Myostatin is a member of the transforming growth factor-β/bone morphogenetic protein (TGF-β/BMP) superfamily of secreted factors that functions as a potent inhibitor of skeletal muscle growth. Moreover, considerable evidence has accumulated that myostatin also regulates metabolism and that its inhibition can significantly attenuate the progression of obesity and diabetes. Although at least part...

Myostatin is a transforming growth factor beta family member that acts as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. Myostatin circulates in the blood of adult mice in a noncovalently held complex with other proteins, including its propeptide, which maintain the C-terminal dimer in a latent, inactive state. This latent form of myostatin can be activated in vitro by treatment with acid; how...

Loss of skeletal muscle mass is a poorly understood complication of end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Based on recent stem cell literature, we hypothesized that the potent negative regulator of muscle mass, myostatin, could play a role in the muscle loss associated with ESLD. In this preliminary investigation, we measured myostatin levels in patients undergoing liver transplant evaluation, using ...

An experiment was carried out on myostatin gene with the objectives of identification of polymorphism in the myostatin gene and estimation of the effect of polymorphism on growth traits in chickens. Single-stranded conformation polymorphism followed by sequencing was performed to reveal polymorphism of the gene. A total of 13 haplotypes were observed across 3 chicken lines (PB-1 and CB as broil...

Myostatin represses muscle growth by negatively regulating the number and size of muscle fibers. Myostatin lossof- function can result in the double-muscling phenotype and increased muscle mass. Thus, knockout of myostatin gene could improve the quality of meat from mammals. In the present study, zinc finger nucleases, a useful tool for generating gene knockout animals, were designed to target ...

Myostatin is involved in an inhibitor of muscular growth and differentiation. Myoblasts derived from double-muscled Japanese shorthorn cattle (DM myoblasts) with absence of functional myostatin had higher abilities to proliferate and differentiate than myoblasts derived from normal-muscled cattle (NM myoblasts). In DM myoblasts, mRNA expressions of fetal myosin heavy chain (MyHC) in growth medi...

We recently demonstrated that mRNA levels of three members of the CCAAT/enhancer binding factor (C/EBP) family of transcription factors are increased in skeletal muscle following 12 days of spaceflight. In the present study, we further explored the expression of C/EBP-δ in atrophying fast skeletal muscle by examining its expression in muscle from food-deprived (FD) mice, and investigated its ro...

Follistatin binds and neutralizes members of the TGFbeta superfamily including activin, myostatin, and growth and differentiation factor 11 (GDF11). Crystal structure analysis of the follistatin-activin complex revealed extensive contacts between follistatin domain (FSD)-2 and activin that was critical for the high-affinity interaction. However, it remained unknown whether follistatin residues ...

Myostatin, a member of the TGFbeta superfamily, is a potent and specific negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass. In serum, myostatin circulates as part of a latent complex containing myostatin propeptide and/or follistatin-related gene (FLRG). Here, we report the identification of an additional protein associated with endogenous myostatin in normal mouse and human serum, discovered by affin...

Myostatin, a transforming growth factor-beta superfamily member, has been well documented as a negative regulator of muscle growth and development. Myostatin, which has 376 amino acids, is synthesized as a precursor protein. Polymorphism of the myostatin gene in Makoei sheep was investigated by PCR and single-strand conformation polymorphism technique (SSCP). Genomic DNA of 92 sheep was is...