Severe Myopathy Mutations Modify the Nanomechanics of Desmin Intermediate Filaments

Mutations in the intermediate filament (IF) protein desmin cause severe forms of myofibrillar myopathy characterized by partial aggregation of the extrasarcomeric desmin cytoskeleton and structural disorganization of myofibrils. In contrast to prior expectations, we showed that some of the known disease-causing mutations, such as DesA360P, DesQ389P and DesD399Y, are assembly-competent and do allow formation of bona fide IFs in vitro and in vivo. We also previously demonstrated that atomic force microscopy can be employed to measure the tensile properties of single desmin IFs. Using the same approach on filaments formed by the aforementioned mutant desmins, we now observed two different nanomechanical behaviors: DesA360P exhibited tensile properties similar to that of wild-type desmin IFs, whereas DesQ389P and DesD399Y exhibited local variations in their tensile properties along the filament length. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that DesQ389P and DesD399Y may cause muscle disease by altering the specific biophysical properties of the desmin filaments, thereby compromising both its mechanosensing and mechanotransduction ability.