Expression of intramuscular extracellular matrix proteins in vastus lateralis muscle fibres between atrophic and non-atrophic COPD

Background Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are the major constituents of the muscle cell micro-environment, imparting instructive signalling, steering cell behaviour and controlling muscle regeneration. ECM remodelling is among the most affected signalling pathways in COPD and aged muscle. As a fraction of COPD patients present muscle atrophy, we questioned whether ECM composition would be altered in patients with peripheral muscle wasting (atrophic COPD) compared to those without muscle wasting (non-atrophic COPD). Methods A set of ECM molecules with known impact on myogenesis were quantified in vastus lateralis muscle biopsies from 29 COPD patients (forced expiratory volume in 1 s 55±12% predicted) using ELISA and real-time PCR. COPD patients were grouped to atrophic or non-atrophic based on fat-free mass index (<17 or ≥17 kg·m −2 ). Results Atrophic COPD patients presented a lower average vastus lateralis muscle fibre cross-sectional area (3872±258 μm 2 ) compared to non-atrophic COPD (4509±198 μm 2 ). Gene expression of ECM molecules was found significantly lower in atrophic COPD compared to non-atrophic COPD for collagen type I alpha 1 chain ( COL1A1 ), fibronectin ( FN1 ), tenascin C ( TNC ) and biglycan ( BGN ) . In terms of protein levels, there were no significant differences between the two COPD cohorts for any of the ECM molecules tested. Conclusions Although atrophic COPD presented decreased contractile muscle tissue, the differences in ECM mRNA expression between atrophic and non-atrophic COPD were not translated at the protein level, potentially indicating an accumulation of long-lived ECM proteins and dysregulated proteostasis, as is typically observed during deconditioning and ageing.