIC/UPO); CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Gavilán, Ángela; University Pablo Olavide, Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD-CSIC/UPO); CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III,
DiMauro, Salvatore; Columbia University Medical Center, Department of http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ Neurology Hirano, Michio; Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Neurology Briones, Paz; Instituto de Bioquímica Clínica, Corporació Sanitaria Clínic, ; CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Artuch, Rafael; Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Department of Clinical Biochemistry; CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, deCabo, Rafael; National Institute on Aging, NIH, Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology Salviati, Leonardo; University of Padova, Clinical Genetics Unit, Department on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. of Woman and Child Health Navas, Placido; University Pablo Olavide, Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD-CSIC/UPO); CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III,
Primary Subject Genetics and genomics Heading:
Secondary Subject Heading: Genetics and genomics, Diagnostics
Keywords: Neuromuscular disease < NEUROLOGY, BASIC SCIENCES, GENETICS
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 For peer review only 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 2 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 Survival transcriptome in the coenzyme Q10 deficiency syndrome is acquired by epigenetic 3 4 modifications: a modelling study for human coenzyme Q10 deficiencies. 5 6 7 8 Daniel J. M. Fernández Ayala1,5, Ignacio Guerra1,5, Sandra Jiménez Gancedo1,5, Maria V. Cascajo1,5, 9 10 1,5 2 2 3,5 4,5 11 Angela Gavilán , Salvatore DiMauro , Michio Hirano , Paz Briones , Rafael Artuch , Rafael de 12 6 7,8 1,5,8 13 Cabo , Leonardo Salviati and Plácido Navas 14 15 For peer review only 16 17 1Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD CSIC), Universidad Pablo Olavide, Seville, Spain 18 19 2 20 Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
21 3 22 Instituto de Bioquímica Clínica, Corporació Sanitaria Clínic, Barcelona, Spain 23 24 4Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain 25 26 5CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain 27 28 6Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, MD 21224, 29 30 31 USA 32 7 33 Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Woman and Child Health, University of Padova, Italy http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 8 Senior authorship is shared by LS and PN 36 37 38 39 40 Corresponding authors 41 42 Plácido Navas and Leonardo Salviati on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 Tel (+34)954349381 and (+39) 3471207364 45 46 e mail: [email protected] and [email protected] 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Word count (abstract): 285 54 Word count (summary) 295 55 Word count (introduction, methods, results and discussion): 2947 56 Tables and Illustrations: 4 57 References: 34 58 59 60 1 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 3 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 ABSTRACT 3 4 5 6 Objectives 7 Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) deficiency syndrome is a rare condition that causes a mitochondrial 8 dysfunction and includes a variety of clinical presentations, as encephalomyopathy, ataxia and renal 9 10 failure. We sought to set up what all have in common and to investigate why CoQ10 supplementation 11 reverses the bioenergetics alterations in cultured cells but not all the cellular phenotypes. 12 13 Design: modelling study 14 This work models the transcriptome of human CoQ10 deficiency syndrome in primary fibroblast from 15 patients and studyFor the genetic peer response to CoQreview10 treatment in these only cells. 16 17 Setting 18 Four hospitals and medical centres from Spain, Italy and USA, and two research laboratories from 19 20 Spain and USA. 21 22 Participants 23 Primary cells were collected from patients in the above centres. 24 25 Measurements 26 We characterized by microarray analysis the expression profile of fibroblasts from seven CoQ10 27 deficient patients (three had primary deficiency, four had a secondary form) and aged matched 28 controls, before and after CoQ supplementation. Results were validated by Q RT PCR. The profile 29 10 30 of DNA (CpG) methylation was evaluated for a subset of gene with displayed altered expression. 