Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40483507›Full record

ArticleSkeletal muscle2025

Contrasting Becker and Duchenne muscular dystrophy serum biomarker candidates by using data independent acquisition LC-MS/MS.

Camilla Johansson, Esther J Schrama, David Kotol, Andreas Hober, Zaïda Koeks, Nienke M van de Velde, Jan J G M Verschuuren, Erik H Niks, Fredrik Edfors, Pietro Spitali and 1 more

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Skeletal muscle, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Camilla JohanssonDepartment of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Esther J SchramaDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
David KotolScience for Life Laboratory, School of Chemistry, Biology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Andreas HoberScience for Life Laboratory, School of Chemistry, Biology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Zaïda KoeksDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Nienke M van de VeldeDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Jan J G M VerschuurenDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Erik H NiksDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Fredrik EdforsScience for Life Laboratory, School of Chemistry, Biology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Pietro SpitaliDepartment of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Cristina Al-Khalili SzigyartoDepartment of Protein Science, School of Chemistry, Biology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. caks@kth.se.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBecker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a rare and heterogeneous form of dystrophinopathy caused by expression of altered dystrophin proteins, as a consequence of in-frame genetic mutations. The majority of the BMD biomarker studies employ targeted approaches and focus on translating findings from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a more severe disease form with clinical similarities but caused by out-of-frame mutations in the dystrophin gene. Importantly, DMD therapies assume that disease progression can be slowed by promoting the expression of truncated dystrophin comparable to what occurs in BMD patients. In this study, we explore similarities and differences in protein trajectories over time between BMD and DMD serum, and explore proteins related to motor function performance.

methodsSerum samples collected from 34 BMD patients, in a prospective longitudinal 3-year study, and 19 DMD patients, were analyzed by using Data Independent Acquisition Tandem Mass Spectrometry (DIA-MS). Subsequent normalization, linear mixed effects model was employed to identify proteins associated with physical tests and dystrophin expression in skeletal muscle. Analysis was also performed to explore the discrepancy between DMD and BMD biomarker abundance trajectories over time.

resultsLinear mixed effects models identified 20 proteins with altered longitudinal signatures between DMD and BMD, including creatine kinase M-type (CKM) pyruvate kinase (PKM), fibrinogen gamma chain (FGG), lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) and alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M). Furthermore, several proteins related to innate immune response were associated with motor function in BMD patients. In particular, A2M displayed an altered time-dependent decline in relation to dystrophin expression in the tibialis anterior muscle.

conclusionsOur study revealed differences in the serum proteome between BMD and DMD, which comprises proteins involved in the immune response, extracellular matrix organization and hemostasis but not muscle leakage proteins significantly associated with disease progression in DMD. If further evaluated and validated, these biomarker candidates may offer means to monitor disease progression in BMD patients. A2M is of particular interest due to its association with dystrophin expression in BMD muscle and higher abundance in DMD patients in comparison to BMD. If validated, A2M could be used as a pharmacodynamic biomarker in therapeutic clinical trials aiming to restore dystrophin expression.

Indexed as

Muscular Dystrophy, DuchenneAdolescentBiomarkersChildChild, PreschoolChromatography, LiquidDisease ProgressionDystrophinHumansLiquid Chromatography-Mass SpectrometryLongitudinal StudiesMaleMuscle, SkeletalProspective StudiesProteomicsTandem Mass SpectrometryBiomarkersDystrophinBecker muscular dystrophyDIADisease progression biomarkersDuchenne muscular dystrophyProteomicsSRM

Identifiers

PMID40483507
PMCPMC12144774

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.