Investigating the Dystrophin-Glycoprotein Complex to Protect Muscles from Wasting Conditions

Project Details

The dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) is a multi-protein structure required to maintain integrity of the muscle fibre membrane and to transmit force, by linking the actin cytoskeleton with the extracellular matrix. Importantly, we and others have shown the DGC also plays a critical role in the signalling mechanisms that maintain muscle homeostasis and membrane localisation of dystrophin is perturbed in muscles wasting because of cancer cachexia, sepsis, unloading, denervation and advanced ageing, which are all associated with low level, chronic inflammation.

Identifying therapeutic approaches to restore the DGC at the muscle fibre membrane is essential for improving clinical outcomes for patients whose muscles are wasting and seemingly unresponsive to other treatments.

This project will test the hypothesis that loss of DGC integrity at the fibre membrane is implicated in multiple wasting conditions and that post-translational modification modulates these DGC interactions to preserve and protect muscles in different muscle wasting states.

Researchers

Dr Kristy Swiderski, Senior Research Fellow

Professor Gordon Lynch, Head of Laboratory

Funding

2018-2021 NHMRC Project Grant. Rescuing the Dystrophin-Glycoprotein Complex to protect muscles from wasting conditions

Research Opportunities

This research project is available to Honours students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.

Research Group

Lynch laboratory: Basic and clinical myology



Faculty Research Themes

Cancer

School Research Themes

Cancer in Biomedicine, Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, Stem Cells



Key Contact

For further information about this research, please contact the research group leader.

Department / Centre

Anatomy and Physiology

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