31 32 Results 33 CoQ10 deficient fibroblasts (independently from the etiology) showed a common transcriptomic profile http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 that promotes cell survival by activating cell cycle and growth, cell stress responses, and inhibiting cell 35 death and immune responses. Energy production was supported mainly by glycolysis while CoQ10 36 supplementation restored oxidative phosphorylation. Expression of genes involved in cell death 37 pathways was partially restored by treatment, while genes involved in differentiation, cell cycle and 38 growth were not affected. Stably demethylated genes were unaffected by treatment whereas we 39 40 observed restored gene expression in either non methylated genes or those with an unchanged 41 methylation patterns. 42 on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 Conclusions 44 CoQ10 deficiency induces a specific transcriptomic profile that promotes cell survival, which is only 45 partially rescued by CoQ10 supplementation. 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 2 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 4 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 SUMMARY 3 4 5 Article Focus 6 • To analyse the common gene expression profile in primary cell cultures of dermal fibroblasts 7 from patients suffering any of the clinical presentation of the human syndrome of coenzyme 8 Q (CoQ ) deficiency (primary or secondary CoQ deficiency). 9 10 10 10
10 • To exanimate why CoQ10 treatment, the current therapy for all forms of CoQ10 deficiency, 11 restored respiration but not all the clinical phenotypes. 12 • To investigate the stable genetic cause responsible for the survival adaptation to mitochondrial 13 dysfunction due to CoQ10 deficiency. 14 15 For peer review only 16 Key Messages 17 18 • The mitochondrial dysfunction due to CoQ10 deficiency induces a stable survival adaptation of 19 somatic cells in patients at early or postnatal development by epigenetic modifications of 20 chromatin. Deficient cells unable to maintain this survival state during differentiation would 21 death contributing to the pathological phenotype. 22 • Supplementation with CoQ10 restores respiration through enhanced sugar rather than lipid 23 metabolism; partially restores stress response, immunity, cell death and apoptotic pathways; 24 and does not affect cell cycle, cell growth, and differentiation and development pathways. 25 26 • Unaffected genes by CoQ10 treatment corresponded to DNA demethylated genes, whereas 27 those responsive to CoQ10 corresponded to genes with unchanged DNA methylation pattern. 28 These results would approach to explain the incomplete recovery of clinical symptoms after 29 CoQ10 treatment, at least in some patients. 30 31 32 Strengths and Limitations 33 • Human CoQ10 deficiencies are considered rare diseases with low prevalence, which limits the http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 sample size. 35 36 • The genetic heterogeneity of this disease is due to mutations in any of the 11 genes directly 37 involved in the synthesis of CoQ10 inside mitochondria, or other mutations altering somehow 38 the mitochondria and its metabolism, affecting their inner CoQ10 synthesis as a side effect, will 39 course with CoQ10 deficiency. 40 • Among this genetic heterogeneity, all cells showed a common transcriptomic profile that 41
justified their pathological phenotype, responded equally to CoQ10 treatment, and presented the on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 42 same DNA methylation pattern. 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 3 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 5 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 KEY WORDS 3 4 Coenzyme Q, CoQ10 deficiency, transcriptome, epigenetic, human fibroblast 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 For peer review only 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 4 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 6 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 INTRODUCTION 3 4 Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a small electron carrier which is an essential cofactor for several 5 6 mitochondrial biochemical pathways such as oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), beta oxidation, 7 8 and pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis. CoQ biosynthesis depends on a multi enzyme complex1 that 9 10 10 11 involves at least ten proteins encoded by COQ genes. Mutations in any of these genes cause primary 12 2 13 CoQ10 deficiencies, which are clinically heterogeneous mitochondrial diseases . Clinical presentations 14 15 include encephalomyopathyFor peerwith lipid storage review myopathy and myoglobinuria only3; ataxia and cerebellar 16 17 atrophy4; severe infantile encephalomyopathy with renal failure5; isolated myopathy6; and nephrotic 18 19 7 8 20 syndrome . Secondary CoQ10 deficiency has also been associated with diverse mitochondrial diseases
