Sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium handling in unbranched, immediately post-necrotic fast-twitch mdx fibres is similar to wild-type littermates.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? What are the early effects of dystrophin deficiency on sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca handling in the mdx mouse? What is the main finding and its importance? In the mdx mouse, Ca handling by the sarcoplasmic reticulum is little affected by the absence of dystrophin when looking at fibres without branches that have recently regenerated after massive myonecrosis. This has important implications for our understanding of Ca pathology in the mdx mouse.

Abstract: There is a variety of results in the literature regarding the effects of dystrophin deficiency on the Ca handling properties of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in the mdx mouse, an animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.