Genetics of skeletal muscle growth and regeneration unveiled

Genetics of Skeletal Muscle Growth and Regeneration Unveiled Skeletal muscle has an amazing ability to recover—a capacity that is decreased in numerous skeletal muscle sicknesses and aging. To investigate the system behind skeletal muscle development and recovery, scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital shelled zebrafish with chemical mutagen and screened for larvae with defective skeletal muscle structure. Utilizing genetic mapping, they found that zebrafish larvae with a mutation in DDX27 indicated reduced muscle growth and impeded recovery. Their outcomes are distributed in PLOS Genetics.

“The obstacle in the development of effective therapies for skeletal muscle diseases at present is the lack of understanding of the biological processes that promote muscle growth and repair.”

Said corresponding author Vandana Gupta, PhD, of the Division of Genetics at BWH. “Our study is the first one to make efforts to try to provide specificity to the processes controlling protein synthesis in muscles, which, will give hope for the development of effective targeted treatments for skeletal muscle diseases.”

Loss of muscle mass is a common indication of a wide range of diseases, and will lead to reduced muscle function and increased morbidity and mortality. To maintain the skeletal mass, a dynamic balance between protein synthesis and degradation is needed. However, numerous conditions such as myopathies, sarcopenia, cancer cachexia, disuse atrophy, sepsis and chronic kidney diseases may lead to disruption of this balance for reduced protein synthesis.

Through a series of research, the scientists found that DDX27 is involved in ribosome biogenesis and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. Lack of DDX27 can affect the function of skeletal muscle by disrupting the regulation and production of proteins that are important for muscle function.

The next step, the researchers said is to further investigate the mechanism by which protein synthesis is changed in different diseases conditions and to see if methods can be developed to target DDX27 regulated pathways to restore muscle growth and regeneration in skeletal muscle disorders.

“If muscle growth can be promoted in patients with skeletal muscle disorders, we may be able to reduce morbidity.” Said Gupta.

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