21 13 14 15 22 . In all of these conditions, CoQ10 supplementation partially improves symptoms and usually 23 8 16 17 24 induces a return to normal growth and respiration in CoQ10 deficient fibroblasts . Adaptation of 25 26 somatic cells to CoQ10 deficiecny may affect both onset and course of the disease. Here, we document 27 28 common transcriptomic profile alterations in somatic cells of CoQ deficienct patients, their response to 29 30 31 CoQ10 supplementation, and the relationship with the DNA methylation status of specific genes. 32 33 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 36 37 MATERIALS AND METHODS 38 39 40 41 42 Cells on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 Primary skin fibroblasts from CoQ10 deficient patients and from aged matched controls, at similar 45 46 culture passage, were cultured at 37°C using DMEM 1 g/L Glucose, L Glutamine, Pyruvate 47 48 (Invitrogen, Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona) supplemented with an antibiotic/antimycotic solution 49 50 51 (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Missouri) and 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Linus). When required, 52 53 CoQ10 pre diluted in FBS was added to the plates at a final concentration of 30 M (Coenzyme Q10, 54 55 Synthetic Minimun 98%, HPLC, Sigma). We studied five patients with primary CoQ10 deficiency: two 56 57 siblings harbored a homozygous p.Y297C mutation in the COQ2 gene5, two others with a pathogenic 58 59 60 5 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 7 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 mutation (c.483G>C) in the COQ4 gene (this paper), and another one with haploinsufficiency of 3 18 4 COQ4 . Patients with secondary CoQ10 deficiency included: a MELAS patient harboring the 5 6 m.3243A>G in the mitochondrial tRNALeu(UUR) with 43% heteroplasmy level8; a patient with mtDNA 7 8 12 4 9 depletion syndrome , and a third patient with ataxia of unknown origin . Table 1 summarizes the 10 11 clinical phenotype and biochemical studies of these patients. 12 13 14 15 TranscriptomeFor analysis peer review only 16 17 RNA extraction, probe synthesis and hybridization with two independent expression arrays 18 19 20 (GeneChip® Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 and GeneChip® Human Gene 1.0 ST, Affymetrix) were 21 19 22 used as described . Gene expression was validated by the MyiQ™ Single Color Real Time PCR 23 24 Detection System (Biorad). See supplementary methods for full description. 25 26 Data had been deposited with the NCBI GEO database, at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/, 27 28 29 accession number GSE33941 (this SuperSeries is composed of two subset Series, see supplementary 30 31 table 7 for an explanation). 32 33 Statistical analyses were performed comparing each signal of patient’s fibroblasts RNA with the http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 corresponding signal of control RNA by two different approaches. The main statistical analysis for 36 37 both GeneChip® Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array and GeneChip® Human Gene 1.0 ST Array was 38 39 19 40 achieved as previously described , which selects the most significant genes commonly and equally 41 42 regulated in all samples using very stringent parameters. In a few special cases, other unselected but on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 regulated genes were studied because of their role in specific processes and pathways. They were 45 46 equally described in table 2. The second statistical analysis approach for the Gene Ontology study was 47 48 20 49 done as previously described and analyzes the most altered biological processes and pathways using 50 51 a lower stringency analysis, which permits to select the hundred most altered Gene Ontologies (GO) in 52 53 different functional categories (supplementary table 4) and the hundred more distorted pathways 54 55 (supplementary table 5) that had been regulated in CoQ10 deficient cells. GO regulated in both 56 57 independent analysis of primary and secondary CoQ deficiency (supplementary table 3), and those 58 10 59 60 6 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 8 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 regulated by CoQ10 supplementation (supplementary table 9) were studied using the GORILLA 3 4 software (Gene Ontology enrichment analysis and visualization tool), at http://cbl 5 6 gorilla.cs.technion.ac.il/21. Full description of statistical analysis be found in the supplementary 7 8 material. 9 10 11 12 13 Epigenetic analysis 14 15 DNA (CpG) methylationFor analysis peer was perform review using a base specific only cleavage reaction with bisulphite 16 17 combined with mass spectrometric analysis (MassCLEAVE™). For the statistical analysis, the CpGs’ 18 19 20 methylation degree for each gene was analyzed with the MultiExperiment Viewer software developed
