Myostatin

• OMIM: 601788
• UniProt: O14793

Myostatin is a protein (protein ), which is formed in the human or animal body. It inhibits muscle growth, so that the muscles do not grow uncontrollably. Follistatin acts antagonistically on the other hand, by binding to myostatin.

In the first and third series, the muscle mass of the wild type. In comparison, the significantly increased muscle mass of the transgenic mouse (2nd and 4th row )

Inactivation of natural protein function of myostatin leads to muscle growth überschießendem. In mice, cattle, sheep and dogs of the breed Whippet individuals are known to develop a much larger muscle mass than healthy animals due to different mutations in the myostatin gene. For Whippets was found that dogs with two copies of the mutated gene develop the undesirable in the breed stocky phenotype of the "bully whippet ". Although dogs with only one copy of the mutated gene also developed a greater muscle mass than dogs of the wild type and reached a significantly higher rate in the competition, but they corresponded to the breed standard.

2004 a German boy a mutation of the myostatin gene has been found that the formation of a truncated and therefore not fully functional myostatin protein result. The boy is unusually muscular since his birth.

In the German public myostatin is repeatedly named as a candidate for gene doping since then. It should however be successfully antagonized for gene doping with the effect of myostatin present in the human natural myostatin protein. So far, this gene therapy approach succeeds only in mice with severe muscle disease and only with moderate success. Contrast, are conventional therapeutic approaches that have been successful through a direct blockade of natural Myostatinwirkung in animal experiments. It is hoped thereby one day be able to treat muskeldegenerative diseases. With MYO -029 ( Stamulumab ) an antibody that inhibits the natural myostatin, in a clinical trial was tested. This had no significant success. But perhaps a more targeted inhibitor can give hope for a better effect.