1. The therapeutic potential of soluble activin type IIB receptor treatment in a limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2D mouse model.
- Author
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Alqallaf, Ali, Engelbeen, Sarah, Palo, Angela, Cutrupi, Federico, Tanganyika-de Winter, Christa, Plomp, Jaap, Vaiyapuri, Sakthivel, Aartsma-Rus, Annemieke, Patel, Ketan, and van Putten, Maaike
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MUSCULAR dystrophy , *LABORATORY mice , *MUSCLE growth , *ANIMAL disease models , *ACTIVIN - Abstract
• Examination of enhanced muscle growth in mouse model of limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD)2D. • Induced muscle growth prior to following onset of disease failed to promote muscle growth. • Evidence that enhanced muscle growth in pre-symptomatic stages exacerbates muscle function deficit. • Study advocates caution for the use of myostatin blockade therapies as a treatment for limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD)2D. Limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2D (LGMD2D) is characterized by progressive weakening of muscles in the hip and shoulder girdles. It is caused by a mutation in the α-sarcoglycan gene and results in absence of α-sarcoglycan in the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. The activin type IIB receptor is involved in the activin/myostatin pathway, with myostatin being a negative regulator of muscle growth. In this study, we investigated the effects of sequestering myostatin by a soluble activin type IIB receptor (sActRIIB) on muscle growth in Sgca -null mice, modelling LGMD2D. Treatment was initiated at 3 weeks of age, prior to the disease onset, or at 9 weeks of age when already in an advanced stage of the disease. We found that early sActRIIB treatment resulted in increased muscle size. However, this led to more rapid decline of muscle function than in saline-treated Sgca -null mice. Furthermore, no histopathological improvements were seen after sActRIIB treatment. When initiated at 9 weeks of age, sActRIIB treatment resulted in increased muscle mass too, but to a lesser extent. No effect of the treatment was observed on muscle function or histopathology. These data show that sActRIIB treatment as a stand-alone therapy does not improve muscle function or histopathology in Sgca -null mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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