title: [Altered expression of myostatin gene in the progressive muscular dystrophy patients].
abstract: Progressive muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited disorders characterized by progressive skeletal muscle wasting and weakness, which is not of neurogenic origin. Myostatin, a new member of the TGF-beta super-family, is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. To investigate the possible involvement of myostatin in the development of progressive muscular dystrophy, we cloned and sequenced myostatin cDNAs from the progressive muscular dystrophy patients by RT-PCR. Levels of myostatin mRNA and protein in the patients were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot,respectively. We did not find any mutations in the myostatin cDNA sequences from the progressive muscular dystrophy patients in this study. However, we found that the levels of myostatin transcripts were reduced in some patients and the processing and maturation of myostatin protein were inhibited in some patients. Our data demonstrated that the pathogenesis of some types or subtypes of progressive muscular dystrophy is probably associated with the altered myostatin expression and the processing inhibition of myostatin protein.
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Laboratory, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China. Dr_zhangyong@126.com
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jia-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Da-Hai
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D049288:Muscular Dystrophies, Limb-Girdle / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020388:Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055435:Myostatin; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; C525911:MSTN protein, human; D055435:Myostatin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta