QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online April 5, 2006

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Dystrophin loses support

Mutations in dystrophin cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe muscle-wasting disorder. Dystrophin is the scaffold for the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC), which mechanically links the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton in muscle cells. The DGC also binds the enzyme nNOS, which produces the signalling molecule nitric oxide; so, in theory, loss of either the mechanical or the signalling function of the DGC could cause the myofibre degeneration in muscular dystrophy. On p. 1537 Jeffrey Chamberlain and colleagues reveal where the problem lies. They show that expression of a dystrophin isoform that contains the domains necessary for the signalling but not mechanical function of the DGC does not rescue the dystrophic phenotype in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy (mdx mice). Furthermore, they report, the expression of several other truncated dystrophin isoforms that cause mislocalization of nNOS does not correlate with disease severity. The authors therefore conclude that the loss of the mechanical function of the DGC – not signalling – mainly underlies the myofibre death that occurs in dystrophin-deficient muscle.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Dissecting the signaling and mechanical functions of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex

Luke M. Judge, Miki Haraguchiln, and Jeffrey S. Chamberlain
JCS 2006 119: 1537-1546. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?