2. Academic Validation
  3. Elevated levels of S100A8 and S100A9 exacerbate muscle mitochondrial fragmentation in sepsis-induced muscle atrophy

Elevated levels of S100A8 and S100A9 exacerbate muscle mitochondrial fragmentation in sepsis-induced muscle atrophy

  • Commun Biol. 2025 Feb 28;8(1):338. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-07654-3.
Dongqin Huang # 1,  Yang Li # 2,  Yuqian Guo 3,  Mengcao Weng 4,  Hui Ye 3,  Yan Zhang 4,  Fei Lin 1,  Kai Zhang 5,  Xiangming Fang 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Anesthesiology, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, China.
  • 2 Department of Critical Care Medicine, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, China.
  • 3 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
  • 4 Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
  • 5 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. Kai_zhang@zju.edu.cn.
  • 6 Department of Anesthesiology, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, China. xmfang@zju.edu.cn.
  • 7 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. xmfang@zju.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 40021770 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-07654-3
Abstract

Sepsis-induced skeletal muscle atrophy is common in septic patients with the increases risk of mortality and is associated with myocellular mitochondrial dysfunction. Nevertheless, the specific mechanism of sepsis muscle atrophy remains unclear. Here we conducted a clinical retrospective analysis and observed the elevation of skeletal muscle index (ΔSMI) was an independent risk factor for 60-day mortality in septic patients. Moreover, in mouse model of sepsis, the skeletal muscle atrophy was also observed, which was associated with the upregulation of S100a8/a9-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction. Inhibition of S100a8/a9 significantly improved mitochondrial function and alleviated muscle atrophy. Conversely, administration of recombinant S100a8/a9 protein exacerbated mitochondrial energy exhaustion and myocyte atrophy. Mechanistically, S100a8/a9 binding to RAGE induced Drp1 phosphorylation and mitochondrial fragmentation, resulting in muscle atrophy. Additionally, RAGE ablation or administration of Drp1 inhibitor significantly reduced Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission, improved mitochondrial morphology and function. Our findings indicated the pivotal role of S100a8/a9 in driving the mitochondrial fragmentation in septic muscle atrophy. Targeting S100a8/a9-RAGE-initiated mitochondrial fission might offer a promising therapeutic intervention against septic muscle atrophy.

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