Wednesday 21 December 2011

My Research - What am I doing and why?

Background to my research

I am doing research into a disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Muscular dystrophies are a group of diseases that effect the muscles of your body. Duchenne is the most common form of muscular dystrophy. It is caused by a mutation in the DMD gene, which carries the instructions for making a protein called dystrophin. Mutations are errors in the gene, so the protein cannot be made properly. Proteins are important components of our bodies, required for the structure, function and regulation of cells, tissues and organs (for example muscles, lungs, kidneys). Dystrophin has an important role in muscles, acting as a shock absorber to prevent damage to the muscle when it contracts during movement.

Muscles are made up of many bundles of muscle cells, which are tubular in structure (see diagram below). Dystrophin can be found at the membrane of muscle cells. The membrane is a protective layer which surrounds each cell. 


Dystrophin acts as part of a group of proteins (see diagram above). These proteins work by anchoring the structural network inside the cell (shown in orange) to the outside environment.

When dystrophin is absent, the protein scaffold is lost from the membrane.This means that the muscle can be damaged more easily during contractions and leads to the muscle weakness and wasting seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

What am I aiming to do with my research?

Preventing the loss of the other proteins in the scaffolding complex from the membrane may restore some stability to the muscle, even when dystrophin is not present. I am trying to stop the loss of one of these proteins called dystroglycan (in blue on the diagram). Dystroglycan is able to form links with other proteins, which may be able to compensate for the loss of dystrophin. I am investigating whether this could have potential as a future therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

1 comment:

  1. Am Richard, I am here to testify about a great herbalist  man who cured my wife of breast cancer. His name is Dr Imoloa. My wife went through this pain for 3 years, i almost spent all i had, until i saw some testimonies online on how Dr. Imoloa cure them from their diseases, immediately i contacted him through. then he told me the necessary things to do before he will send  the herbal medicine. Wish he did through DHL courier service, And he instructed us on how to apply or drink the medicine for good two weeks. and to greatest surprise before the upper third week my wife was relief from all the pains, Believe me, that was how my wife was cured from breast cancer by this great man. He also have powerful herbal medicine to cure diseases like: Alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease, vaginal cancer, epilepsy Anxiety Disorders, Autoimmune Disease, Back Pain, Back Sprain, Bipolar Disorder, Brain Tumor, Malignant, Bruxism, Bulimia, Cervical Disc Disease, Cardiovascular Disease, Neoplasms , chronic respiratory disease, mental and behavioral disorder, Cystic Fibrosis, Hypertension, Diabetes, Asthma, Autoimmune inflammatory media arthritis ed. chronic kidney disease, inflammatory joint disease, impotence, alcohol spectrum feta, dysthymic disorder, eczema, tuberculosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus disease, mouth ulcer, mouth cancer, body pain, fever, hepatitis ABC, syphilis, diarrhea, HIV / AIDS, Huntington's disease, back acne, chronic kidney failure, addison's disease, chronic pain, Crohn's pain, cystic fibrosis, fibromyalgia, inflammatory Bowel disease, fungal nail disease, Lyme disease, Celia disease, Lymphoma, Major depression, Malignant melanoma, Mania, Melorheostosis, Meniere's disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis, Multiple sclerosis, Muscular dystrophy, Rheumatoid arthritis. You can reach him Email Via drimolaherbalmademedicine@gmail.com / whatsapp +2347081986098    Website/ www.drimolaherbalmademedicine.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete