Health & Medicine - Posted by Rebecca Scott-Melbourne on Monday,
April 9, 2012 11:56 - 0 Comments ‘Heat shock’ protein halts
muscle disease U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Researchers have found that
increasing a specific protein in muscles could help treat
Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Approximately one in every 3,500
young boys worldwide is afflicted with DMD, a severe and
progressive muscle wasting disease. There is no cure for the
disease, which causes muscle fragility, spinal curvature, and
premature death. Straight from the Source Results from the
studies published in Nature showed that by increasing levels of
‘heat shock protein 72′ (HSP72) in the muscles of animal models
of DMD, muscle strength improved, the disease progression
slowed, and lifespan increased. The research, led by Professor
Gordon Lynch, head of the department of physiology at the
University of Melbourne and conducted by Stefan Gehrig for his
PhD, investigated several scientific approaches of increasing
the levels of the protein. The study was als