Comparison of genes regulated in P0 Klhl40 WT and KO skeletal muscle

Nemaline myopathy (NM) is a congenital myopathy that can result in lethal muscle dysfunction and is thought to be a disease of the sarcomere thin filament. Recently, several proteins of unknown function have been implicated in NM, and their role in the disease remains unresolved. Here, we demonstrate that loss of a muscle-specific protein, Klhl40, results in a nemaline-like myopathy in mice that closely phenocopies the muscle abnormalities observed KLHL40 deficient patients. We show that Klhl40 dynamically localizes to the sarcomere I-band and A-band and binds to Nebulin (Neb), a protein frequently implicated in NM, as well as a putative thin filament protein, Lmod3. Klhl40 belongs to the BTB-BACK-Kelch (BBK) family of proteins, some of which have been previously shown to promote degradation of their substrates. In contrast, we find that Klhl40 promotes stability of Neb and Lmod3 and blocks Lmod3 ubiquitination. Accordingly, loss of Klhl40 reduces Neb and Lmod3 protein in skeletal muscle of mice and KLHL40 deficient patients. Because loss of sarcomere thin filament proteins is a frequent cause of NM, our data establishes a possible molecular basis for NM in KLHL40 deficient patients by establishing a novel pro-stability function of Klhl40 for Neb and Lmod3. Total RNA was harvested from quadriceps muscle of three Klhl40 WT (control) and three Klhl40 KO mice. Each KO mouse was sacrificed with a corresponding WT littermate. Tissues were also taken at 0 days of age to minimize confounding gene changes occurring due to malnourishment as the phenotype worsens.