21 22 22 by Saeed . See supplementary methods for full description. 23 24 25 26 27 28 RESULTS 29 30 31 32 33 Transcriptome analysis http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 We studied skin fibroblasts from four patients with primary CoQ10 deficiency and three patients with 36 37 secondary CoQ10 deficiency (Table1). We analyzed the transcriptomic profiles and compared them 38 39 40 with those of cells from age matched control idividuals, and evaluated and modifications induced by 41
8 16 17 on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 42 supplementation with 30 µM CoQ10 for one week to allow recovery of ATP levels . A very 43 44 stringent analysis selected the most significant genes displaying a common and equally altered 45 46 expression in all samples (summarized in Table 2 and shown with full details in supplementary table 47 48 49 1). Other genes unselected by this analysis, but still abnormally expressed were also included in the 50 51 study because of their role in specific processes and pathways, such as NADH mobilization, cell cycle 52 53 and immunity (supplementary table 1), and energetic metabolism (supplementary table 2). Gene 54 55 ontology (GO) classification of these genes showed similar profiles when comparing independently 56 57 primary and secondary deficient fibroblasts (supplementary table 3). A lower stringency analysis 58 59 60 7 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 9 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 showing the most altered biological processes and pathways selected the one hundred most altered GO 3 4 in different functional categories (supplementary table 4 online) and the one hundred more distorted 5
6 pathways (supplementary table 5 online) in CoQ10 deficient cells. See supplementary data for 7 8 description of statistical analyses. 9 10 11 CoQ10 treatment modified the specific transcriptomic profile displayed by CoQ10 deficient fibroblasts 12 13 (supplementary tables 6 and 7 online). We classified genes into 5 groups according to the consequence 14 15 of CoQ10 treatmentFor on gene expressionpeer (supplementary review table 8 online only and supplementary figure 1 for a 16 17 graphical view). About 54% of probes with altered expression were unaffected by CoQ10 18 19 20 supplementation. 36% of probes showed partial or complete normalization of expression and 2% 21 22 showed inverse regulation. Approximately 5% of probes were specifically altered after treatment in 23 24 both deficient and non deficient cells and 3% showed small or non specific changes (these were not 25 26 considered for further analysis). After statistical analysis, we obtained 70 altered GO with a significant 27 28 P value (<0.001) and an enrichment value that represents the most altered GO within each group 29 30 31 (supplementary table 9). 32 33 Data have been deposited with the NCBI GEO database, at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/, http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 accession number GSE33941 (see supplementary table 10 for an explanation). The functional 36 37 description of each gene was updated from the GeneCard of The Human Gene Compendium 38 39 40 (Weizmann Institute of Science), http://www.genecards.org/. See supplementary data for a full 41 42 description of genes, biological process and pathways regulated in CoQ10 deficiency. on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 45 46 CoQ10-deficient fibroblasts readapt the energetic metabolism and CoQ10-treatment restores 47 48 In CoQ deficient fibroblasts, mitochondrial functions, including respiratory chain and tricarboxylic 49 10 50 51 acid (TCA) cycle, were repressed, whereas 9 of 10 steps in glycolysis and pyruvate metabolism were 52 53 activated, including lactate and pyruvate dehydrogenases (supplementary tables 2 and 4). Accordingly, 54 55 genes involved in the negative regulation of glycolysis were down regulated, whereas those involved 56 57 in its activation were up regulated (supplementary table 2). Furthermore, genes involved in cytosolic 58 59 60 8 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 10 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 NADH oxidation (cytochrome b5 and several oxidoreductases) were slightly repressed (Table 2). The 3 4 expression of genes involved in cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism was down regulated (Table 2), 5 6 as well all the GO related with lipid metabolism (supplementary table 5). 7 8 CoQ supplementation normalized the expression (either partially or completely) of genes involved in 9 10 10 11 the glycolytic pathway and activated the expression of repressed respiratory chain genes, whereas the 12 13 TCA cycle remained unaffected (supplementary table 2). Most of the repressed enzymes of lipid 14 15 metabolism andFor fatty acid ß oxidationpeer remained review down regulated (tableonly 2), whereas several other 16 17 pathways, such as monocarboxylic acid transport and the insulin response, were normalized 18 19 20 (supplementary table 9). These results are in agreement with the recovery of aerobic metabolism
