DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

[stakddek]

proteins link to muscle disease


http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_816161.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.medicalbreakthroughs

From Ananova: (Note subtractive proteonomics)
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Newly-discovered proteins link to muscle disease

Dozens of newly-discovered proteins have been linked to devastating muscle and nerve degenerative diseases.

Scientists in the US identified 62 new proteins forming part of the protective wall around the cell nucleus.

Of these, 23 were strongly associated with 14 rare diseases. They included congenital, Limb-Girdle and spinal muscular dystrophy, and several forms of nerve-damaging Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Identifying the proteins is the first step towards finding ways to detect, prevent and treat the disorders.

Potentially the study could help scientists find the cause of more than 300 human dystrophies.

Research leader Professor Larry Gerace, from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, said: "To understand how these diseases happen, we need to understand more about the players - the network of interlinked proteins."

Many rare but serious diseases have been linked to the inner nuclear membrane which lines the container holding a cell's genetic material.

On the inner surface of the membrane is a scaffold-like structure called the lamina, which not only helps maintain the shape and size of the nucleus but also contributes to the specialised functions of different cells.

Scientists believe when certain inner membrane malfunction they cause disease.

Professor Gerace's team used a technique called subtractive proteomics to identify 62 nuclear membrane proteins that were previously unknown.

Genes encoding 23 of these proteins were in chromosomal regions already implicated in the 14 diseases, making it highly likely that they were involved in the disorders.

The findings were reported today in the journal Science.

Professor Gerace said: "It's highly likely that some of these diseases will be due to the newly identified nuclear envelope proteins. This is a pretty big step forward."


Story filed: 06:36 Friday 5th September 2003
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