New Protein May Be Treatment Key

Scientists have discovered a second protein that appears lacking in muscular dystrophy patients, an important development in the hunt for a treatment for the crippling disease, it was reported last week in the British journal Nature.

The muscle cells of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients are missing about 90% of a newly identified protein, which is called dystrophin-associated glycoprotein 156 or DAG 156, said researchers at the University of Iowa medical school in Iowa City.

The protein appears to be part of a “complex” of proteins that may be involved in maintaining the structure of the membrane of muscle cells, the researchers said.

The finding provides new understanding of the underlying cause of muscular dystrophy and could lead to new forms of treatment, such as drugs that replace the missing protein or correct the flaw, experts said.