21 8 16 17 22 observed in CoQ10 deficient fibroblasts after CoQ10 supplementation . 23 24 25 26 CoQ10 deficiency induces specific adaptations of cells to promote survival 27 28 The major novel finding of transcriptome profiling in CoQ deficient fibroblasts was the altered 29 10 30 31 expression of genes concerned with cell cycle and development and with resistance to stress and cell 32 33 death (table 2). This suggests both a remodeling of differentiation and growth maintenance and an http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 increase of cell survival mechanisms. Specifically, genes involved in cell cycle activation and 36 37 maintenance were up regulated, and genes involved in cell cycle regulation increased or decreased 38 39 40 their expression depending of their activating or repressing roles. This proliferative response was also 41 42 enhanced by the repression of cellular attachment factors and by the activation of extracellular matrix on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 proteins that reduce cell attachment and favor cell division. In parallel, GO clusters favoring cell cycle 45 46 and cell division were activated, and those inhibiting cell growth were repressed (supplementary table 47 48 4). The differentiation of these cells was compromised because many required factors, transducers, 49 50 51 antigens, and structural proteins appeared down regulated, whereas repressors of differentiation during 52 53 development were overexpressed (table 2). See supplementary material for a full description of genes, 54 55 biological processes and related pathways. 56 57 58 59 60 9 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 11 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 Cell cycle activation was supported by the up regulation of CDK6 (Table 2), a cyclin dependent 3 4 kinase that induces entry into the S phase, and by a robust repression (more than 9 fold) of 5 6 p21/CDKN1A, an inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinase that blocks cell cycle at the G1/S check point to 7 8 stimulate cell differentiation. Moreover, subsequent pathways inactivated by p2123 were enhanced in 9 10 11 CoQ10 deficient cells (supplementary table 5), as well as both transcription factors E2F7 and E2F8 12 24 13 (table 2), which push the progression of the cell cycle, activate cell survival and inhibit apoptosis . 14 15 Cell survival in ForCoQ10 deficient peer cells was improvedreview by the induction only of DNA repairing mechanisms, 16 17 and by the establishment of pathways that regulate Jun kinases and activate NAD(P)H CoQ 18 19 20 oxidoreductase, which are involved in stress responses (Tables 2 and S4). Components of apoptosis 21 22 and cell death pathways were systematically repressed (Table 2), including tumor suppressor genes, 23 24 antigens, intracellular mediators, and effectors of cell death. Also, cell surface receptors and 25 26 modulators that inhibit apoptosis were greatly activated. 27 28 Interestingly, CoQ treatment did not alter the newly acquired resistance to cell death in CoQ 29 10 10 30 31 deficient fibroblasts, kept cell growth activated, and allowed a higher degree of differentiation (Tables 32 33 2 and S8). However, genes controlling stress resistance pathways and cortical cytoskeleton were http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 completely restored, as indicated by the shifts in gene expression listed in Table 2. However, treated 36 37 fibroblasts kept the DNA repair mechanism activated. 38 39 40 Signaling related genes and pathways were differentially affected by CoQ10 deficiency, but most of 41 42 immunity related genes showed a general down regulation of (Table 2). Pathways and biological on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 processes involved in immunity regulation were restored by CoQ10 supplementation (Tables 2 and S5). 45 46 47 48 A stable DNA methylation profile is responsible for the specific gene expression profile in CoQ 49 10 50 51 deficiency 52 53 CoQ10 supplementation modified the expression of 43% of genes that were abnormally expressed in 54 55 CoQ10 deficient fibroblasts (supplementary table 8). In the majority of these cases, expression levels 56 57 were restored to those of control fibroblasts (20%), but few showed inverse regulation (2%) and others 58 59 60 10 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 12 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 were specifically altered after CoQ10 treatment in both deficient and non deficient cells (5%). The 3 4 remaining 16% corresponded to partially restored genes, which slightly alter their expression level 5
