Key signal proteins for muscle growth

Researchers at the University of Louisville have found that the protein of myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) plays an important role in muscle regeneration and development The team, led by Professor Ashok Kumar of the Department of anatomy and neurobiology, focused on the key role of the protein in the repair of adult skeletal muscle injury and postnatal muscle development The article was published in nature communications on November 20   Specialized progenitor and stem cell proliferation leads to muscle formation They first differentiate into myoblasts Myoblasts fuse to form muscle fibers Using animal models, researchers used neonatal and adult cells to study the effect of the number of signal protein MyD88 on myofibroblast fusion   "Since MyD88 can only promote the fusion of myoblasts without affecting their proliferation and differentiation, targeting MyD88 may help to improve the transplantation of exogenous myoblasts in cell therapy, so as to improve the degenerative muscle disease of donors."
The increased expression of MyD88 can also be used to treat rhabdomyosarcomas, a malignant tumor affecting skeletal muscle development in children   "We are investigating whether increasing MyD88 levels can inhibit rhabdomyosarcoma growth in animal models," Kumar said "At the same time, we are also investigating whether the muscle regeneration ability of the elderly is also related to MyD88 loss."
Kumar lab has been working on the molecular and signal mechanism of skeletal muscle growth and maintenance They are an efficient and high-yield research team In 2015, they published an article in Journal of clinical investigation describing the effect of tumor necrosis factor receptor-related factor 6 (TRAF6) on the ability of satellite cells to maintain and regenerate damaged muscles Only 10 days later, another article was published in nature communications, which proved that transforming growth factor activated protein kinase 1 (TAK1) is an important condition for satellite cells to self renew.