Myostatin (GDF-8) is a new TGF-beta family member that is essential for proper regulation of skeletal muscle mass. We have shown that mice lacking myostatin have 2-3 times the amount of muscle present in wild type animals and that this increase in muscle mass results from a combination of hyperplasia and hypertrophy. We have also shown that overexpression of myostatin in nude mice induces a wasting syndrome that resembles the cachectic state often seen in human patients with chronic diseases such as cancer or AIDS. The overall aims of this proposal are to determine the role of the Smad signaling pathway in mediating the effects of myostatin in vivo, to investigate the role of the Smad pathway in regulating muscle growth, and to explore the possibility that inhibition of myostatin activity and/or Smad signaling may have applications in the treatment of cachexia.
The specific aims of this proposal are: to generate and characterize transgenic mice in which the expression levels of myostatin can be manipulated; to generate and characterize transgenic mice in which a dominant negative form of myostatin or the pro- domain of myostatin is used to block myostatin expression and/or signaling; to generate and characterize transgenic mice in which either dominant negative forms or inhibitors of various TGF-beta signaling components are expressed specifically in skeletal muscle; to determine whether these signaling components are involved in myostatin signaling in mice; to determine whether the activities of these signaling components are essential for the wasting syndrome induced by IL-6, TNF-alpha, and certain tumor cells; and to determine the effects of blocking the activities of these signaling components postnatally in skeletal muscle. These studies will provide key information regarding the signaling molecules involved in the regulation of muscle growth and will be an important first step in investigating the possible benefits of targeting myostatin or the Smad pathway as a strategy for developing novel therapies for the treatment of cachexia.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA088866-03
Application #
6626772
Study Section
Metabolic Pathology Study Section (MEP)
Program Officer
Mietz, Judy
Project Start
2001-01-01
Project End
2005-12-31
Budget Start
2003-01-01
Budget End
2003-12-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$318,825
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
001910777
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
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Schuelke, Markus; Wagner, Kathryn R; Stolz, Leslie E et al. (2004) Myostatin mutation associated with gross muscle hypertrophy in a child. N Engl J Med 350:2682-8
Lee, Se-Jin (2004) Regulation of muscle mass by myostatin. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 20:61-86
Wolfman, Neil M; McPherron, Alexandra C; Pappano, William N et al. (2003) Activation of latent myostatin by the BMP-1/tolloid family of metalloproteinases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:15842-6
Zimmers, Teresa A; Davies, Monique V; Koniaris, Leonidas G et al. (2002) Induction of cachexia in mice by systemically administered myostatin. Science 296:1486-8
Lee, S J; McPherron, A C (2001) Regulation of myostatin activity and muscle growth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98:9306-11