Impaired fetal muscle development and JAK-STAT activation mark disease onset and progression in a mouse model for merosin-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy.

ABSTRACT: Merosin-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy type 1A (MDC1A) is a dramatic neuromuscular disease in which crippling muscle weakness is evident from birth. Here, we use the dyW mouse model for human MDC1A to trace the onset of the disease during development in utero. We find that myotomal and primary myogenesis proceed normally in homozygous dyW-/- embryos. Fetal dyW-/- muscles display the same number of myofibers as wildtype (WT) muscles, but by E18.5 dyW-/- muscles are significantly smaller and muscle size is not recovered post-natally. These results suggest that fetal dyW-/- myofibers fail to grow at the same rate as WT myofibers. Consistent with this hypothesis between E17.5 and E18.5 dyW-/- muscles display a dramatic drop in the number of Pax7- and myogenin-positive cells relative t

SUBMITTER: Nunes AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6075618 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature