ANRV295-PM02-04 ARI 13 December 2006 2:57 Muscle Diseases: The Muscular Dystrophies Elizabeth M. McNally and Peter Pytel Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637; email:
[email protected] Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Pathol. Mech. Dis. 2007. Key Words 2:87–109 myotonia, sarcopenia, muscle regeneration, dystrophin, lamin A/C, The Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease is online at nucleotide repeat expansion pathmechdis.annualreviews.org Abstract by Drexel University on 01/13/13. For personal use only. This article’s doi: 10.1146/annurev.pathol.2.010506.091936 Dystrophic muscle disease can occur at any age. Early- or childhood- onset muscular dystrophies may be associated with profound loss Copyright c 2007 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved of muscle function, affecting ambulation, posture, and cardiac and respiratory function. Late-onset muscular dystrophies or myopathies 1553-4006/07/0228-0087$20.00 Annu. Rev. Pathol. Mech. Dis. 2007.2:87-109. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org may be mild and associated with slight weakness and an inability to increase muscle mass. The phenotype of muscular dystrophy is an endpoint that arises from a diverse set of genetic pathways. Genes associated with muscular dystrophies encode proteins of the plasma membrane and extracellular matrix, and the sarcomere and Z band, as well as nuclear membrane components. Because muscle has such distinctive structural and regenerative properties, many of the genes implicated in these disorders target pathways unique to muscle or more highly expressed in muscle.