title: Illuminating regeneration: noninvasive imaging of disease progression in muscular dystrophy.
abstract: Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive muscle weakness and wasting. Among the key obstacles to the development of therapies is the absence of an assay to monitor disease progression in live animals. In this issue of the JCI, Maguire and colleagues use noninvasive bioluminescence imaging to monitor luciferase activity in mice expressing an inducible luciferase reporter gene in satellite cells. These cells proliferate in response to degeneration, therefore increasing the level of luciferase expression in dystrophic muscle.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1101, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000175:diagnosis*