Congenital muscle weakness: Muscles fail to regenerate
For more than two decades, Prof. Markus Rüegg from the Biozentrum at the University of Basel has been investigating a severe form of muscular dystrophy in which muscles progressively degenerate. His team has now discovered that the muscles’ ability to regenerate is also impaired. Future therapies should therefore aim not only to strengthen muscles but also to promote their regeneration.
Roughly eight in every million children are born with a particularly severe form of muscle weakness known as LAMA2-related muscular dystrophy. In Switzerland, 18 cases are currently known. This rare hereditary disease is still incurable. The muscles of affected children gradually become weaker, including the respiratory musculature. In many cases, the children do not reach adulthood.
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