News

A recent special issue of the BioMed Research International journal was published focusing on the newest clues of the mechanisms behind muscular dystrophies and novel directed therapies for the disease. There are various forms of muscular dystrophy and, as the name implies, they are characterized by wasting of the muscles throughout the…

The causes behind Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are not fully understood and, as in most muscular dystrophies, no current cure or specific treatment exists. As such, management of affected patients involves corticoids and is directed to the complications of the disease, namely physical therapy for muscle weakness and non-invasive ventilation in case…

In a recent study entitled “Revisiting the dystrophin-ATP connection: How half a century of research still implicates mitochondrial dysfunction in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy aetiology“, published in the journal Medical Hypotheses, researchers explored the hypothesis that Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is characterised by a systemic mitochondrial…

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the world’s leading nonprofit health agency dedicated to find treatments and cures for muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases recently announced that it will rally along with the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community on the World Duchenne Awareness Day. For the first time the…

In a recent paper entitled “Lipogenesis mitigates dysregulated sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium uptake in muscular dystrophy”published in the Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids journal, U.S. researchers unveiled a relationship between defective lipid biosynthesis and muscle weakness in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

In a recent paper published in Scientific Reports entitled “Deletion of integrin α7 subunit does not aggravate the phenotype of laminin α2 chain-deficient mice“, researchers from Sweden have revealed novel insights into the role of dystrophin related proteins towards the progression of muscular dystrophy (MD). Muscular dystrophy is…

aTyr Pharma, Inc. a company engaged in the discovery and development of Physiocrine-based therapeutics to address severe rare diseases, recently announced it began dosing the first patient in a new long term safety extension trial of Resolaris for adult patients suffering from facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a rare and severe genetic myopathy…

Experiments that produce unexpected results are often times more informative than predictable experiments. Such is the case for a new study that found an unexpected link between the protein dystrophin and the disease atherosclerosis. A research team from the Department of Experimental Medical Science at Lund University in Sweden discovered…

Debiopharm International SA, in partnership with Solid Biosciences, recently announced the initiation of pre-clinical animal studies of Alisporivir in the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a severe form of muscular dystrophy caused by a mutation in the Dystrophin gene, located in the X chromosome, which results in the absence or abnormal production of…

PTC Therapeutics recently revealed the 5 winners of its inaugural global awards program, the STRIVE Awards (Strategies to Realize Innovation, Vision and Empowerment). These awards seek to help not-for-profit organizations that cater to the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. PTC made the announcement during the international World Duchenne Awareness Day held on Monday,…