Muscular Dystrophy News and Research

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The muscular dystrophies (MD) are a group of more than 30 genetic diseases characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles that control movement. Some forms of MD are seen in infancy or childhood, while others may not appear until middle age or later. The disorders differ in terms of the distribution and extent of muscle weakness (some forms of MD also affect cardiac muscle), age of onset, rate of progression, and pattern of inheritance.

New research reveals b1-integrin protein as promising therapeutic target for muscle aging

As we age, the function and regenerative abilities of skeletal muscles deteriorate, which means it is difficult for the elderly to recover from injury or surgery. New work from Carnegie's Michelle Rozo, Liangji Li, and Chen-Ming Fan demonstrates that a protein called b1-integrin is crucial for muscle regeneration.

6 Jul 2016

LIF-treated muscle stem cells show promise in treatment of muscular dystrophy

Satellite cells are stem cells found in skeletal muscles. While transplantation of such muscle stem cells can be a potent therapy for degenerative muscle diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, these cells tend to lose their transplantation efficiency when cultured in vitro.

28 Jun 2016

Re-engineering cardiac scarring process could improve clinical outcomes for heart disease patients

Literal heartbreak, from illness or injury, triggers the body's natural healing mechanisms.

25 Jun 2016

Neurofibromatosis causes benign tumor formation in normal nervous tissue

Although neurofibromatosis (NF) is not commonly discussed, it affects more than 2 million people worldwide.

24 Jun 2016

Researchers clarify cause of heart arrhythmia in myotonic dystrophy

An international joint research group found that the cause of heart arrhythmia in myotonic dystrophy was RNA abnormalities in the sodium channel in the heart, clarifying the symptom's mechanism. This finding will be helpful in prevention and early intervention of death in this disease, leading to the development of new treatment.

16 Jun 2016

Enzyme protein neutrophil elastase may be key contributor to development of muscular dystrophy

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered that muscle cells affected by muscular dystrophy contain high levels of an enzyme that impairs muscle repair. This finding provides a new target for potential drug treatments for the disease, which currently has no cure.

2 Jun 2016

Study reveals gpihbp1 gene could be novel target for treatment of muscular dystrophy

The average healthy man is 54 percent muscle by mass, but people with muscular dystrophy, an incurable, genetic condition, have almost no muscle at terminal stages of the disease.

2 Jun 2016

Research sheds light on how subtle genetic differences in DMD patients produce variation in symptoms

Johns Hopkins researchers report they have inadvertently found a way to make human muscle cells bearing genetic mutations from people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

27 May 2016

Removing immunomodulatory protein improves symptoms of muscular dystrophy in mice

Removing an immunomodulatory protein called osteopontin improves the symptoms of mice with muscular dystrophy by changing the type of macrophages acting on damaged muscle tissue, according to a paper published in The Journal of Cell Biology.

19 Apr 2016

Combination of sugar and polyphenols may prevent occurrence of neurodegenerative disease

Catherine Aaron and Gabrielle Beaudry were 17 when they knocked on the door of the laboratory of Alex Parker, a neuroscience researcher at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre. While students at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal, they were looking for a mentor for an after-school research project. Two and half years later, the results of this scientific adventure were published today in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

13 Apr 2016

Researchers investigate biochemical, physiological characteristics of facial and extraocular muscles

In a new study, a research team at Basel University Hospital in Switzerland investigates the biochemical and physiological characteristics of orbicularis oculi, a group of facial muscles that control the eyelids and are selectively spared or involved in different neuromuscular disorders. What they found also helps to explain why another set of muscles—the extraocular muscles that control the movement of the eye—are not affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, congenital muscular dystrophy, and aging.

12 Apr 2016

Japanese scientists decode sugar molecule linked to muscular dystrophy

A group of Japanese scientists have succeeded in decoding a sugar molecule and clarifying a mechanism linked to muscular dystrophy. Their discovery has potential implications for muscular dystrophy treatment. The results of their research were published in the journal Cell Reports on February 25, 2016 EST.

29 Mar 2016

Sodium MRI could provide more detailed picture of tissue health and disease

MRI experts at The University of Nottingham win £1m grant to adapt scanning techniques to pick up sodium in the body. The research could lead to much more detailed MRI scans in the future with significant improvements to the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases.

18 Mar 2016

MDI Biological Laboratory discover mechanisms underlying regeneration of heart tissue

The MDI Biological Laboratory has announced new discoveries about the mechanisms underlying the regeneration of heart tissue by Assistant Professor Voot P. Yin, Ph.D., which raise hope that drugs can be identified to help the body grow muscle cells and remove scar tissue, important steps in the regeneration of heart tissue.

10 Mar 2016

Long-term exercise may benefit Spinal Muscular Atrophy patients

Long-term exercise appears to be beneficial for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) like mice, suggesting a potential of active physiotherapy for patient care; according to a study published today in the Journal of Physiology.

6 Mar 2016

SBP study opens door for new approaches to treat muscle diseases

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have found a key to enhancing repair of damaged muscle. In work published today in Cell Reports, scientists describe why fetal muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are better at regenerating muscle compared to adult MuSCs.

19 Feb 2016

New approach could be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Scientists at the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA have developed a new approach that could eventually be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

14 Feb 2016

Duchenne muscular dystrophy: direct effect on muscle stem cells? An interview with Dr Rudnicki

For twenty years, it has been understood that dystrophin is expressed in differentiated muscle fibers where it is part of a protein complex that crosses the membrane and connects the extracellular matrix to the actin network inside the cell to provide structural integrity.

5 Feb 2016

Alternative splicing: a new approach to drug development? An interview with Lucy Donaldson

RNA is becoming an interesting drug target as it takes possible intervention back one step to the synthesis of a target protein, instead of trying to block or inhibit a process.

1 Feb 2016

Two studies shed new light on nature of tandem DNA repeat arrays

A pair of studies by a team of scientists has shed new light on the nature of a particular type of DNA sequences—tandem DNA repeat arrays—that play important roles in transcription control, genome organization, and development.

29 Jan 2016