SLC2A knockout mice deficient in ascorbic acid synthesis recapitulate aspects of arterial tortuosity syndrome and display mitochondrial respiration defects

Arterial tortuosity syndrome (ATS) is a recessively inherited connective tissue disorder, mainly characterized by tortuosity and aneurysm formation of the major arteries. ATS is caused by loss-of-function mutations inSLC2A10, encoding the facilitative glucose transporter GLUT10. Former studies implicate GLUT10 in transport of dehydroascorbic acid, the oxidized form of ascorbic acid (AA). Mouse models carrying homozygousSlc2a10missense mutations do not recapitulate the human phenotype. Since mice, in contrast to humans, are able to intracellularly synthesize AA, we generated a novel ATS mouse model, deficient forSlc2a10as well asGulo, which encodes for L-gulonolactone oxidase, an enzyme catalyzing the final step in AA biosynthesis in rodents.Gulo;Slc2a10knock-out mice show mild phenotypic anomalies, which were absent in single knock-out controls. WhileGulo;Slc2a10knock-out mice do not fully phenocopy human ATS, histological and immunocytochemical analysis revealed compromised extracellular matrix formation. TGFβ signaling remained unaltered, while mitochondrial function was compromised in smooth muscle cells derived fromGulo;Slc2a10knock-out mice. Altogether, our data add evidence that ATS is an ascorbate compartmentalization disorder, but additional factors underlying the observed phenotype in humans remain to be determined.