Myology research highlights

In this study, the authors characterized the phenotype of patients with distal myopathy with vocal cord and pharyngeal weakness (VCPDM) due to the p.S85C mutation in the Matrin 3 gene (MATR3, MIM 164015). Recently it has been suggested that patients with this mutation may suffer from familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Sixteen patients from six families … [Read more]

Diminished regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle occurs during adulthood. Here, the authors identified a reduction in the intrinsic capacity of mouse adult satellite cells to contribute to muscle regeneration and repopulation of the niche. Gene expression analysis identified higher expression of JAK-STAT signaling targets in 3-week-old relative to 18-month-old mice. Knockdown of Jak2 or Stat3 … [Read more]

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common inherited neuropathy characterized by clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Although more than 30 loci harboring CMT-causing mutations have been identified, many other genes still remain to be discovered for many affected individuals. For two consanguineous families with CMT (axonal and mixed phenotypes), a parametric linkage analysis using genome-wide SNP … [Read more]

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the loss of Survival Motor Neuron-1 (SMN1). In all SMA patients, a nearly identical copy gene called SMN2 is present, which produces low levels of functional protein owing to an alternative splicing event. To prevent exon-skipping, the authors targeted an intronic repressor, Element1 (E1), located … [Read more]

Most mutations that truncate the reading frame of the DMD gene cause loss of dystrophin expression and lead to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. However, amelioration of disease severity has been shown to result from alternative translation initiation beginning in DMD exon 6 that leads to expression of a highly functional N-truncated dystrophin. Here, the authors demonstrate … [Read more]

Multidisciplinary management of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) has achieved outstanding results in developed nations. This study aimed to describe the status of diagnosis and management of DMD in a developing country through the experience of non-profit organizations. A multistate, multiple-source, population-based survey was performed from medical records of 432 patients. Data were retrospectively collected, reviewed … [Read more]

Isis Pharmaceuticals has initiated a pivotal Phase III study evaluating ISIS-SMNRx in infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the most common genetic cause of infant mortality. The Phase III study entitled ENDEAR, is the first of several planned studies in a broad and comprehensive late-stage clinical development program for ISIS-SMNRx.  ENDEAR is a randomized, double-blind, … [Read more]

Mutations in fukutin-related protein (FKRP) gene cause a wide spectrum of disease phenotypes including the common limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2I (LGMD2I), the severe Walker-Warburg syndrome, and muscle-eye-brain disease. FKRP deficiency results in α-dystroglycan (α-DG) hypoglycosylation in the muscle and heart, which is a biochemical hallmark of dystroglycanopathies. To study gene replacement therapy, the authors generated … [Read more]

There are no validated criteria for the diagnosis of sensory neuronopathy (SNN) yet. In a preliminary monocenter study, a set of criteria relying on clinical and electrophysiological data showed good sensitivity and specificity for a diagnosis of probable SNN. The aim of this study was to test these criteria in a French multicenter study. A … [Read more]

This study reports on a 5-year-old girl who presented with an association of symptoms reminiscent of an Ullrich-like congenital muscular dystrophy including congenital hypotonia, proximal joint contractures, hyperlaxity of distal joints, normal cognitive development, and kyphoscoliosis. There was an excess of neuromuscular spindles on the skeletal muscle biopsy. This very peculiar feature on muscle biopsy … [Read more]