Transcriptional profile in dermal fibroblasts from patients with collagen VI related muscular dystrophy

Objectives: The collagen VI related muscular dystrophies (COL6-RD), Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD) and Bethlem myopathy (BM) are among the most common congenital muscular dystrophies, but the pathogenesis, including the role of mutant collagen VI in the matrix is poorly understood. To better define the pathways disrupted by mutations in collagen VI, we have used a transcriptional profiling approach with RNA-Seq to identify differentially expressed genes in COL6-RD patients from controls. Methods: We have used RNA-Seq to identify differentially expressed genes in cultured dermal fibroblasts from 13 COL6-RD patients (8 dominant negative and 5 null) and 6 controls. Sequence reads were analyzed using the TopHat/Cufflinks pipeline. Results: Differentially expressed transcripts between COL6-RD patient and control fibroblasts include upregulation of ECM components and downregulation of factors controlling matrix remodeling and repair. DN and null samples are differentiated by downregulation of genes involved with DNA replication and repair in null samples Overall design: Expression profiles of dermal fibroblasts from 13 COL6-RD patients with dominant negative (8) or null (5) mutations compared to 6 control fibroblasts.

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Butterfield RJ, Dunn DM, Hu Y, Johnson K, Bönnemann CG, Weiss RB