6 without changing the CoQ10 deficient pattern. These genes along with the unaffected (54%) constitute 7 8 72% of regulated genes in CoQ deficiency, which were not significantly altered after CoQ 9 10 10 10 11 supplementation. 12 13 To explain this differential response to respiratory dysfunction, we analyzed the DNA methylation 14 15 profile of 20 amongFor the most peer altered genes listedreview in table 2. These onlygenes encompass the main 16 17 biological processes and pathways affected by CoQ10 deficiency (table 3). Up regulated genes, which 18 19 20 were unaffected by CoQ10 supplementation, had less defined DNA methylation sites in their promoter 21 22 regions. 23 24 Genes with partial restoration of their expression after CoQ10 supplementation showed precise 25 26 methylation and demethylation profiles that may explain their altered expression during CoQ10 27 28 deficiency. The methylation degree of these genes changed after treatment, and may be responsible for 29 30 31 the modulation of expression (Table 3). The patterns of methylation of activated and repressed genes 32 33 in CoQ10 deficiency that could be normalized by CoQ10 supplementation, were either unaffected or http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 only slightly affected by the treatment, and we did not detect new methylation sites after CoQ10 36 37 supplementation. 38 39 40 However, a few genes showed significant differences in the methylation degree after the treatment, 41 42 which correspond to the partially restored genes that maintain the specific expression pattern of on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 untreated CoQ10 deficient cells at a lower level. 45 46 Finally, reviewing the biological processes and molecular functions of regulated genes in CoQ10 47 48 deficiency, the main adaptation for cell survival activated genes by DNA demethylation, which 49 50 51 increased the expression of genes involved in cell cycle activation, apoptosis inhibition, and cell stress 52 53 resistance, meanwhile the undifferenciated state could be due to gene repression by DNA methylation, 54 55 which decreased the expression of genes involved in cell differentiation. CoQ10 treatment did not alter 56 57 the methylation degree of these genes and subsequently the expression level was maintained. 58 59 60 11 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 13 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 3 4 DISCUSSION 5 6 7 8 CoQ -deficient fibroblasts readapt the energetic metabolism and CoQ -treatment restores 9 10 10 10 1 11 CoQ10 is an essential component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain , therefore dysfunctional 12 3 7 8 13 13 mitochondria are a common finging in both primary CoQ10 deficiencies and secondary forms . 14 15 Although each formFor presents peer a specific clinical review phenotype, all these only conditions display a substantial 16 17 reduction of cellular CoQ10 content and deficit in the mitochondrial enzymatic activities of respiratory 18 19 20 chain (table 1). Accordingly to these results, we have shown here that fibroblasts from patients with 21 22 CoQ10 deficiency have reorganized their genetic resources to cope with this mitochondrial dysfunction. 23 24 Bioenergetics was supported mainly by glycolysis, while lipid metabolism and the respiratory chain 25 26 were repressed, consistent with the role of CoQ10 in these two metabolic pathways. These findings, 27 28 together with the mild repression of the cytosolic enzymes that oxidize NADH (cytochrome b and 29 5 30 31 several other oxidoreductases) could indicate that NADH is mainly used for biosynthetic purposes 32 33 rather than for energy production. http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 Supplementation with CoQ10, the current therapy for all forms of CoQ10 deficiency, restored 36 37 respiration through enhanced sugar utilization, but did not stimulate lipid metabolism. We showed that 38 39 40 CoQ10 treatment normalized partially or completely the expression of genes involved in the glycolytic 41 42 pathway and activated the repressed genes involved in the biosynthesis of the respiratory chain , on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 whereas the TCA cycle remained unaffected. These results are in agreement with the recovery of 45 46 8 16 17 aerobic metabolism observed in CoQ10 deficient fibroblasts after CoQ10 supplementation . 47 48 49 50 51 CoQ10 deficiency induces a stable survival adaptation of cells 52 53 CoQ10 deficienct fibroblasts adapted several physiological processes to acquire a cellular resistance 54 55 state for survival under the conditons of mitochondrial dysfunction induced by CoQ10 deficiency. The 56 57 new genetic pattern increases cell survival by activating cell cycle and growth, maintaining an 58 59 60 12 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 14 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 undifferentiated phenotype, up regulating stress induced proteins, and inhibiting apoptosis and cell 3 4 death pathways. These results recapitulate a survival network that can be observed in nutritional stress 5 6 such as when cells are grown in galactose enriched media25. 