Abstract
Dystrophin, the protein product of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene, is a major component of the subsarcolemmal cytoskeleton and exists in a large oligomeric complex tightly associated with several sarcolemmal glycoproteins which provide a linkage to the extracellular matrix protein, laminin. In the present study, we investigated the status of the dystrophin-associated proteins in the skeletal muscle from 17 DMD patients of various ages. The results revealed a dramatic reduction in all of the dystrophin-associated proteins in the sarcolemma of DMD muscle compared with normal muscle and muscle from a variety of other neuromuscular diseases. This abnormality was common in all 17 DMD patients, irrespective of age. Our results indicate that the absence of dystrophin leads to the loss in all of the dystrophin-associated proteins, which renders DMD muscle fibers susceptible to necrosis. The analysis of dystrophin-associated proteins is important in the assessment of experimental therapies that attempt to replace dystrophin in DMD muscle.
- © 1993 by the American Academy of Neurology
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
NOTE: All authors' disclosures must be entered and current in our database before comments can be posted. Enter and update disclosures at http://submit.neurology.org. Exception: replies to comments concerning an article you originally authored do not require updated disclosures.
- Stay timely. Submit only on articles published within the last 8 weeks.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- 200 words maximum.
- 5 references maximum. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- 5 authors maximum. Exception: replies can include all original authors of the article.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.