Pathogenesis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy: the calcium hypothesis revisited

Rapid advances in the molecular genetics of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and the discovery and localization of the gene product dystrophin has brought new hope that successful treatment for this disease may not be too far away. Dystrophin has been postulated to have a mechanical function, helping to resist stress associated with muscle contraction. The presence of dystrophin in low concentrations in muscle cells, its expression in nervous tissue and the observation that hypercontraction of the sarcomeres precedes membrane rupture make the hypothesis unlikely. On the basis of an analogy with a cytoskeletal protein ankyrin, which is associated with the sodium/potassium adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) in the kidney, it is possible that dystrophin deficiency leads initially to an increased but inefficient calcium-ATPase activity, which pumps calcium out of the cell. Partial failure of the pump would result in intracellular accumulation of calcium, hypercontractions of the sarcomeres, rupture of the cell membrane, massive influx of calcium and cell necrosis.