Muscular Dystrophy News and Research

RSS

The muscular dystrophies (MD) are a group of more than 30 genetic diseases characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles that control movement. Some forms of MD are seen in infancy or childhood, while others may not appear until middle age or later. The disorders differ in terms of the distribution and extent of muscle weakness (some forms of MD also affect cardiac muscle), age of onset, rate of progression, and pattern of inheritance.

Study uncovers mechanism behind skin cell transformation

Researchers have created a recipe for turning skin cells into primitive muscle-like cells that can be sustained indefinitely in the laboratory.

23 Aug 2021

Study shows promising results for treating muscular dystrophies with umbilical cord-derived MSCs

Results of a compassionate-use study released in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine show promising results for treating muscular dystrophies with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from Wharton's jelly (WJ), a substance found in the umbilical cord.

28 Jul 2021

New gene therapy could help treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Researchers from UT Southwestern used a new kind of gene therapy to successfully treat mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), distinctively employing CRISPR-Cas9-based tools to restore a large section of the dystrophin protein missing in several DMD patients.

3 May 2021

Stem cell therapy could help restore debilitating muscle loss that happens with age

As the name implies, induced pluripotent stem cells can become any type of cell in our body, and scientists have evidence that when they prompt them to become muscle progenitor cells they can help restore the sometimes debilitating muscle loss that happens with age.

24 Mar 2021

Revolutionary CRISPR-based genome editing system treatment destroys cancer cells

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is very effective in treating metastatic cancers.

11 Dec 2020

Study shows CRISPR/Cas9 system can effectively treat metastatic cancers

Researchers have shown that the advanced CRISPR/Cas9 system is extremely effective in curing metastatic cancers.

19 Nov 2020

Researchers identify new potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2 infection

To identify new potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2, a team of scientists at the New York Genome Center, New York University, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, performed a genome-scale, loss-of-function CRISPR screen to systematically knockout all genes in the human genome.

27 Oct 2020

Study clarifies role of ERβ in growth and regeneration of skeletal muscle in female mice

Researchers at Kumamoto University, Japan generated mice lacking the estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) gene, both fiber-specific and muscle stem cell-specific, which resulted in abnormalities in the growth and regeneration of skeletal muscle in female mice.

13 Oct 2020

Components leaking from broken muscle fibers activate 'satellite' muscle stem cells

While building a muscle damage model in a cultured system, a research collaboration between Kumamoto University and Nagasaki University in Japan has found that components leaking from broken muscle fibers activate "satellite" muscle stem cells.

13 Oct 2020

Newly developed biodegradable microneedles deliver genes into the skin

Gene therapy offers an excellent potential for treating specific types of genetic defects and cancer, immunological diseases, infections, and wounds.

9 Oct 2020

Microneedles For Therapeutic Gene Delivery

There is great potential in gene therapy for treating certain types of cancer and genetic defects, immunological diseases, wounds and infections.

7 Oct 2020

RNA editing repair technique shows promise for treating neurological disorders

Researchers have effectively edited RNA in a living creature such that the repaired RNA subsequently rectified a mutation in a protein that leads to Rett syndrome—a debilitating neurological disorder that affects people.

15 Jul 2020

Structural map reveals changes in SMCHD1 protein linked to degenerative conditions

Researchers have used structural biology to map a portion of a protein called SMCHD1, describing how certain modifications can lead to degenerative conditions.

18 Jun 2020

Research identifies how neuronal transmission is disrupted in ALS

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, lose muscle control as nerve cells or neurons in the brain and spinal cord degenerate and can no longer send signals to muscles.

29 May 2020

Gene therapy builds muscle mass, reduces fat in mice

Exercise and physical therapy often are recommended to help people who have arthritis. Both can strengthen muscle - a benefit that also can reduce joint pain.

12 May 2020

Study finds utrophin-based therapy could be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

If an actor is not in a position to perform in the theatre, an understudy—preferably one with some practice in the role—can take that role on stage.

27 Apr 2020

New technology used to probe and catalog activity of cells involved in muscle repair

The repair of muscles is a crowded, complex task. When different types of cells work together to regenerate new tissue, they bump around, rattling and trying to coordinate with one another.

11 Mar 2020