The
sarcoglycan subcomplex (SGC) is a well-known system of interaction between extracellular matrix and sarcolemma-associated cytoskeleton in skeletal and cardiac muscle. The SGC is included in the DGC made up of sarcoplasmic subcomplex and a
dystroglycan subcomplex. Recent developments in molecular genetics have demonstrated that the mutation of each single
sarcoglycan gene, causes a series of recessive autosomal
muscular dystrophies,
dystrophin-positive, called
sarcoglycanopathies or
limb girdle muscular dystrophies. Our recent studies have demonstrated that costameres are a proteic machinery made up of DGC and
vinculin-
talin-
integrin system, also revealing the colocalization of
sarcoglycans and
integrins in adult human skeletal muscle. These results may support the hypothesis of the existence of a bidirectional signalling between
sarcoglycans and
integrins in cultured L6 myocytes. The hypothesis of bidirectional signalling between
sarcoglycans and
integrins could be supported by the identification of a skeletal and cardiac muscle filamin2 as a
gamma-sarcoglycan,
delta-sarcoglycan and, hypothetically,
beta1 integrin interacting
protein. Our results, acquired with an immunofluorescence study on adult human skeletal muscle affected by LGMD type 2D and 2C, showed that in
LGMD2D: a)
alpha-sarcoglycan staining is severely reduced; b) the beta-gamma-
delta-sarcoglycan subunit and all tested
integrins staining are clearly detectable; c) filamin2 is normal and shows a costameric distribution. In
LGMD2C: a)
alpha-sarcoglycan staining is preserved; b) the beta-gamma-
delta-sarcoglycan subunit staining is severely reduced; c) the alpha7B-
integrin is slightly reduced and beta1D-
integrin is severely reduced; d) filamin2 is severely reduced. Other tested
proteins of the two systems show a normal staining pattern in both
sarcoglycanopathies. Our study seems to confirm, for the first time on adult human skeletal muscle of subjects affected by LGMDs, the hypo-theses of: a) the existence, in mouse myotubes in culture, of two distinct subunits in
sarcoglycans subcomplex; b) the presence of a bidirectional signalling between
sarcoglycans and
integrins, previously demonstrated on rat cultured L6 myocytes; c) the interaction of FLN2 with both
sarcoglycans and
integrins. These results may stimulate the search of yet unidentified common interactors of both fiber-extracellular matrix interaction systems.