Anoctamin 5/TMEM16E facilitates muscle precursor cell fusion

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2L (LGMD2L) is a myopathy arising from mutations in ANO5; however, information about the contribution of ANO5 to muscle physiology is lacking. To explain the role of ANO5 in LGMD2L, we previously hypothesized that ANO5-mediated phospholipid scrambling facilitates cell–cell fusion of mononucleated muscle progenitor cells (MPCs), which is required for muscle repair. Here, we show that heterologous overexpression of ANO5 confers Ca2+-dependent phospholipid scrambling to HEK-293 cells and that scrambling is associated with the simultaneous development of a nonselective ionic current. MPCs isolated from adult Ano5−/− mice exhibit defective cell fusion in culture and produce muscle fibers with significantly fewer nuclei compared with controls. This defective fusion is associated with a decrease of Ca2+-dependent phosphatidylserine exposure on the surface of Ano5−/− MPCs and a decrease in the amplitude of Ca2+-dependent outwardly rectifying ionic currents. Viral introduction of ANO5 in Ano5−/− MPCs restores MPC fusion competence, ANO5-dependent phospholipid scrambling, and Ca2+-dependent outwardly rectifying ionic currents. ANO5-rescued MPCs produce myotubes having numbers of nuclei similar to wild-type controls. These data suggest that ANO5-mediated phospholipid scrambling or ionic currents play an important role in muscle repair.

BRAF activates PAX3 to control muscle precursor cell migration during forelimb muscle development

Migration of skeletal muscle precursor cells is a key step during limb muscle development and depends on the activity of PAX3 and MET. Here, we demonstrate that BRAF serves a crucial function in formation of limb skeletal muscles during mouse embryogenesis downstream of MET and acts as a potent inducer of myoblast cell migration. We found that a fraction of BRAF accumulates in the nucleus after activation and endosomal transport to a perinuclear position. Mass spectrometry based screening for potential interaction partners revealed that BRAF interacts and phosphorylates PAX3. Mutation of BRAF dependent phosphorylation sites in PAX3 impaired the ability of PAX3 to promote migration of C2C12 myoblasts indicating that BRAF directly activates PAX3. Since PAX3 stimulates transcription of the Met gene we propose that MET signaling via BRAF fuels a positive feedback loop, which maintains high levels of PAX3 and MET activity required for limb muscle precursor cell migration.