7 8 The survival adaptation shown by CoQ deficient cells included a global resistance mechanism that is 9 10 10 11 observed also during the initial phase of tumorigenesis. In fact, the CoQ10 deficient expression profile 12 26 27 13 was very similar to that described during myeloid cells transformation and breast tumors . 14 15 Moreover, someFor of the regulated peer genes in CoQreview10 deficiency (listed only in table 2 as underlined bold letter) 16 17 are used as biomarkers in several types of cancer28. In addition, cellular senescence, a defining feature 18 19 29 20 of pre malignant tumors , is characterized by a gene expression pattern similar to that of CoQ10 21 22 deficient fibroblasts (supplementary table 5). 23 24 Supplementation with CoQ10 enhanced both stress response and immunity pathways. Although the 25 26 pathway of cell death was partially restored, cell cycle and growth, and the mechanisms to prevent 27 28 differentiation and development were not. These results indicate that the mitochondrial dysfunction 29 30 31 due to CoQ10 deficiency induces a stable survival adaptation of somatic cells in patients at early or 32 33 postnatal development, and we speculate that cells unable to institute, or to maintain, this survival http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 mechanism during differentiation will die, contributing to the pathological phenotype. 36 37 38 39 40 A stable DNA methylation profile is responsible of specific gene expression in CoQ10 deficiency 41 42 The cellular adaptation to CoQ10 deficiency enhanced DNA demethylation of genes that regulate cell on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 cycle activation, apoptosis inhibition, and cell stress resistance as part of an adaptation survival 45 46 mechanism. Comparable results were observed in several models of epigenetic regulation by 47 48 demethylation (Table S5), whereas DNA methylation inhibits activation of genes related to 49 50 30 51 tumorogenesis and apoptosis . 52 53 Pathways unaffected by CoQ10 treatment corresponded to stably demethylated genes, whereas those 54 55 that responded to CoQ10 supplementation were controlled by genes with unchanged methylation 56 57 patterns. 58 59 60 13 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 15 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 We did not find changes in the methylation degree of all genes affected by CoQ10 deficiency, 3 4 suggesting that other modalities of gene regulation are be responsible, including epigenetic 5 6 mechanisms such as histone modifications by methylation and acetylation, or even DNA methylation 7 8 in CpG islands other than those studied here. Interestingly, it has been reported that CoQ regulates 9 10 10 31 11 lipid metabolism in liver mice without effect on the DNA methylation profile , indicating that 12 13 supplemented CoQ10 by itself may not alter the DNA methylation pattern that cells acquired during the 14 15 survival adaptationFor to CoQ 10peer deficiency. review only 16 17 Mechanisms unaffected by therapy corresponded to stably DNA demethylated genes, which were 18 19 20 responsible for the acquisition of the undifferentiated state for survival and resistance that cells obtain 21 22 during the adaptation to CoQ10 deficiency, whereas the responsive to CoQ10 supplementation were 23 24 controlled by genes with unchanged methylation patterns and correspond mainly to metabolic genes 25 26 and those related with the restoration of mitochondrial function. 27 28 We propose that these epigenetic changes may be established as early as during the fetal life32 in order 29 30 31 to cope with CoQ10 deficiency; these cells then maintain this adaptive response throughout their life. 32 33 We speculate that cells unable to maintain this survival mechanism during differentiation would die http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 contributing to the pathological phenotype. 36 37 Our model has some limits: we treated cells only for one week and in principle we cannot rule out that 38 39 40 prolonged exposure to CoQ10 could restore also some of the other unaffected pathways. Alternatively, 41 42 incomplete recovery of the gene expression profiles could be explained by the fact that exogenous on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 CoQ10 can rescues the bioenergetic defect, but not all other functions of CoQ10 in these cells, as it has 45 46 been observed in other organisms33. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 14 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 16 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 4 We appreciate the generous cooperation of the families. 