Lipogenesis mitigates dysregulated sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium uptake in muscular dystrophy

• De novo lipogenesis is reduced in muscles from mdx mice.
• Reduction in muscle lipogenesis coincided with altered SR phospholipids that are known to affect SERCA function.
• Reconstitution of mdx myotubes with lipogenic enzymes FAS, SCD1, and Lipin1 partially rescued SERCA function.
• Improved SERCA function in mdx myotubes were likely due to normalization of SR phospholipid composition.

Muscular dystrophy is accompanied by a reduction in activity of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2 +-ATPase (SERCA) that contributes to abnormal Ca2 + homeostasis in sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (SR/ER). Recent findings suggest that skeletal muscle fatty acid synthase (FAS) modulates SERCA activity and muscle function via its effects on SR membrane phospholipids. In this study, we examined muscle's lipid metabolism in mdx mice, a mouse model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). De novo lipogenesis was ~ 50% reduced in mdx muscles compared to wildtype (WT) muscles. Gene expressions of lipogenic and other ER lipid-modifying enzymes were found to be differentially expressed between wildtype (WT) and mdx muscles. A comprehensive examination of muscles' SR phospholipidome revealed elevated phosphatidylcholine (PC) and PC/phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) ratio in mdx compared to WT mice. Studies in primary myocytes suggested that defects in key lipogenic enzymes including FAS, stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1), and Lipin1 are likely contributing to reduced SERCA activity in mdx mice. Triple transgenic expression of FAS, SCD1, and Lipin1 (3TG) in mdx myocytes partly rescued SERCA activity, which coincided with an increase in SR PE that normalized PC/PE ratio. These findings implicate a defect in lipogenesis to be a contributing factor for SERCA dysfunction in muscular dystrophy. Restoration of muscle's lipogenic pathway appears to mitigate SERCA function through its effects on SR membrane composition.