Multi-Omics Landscape of Paraspinal Muscles in Spinal Muscular Atrophy With Scoliosis

Most spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients develop severe scoliosis by late adolescence. Given that the paraspinal muscles-particularly the multifidus-are indispensable for maintaining spinal stability, their site-specific multi-omics characteristics in SMA remain insufficiently defined. Herein, integrated multi-omics sequencing was performed on bilateral multifidus samples from SMA patients and surgical controls. We identified 5219 differentially expressed genes, 1063 differentially expressed proteins and 370 differential metabolites between the control and SMA, showing significant enrichment in glucose and amino acid metabolism pathways, specifically key steps of glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Key enzymes in the glycolytic process such as PFKM, ENO3 and PKM1 were markedly downregulated. Notably, a comparative analysis of the bilateral paraspinal muscles in SMA revealed asymmetrical metabolic signatures in carbohydrate and amino acid processing between the concave and convex sides. Key regulatory enzymes exhibited significant differential expression: PYGL, a central driver of starch and sucrose metabolism; creatine kinase, involved in arginine and proline metabolism; and PGAM2, a key mediator of glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. These metabolic signatures indicate a complex metabolic reprogramming in the multifidus, where asymmetric disparities point to the influence of mechanical loading, while systemic dysregulation aligns with the effects of SMN depletion.