Muscle Mosaic
Mysterious enough to be named after The Great Sphinx, sphingolipids are odd-shaped fatty molecules important in development and sending signals between our cells – but they also have a dark side. Sphingolipids, or rather problems controlling them, can cause nasty conditions called sphingolipidoses. Here researchers find the enigmatic molecules also play a role in muscular dystrophies – where muscle progressively weakens. Looking at the effects on this mosaic-like muscle tissue in a young mouse (with different muscle types highlighted in different colours), researchers blocked new sphingolipids forming with a chemical called myriocin. This reduced the effects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy – lowering inflammation and preventing damage – suggesting new drugs may help in solving the riddle of the sphingolipids.
Written by John Ankers
Image by Martin Wohlwend (EPFL)
Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Image copyright held by the original authors
Research by Pirkka-Pekka Laurila, Peiling Luan and Martin Wohlwend et al, published in Science Advances, January 2022
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