Fragile X mental retardation protein regulates skeletal muscle stem cell activity by regulating the stability of Myf5 mRNA

• Published in: Skeletal muscle Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 18
• Main Authors: Fujita, Ryo, Zismanov, Victoria, Jacob, Jean-Marie, Jamet, Solène, Asiev, Krum, Crist, Colin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 07.09.2017; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: 3' Untranslated regions; Adenine; Animals; Cell culture; Cell self-renewal; Cells, Cultured; Engraftment; Female; FMR1 protein; Fragile X mental retardation protein; Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein - genetics; Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein - metabolism; Fragile X syndrome; Gene expression; Gene silencing; Genetic aspects; Immunoglobulins; Immunoprecipitation; Intellectual disabilities; Laboratories; Mental retardation; Messenger RNA; Mice; MicroRNAs; miRNA; mRNA stability; Muscle cells; Muscle Development; Muscle stem cell; Muscle, Skeletal - cytology; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Musculoskeletal system; Myoblasts - cytology; Myoblasts - metabolism; Myogenic Regulatory Factor 5 - genetics; Myogenic Regulatory Factor 5 - metabolism; Myogenic regulatory factor Myf5; Phosphorylation; Polyadenine; Post-transcription; Proteins; Regeneration; RNA Stability; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; RNA-mediated interference; Rodents; Satellite cell; Skeletal muscle; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Myogenic regulatory factor Myf5; Fragile X mental retardation protein; Satellite cell; Muscle stem cell
• ISSN: 2044-5040; 2044-5040
• DOI: 10.1186/s13395-017-0136-8

Regeneration of adult tissues relies on adult stem cells that are primed to enter a differentiation program, while typically remaining quiescent. In mouse skeletal muscle, these features are reconciled by multiple translational control mechanisms that ensure primed muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are not activated. In quiescent MuSCs, this concept is illustrated by reversible microRNA silencing of Myf5 translation, mediated by microRNA-31 and fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). In this work, we take advantage of FMRP knockout (Fmr1 ) mice to support the role for FMRP in maintaining stem cell properties of the MuSC. We compare the activity of MuSCs in vivo after acute injury and engraftment, as well as ex vivo during culture. We use RNA immunoprecipitation and 3'UTR poly-adenine (poly(A)) length assays to assess the impact of FMRP on the stability of transcripts for myogenic regulatory factors. We show that RNA-binding FMRP is required to maintain the MuSC pool. More specifically, FMRP is required for stem cell properties of muscle stem cells, which include MuSC capacity to prime the myogenic program, their self-renewal, and their capacity to efficiently regenerate muscle. We provide evidence that FMRP regulation of MuSC activity occurs in part by the capacity of FMRP to directly bind Myf5 transcripts and impact rates of Myf5 deadenylation. Our results provide further evidence supporting a role for post-transcriptional silencing platforms by RNA-binding proteins in maintaining stemness properties of adult stem cells. In addition, deregulated MuSC activity in the absence of Fmr1 may have implications for fragile X syndrome, which is associated with muscle hypotonia during infancy.