Dysregulated skeletal muscle myosin super-relaxation and energetics in male participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims/hypothesisDisrupted energy balance is critical for the onset and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Understanding of the exact underlying metabolic mechanisms remains incomplete, but skeletal muscle is thought to play an important pathogenic role. As the super-relaxed state of its most abundant protein, myosin, regulates cellular energetics, we aimed to investigate whether it is altered in individuals with type 2 diabetes.MethodsWe used vastus lateralis biopsy specimens (obtained from patients with type 2 diabetes and control participants with similar characteristics), and ran a combination of structural and functional assays consisting of loaded 2′- (or 3′)-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)-ATP (Mant-ATP) chase experiments, x-ray diffraction and LC-MS/MS proteomics in isolated muscle fibres.ResultsOur studies revealed a greater muscle myosin super-relaxation and decreased ATP demand in male participants with type 2 diabetes than in control participants. Subsequent proteomic analyses indicated that these (mal)adaptations probably originated from remodelled sarcomeric proteins and greater myosin glycation levels in patients than in control participants.Conclusions/interpretationOverall, our findings indicate a complex molecular dysregulation of myosin super-relaxed state and energy consumption in male participants with type 2 diabetes. Ultimately, pharmacological targeting of myosin could benefit skeletal muscle and whole-body metabolic health through enhancement of ATP consumption.Data availabilityThe raw MS data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD053022.Graphical Abstract