Optineurin promotes myogenesis during muscle regeneration in mice by autophagic degradation of GSK3 beta

Skeletal muscle regeneration is essential for maintaining muscle function in injury and muscular disease. Myogenesis plays key roles in forming new myofibers during the process. Here, through bioinformatic screen for the potential regulators of myogenesis from 5 independent microarray datasets, we identify an overlapping differentially expressed gene (DEG) optineurin (OPTN). Optn knockdown (KD) delays muscle regeneration in mice and impairs C2C12 myoblast differentiation without affecting their proliferation. Conversely, Optn overexpression (OE) promotes myoblast differentiation. Mechanistically, OPTN increases nuclear levels of beta-catenin and enhances the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) transcription activity, suggesting activation of Wnt signaling pathway. The activation is accompanied by decreased protein levels of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3 beta), a negative regulator of the pathway. We further show that OPTN physically interacts with and targets GSK3 beta for autophagic degradation. Pharmacological inhibition of GSK3 beta rescues the impaired myogenesis induced by Optn KD during muscle regeneration and myoblast differentiation, corroborating that GSK3 beta is the downstream effector of OPTN-mediated myogenesis. Together, our study delineates the novel role of OPTN as a potential regulator of myogenesis and may open innovative therapeutic perspectives for muscle regeneration.