New Genes Found Responsible for Regulating Muscle Cells

A unique set of genes has been uncovered by York University scientists responsible for playing a role in muscle cellular gene expression and differentiation which could lead to new therapeutic targets to prevent the spread of muscle cancer.

New genes found responsible for regulating muscle cells. Photo: tasnimnews.com

The researchers analyzed gene networks in muscle cells and found that the Smad7 and β-catenin proteins work cooperatively inside the body to regulate muscle cell differentiation, growth and repair. When these regulatory proteins work in harmony, they control the pathway for normal gene expression, resulting in normal skeletal muscle cells.

The study indicates that a dysfunctional relationship between the Smad7 and β-catenin complex can lead to a situation of impaired muscle cell differentiation—a hallmark of some soft tissue cancers such as Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). This rare cancer, which most often affects children, forms in soft tissue, mostly skeletal muscle tissue, and sometimes in hollow organs like the bladder or uterus.

These cells look like muscle cells, in terms of the way they function and their phenotype, but they don't stop dividing, which is why they form tumors at various sites in the body.

Part of the reason why those cells are defective in the differentiation program, which would mean that they would stop dividing, is that the β-catenin complex is being degraded in those cells because of an anomaly in the signaling pathway that controls that.

If we can stabilize the β-catenin and Smad7 complex in those cells, you could potentially encourage them to differentiate and stop proliferating, which would mean that you'd stop those cells from growing in the tumor.

This new molecular genetic finding could lead to strategies for cancer treatments that target these specific molecules.

The study also identified new regulators of muscle regeneration which could also open doors for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new treatments to address the normal but debilitating loss of muscle in the aging population. (Tasnim News Agency)

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