In a study that could help find the cure to muscular dystrophy, scientists from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have decoded how proteins work inside the body to help regenerate muscles.
Muscular dystrophy is a muscle degeneration or wasting disease characterized by a type of body paralysis. The patient cannot laugh, cry or show any facial expression. In severe cases, the patient cannot even raise hands or move legs. With no movement of the muscle, the patient is virtually a living dead.
The CCMB team comprising chief scientist Dr Jyotsna Dhawan and research scholar Ajoy Aloysius decoded the mechanism behind muscle regeneration, paving the way for further research to find cure to muscular dystrophy and other ailments related to muscles. At present, there is no known cure for muscular dystrophy. The disease also afflicts animals. In case muscular dystrophy attacks in early childhood, the chances of survival beyond 25 years of age are rare.
The CCMB finding on stem cell and muscle regeneration was published in the July 24 issue of scientific journal, Science Signalling. Explaining the research, Dr Jyotsna said muscle stem cells sleep by changing proteins which are necessary for muscle regeneration.
“Most cells in adult tissues permanently cease proliferation. However, stem cells in regenerating tissues must attain and maintain a temporary state of quiescence so that a reserve pool is available for future unpredictable bouts of repair. The programs that control the cell cycle and differentiation are coordinated to ensure the correct balance of stem cells and differentiated cells in regenerating tissue, but the mechanisms that direct cells into reversible as against irreversible arrest are poorly understood”, she said, adding that the CCMB research brings to the fore the interaction between proteins Lef1 and Smad3.
CCMB director Dr Rakesh Kumar Mishra said skeletal muscles control movement in the body, ranging from the “slightest twitch in the face when you smile or frown, to the extensive, sustained movement required for running a marathon.” He said skeletal muscles constitute 40% of the body mass and face constant wear and tear due to movement and injury.
“However, most of the time, we do not even feel the potential breakdown because our bodies have self-healing mechanisms that repair muscle tissue – a process called muscle regeneration. Heroes of this process are the muscle stem cells housed in little niches along the length of muscle fibres,” he said.
Dr Ramanuj DasGupta of Genome Institute of Singapore is also part of the study.
Finding solutions to incurable ailments would be impossible without first delving into the details of how various cells function in the body, the researchers said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/new-study-may-have-miracle-cure-for-muscular-dystrophy/articleshow/65144666.cms