5 6 7 8 FUNDING STATEMENT 9 10 11 This work was supported by the following funders: Spanish Ministerio de Sanidad (FIS) grant numbers 12 13 PI11/00078 and PI11/02350; National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA) grant number 1R01HD057543; 14 15 Junta de AndalucíaFor (Spanish peer Regional Government) review grant number onlyCTS 3988; Telethon (Italy) grant 16 17 number GGP09207; and from a grant from Fondazione CARIPARO. 18 19 20 21 22 AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT 23 24 DJMFA and PN designed the experiments and drafted the manuscript; DJMFA, IG, SJG, MVC and 25 26 AG performed the experiments and made the statistical analyses; PB, RA and LS provided cells and 27 28 patient’s clinical information; DJMFA, PB, RA, PN, SDM, MH, RC and LS analyzed the data and 29 30 31 edited the manuscript. 32 33 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 COMPETING INTERESTS STATEMENT 36 37 There is no competing interest. 38 39 40 41 42 DATA SHARING STATEMENT on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 There are not additional data available. 45 46 47 48 Dryad Package Identifier 49 50 51 doi:10.5061/dryad.gr2gp 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 15 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml Page 17 of 84 BMJ Open BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 REFERENCES 3 4 1. Bentinger M, Tekle M, Dallner G. Coenzyme Q biosynthesis and functions. Biochem Biophys Res 5 Commun 2010;396(1):74 9. 6 7 2. Trevisson E, Dimauro S, Navas P, et al. Coenzyme Q deficiency in muscle. Curr Opin Neurol 8 2011;24(5):449 56. 9 10 3. Sobreira C, Hirano M, Shanske S, et al. Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with coenzyme Q10 11 deficiency. Neurology 1997;48(5):1238 43. 12 13 14 4. Artuch R, Brea Calvo G, Briones P, et al. Cerebellar ataxia with coenzyme Q10 deficiency: 15 diagnosis Forand follow up peer after coenzyme review Q10 supplementation. only J Neurol Sci 2006;246(1 2):153 16 8. 17 18 5. Salviati L, Sacconi S, Murer L, et al. Infantile encephalomyopathy and nephropathy with CoQ10 19 deficiency: a CoQ10 responsive condition. Neurology 2005;65(4):606 8. 20 21 6. Horvath R, Schneiderat P, Schoser BG, et al. Coenzyme Q10 deficiency and isolated myopathy. 22 Neurology 2006;66(2):253 5. 23 24 7. Heeringa SF, Chernin G, Chaki M, et al. COQ6 mutations in human patients produce nephrotic 25 syndrome with sensorineural deafness. J Clin Invest 2011;121(5):2013 24. 26 27 8. Cotan D, Cordero MD, Garrido Maraver J, et al. Secondary coenzyme Q10 deficiency triggers 28 29 mitochondria degradation by mitophagy in MELAS fibroblasts. Faseb J 2011;25(8):2669 87. 30 31 9. Gempel K, Topaloglu H, Talim B, et al. The myopathic form of coenzyme Q10 deficiency is caused 32 by mutations in the electron transferring flavoprotein dehydrogenase (ETFDH) gene. Brain 33 2007;130(Pt 8):2037 44. http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 10. Haas D, Niklowitz P, Horster F, et al. Coenzyme Q(10) is decreased in fibroblasts of patients with 36 methylmalonic aciduria but not in mevalonic aciduria. J Inherit Metab Dis 2009;32(4):570 5. 37 38 11. Miles MV, Putnam PE, Miles L, et al. Acquired coenzyme Q10 deficiency in children with 39 recurrent food intolerance and allergies. Mitochondrion 2011;11(1):127 35. 40 41
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1 2 34. Montero R, Sanchez Alcazar JA, Briones P, et al. Coenzyme Q10 deficiency associated with a 3 mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome: a case report. Clin Biochem 2009;42(7 8):742 5. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 For peer review only 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 18 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open Page 20 of 84 BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
1 2 3 FIGURE LEGEND 4 5 6 Figure 1. Cluster of genes differentially expressed in CoQ10 deficiency and after CoQ10 7 8 supplementation. Four arrays of 2 representative fibroblasts from patients with Q deficiency were 9 10 11 plotted with 2 arrays of control fibroblasts and 9 arrays of 5 patient’s fibroblasts with CoQ10 deficiency 12 13 treated with 30 M CoQ10. Activated genes were colored in red and repressed ones in green. Between 14 15 parentheses, groupFor classification peer of genes afterreview CoQ10 supplementation only (Table S3). 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 on September 28, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 19 For peer review only - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/site/about/guidelines.xhtml BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002524 on 25 March 2013. Downloaded from
#5 #5 #3 #3 #4 #1 #2 #2 #GIO #ELO #HDF #control #ELO+Q #MEL+Q Array and epigenetic code
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