Journal article

Antibody-directed myostatin inhibition in 21-mo-old mice reveals novel roles for myostatin signaling in skeletal muscle structure and function

KT Murphy, R Koopman, T Naim, B Léger, J Trieu, C Ibebunjo, GS Lynch

FASEB Journal | Published : 2010

Abstract

Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and function with advancing age, leading to reduced mobility and quality of life. We tested the hypothesis that antibody-directed myostatin inhibition would attenuate the decline in mass and function of muscles of aged mice and that apoptosis would be reduced. Eighteen-month-old C57BL/6 mice were treated for 14 wk with a once-weekly injection of saline (control, n=9) or a mouse chimera of anti-human myostatin antibody (PF-354, 10 mg/kg; n=12). PF-354 prevented the age-related reduction in body mass and increased soleus, gastrocnemius, and quadriceps muscle mass (P<0.05). PF-354 increased fiber cross-sectional area by 12% and enhanced..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This study was supported by research grants from Pfizer Global Research and Development (USA) and the Australian Association of Gerontology. K.T.M. is supported by a Biomedical Australian Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). R.K. was supported by a Rubicon Research Fellowship from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). B.L. is supported by a Fellowship from the Swiss National Fund. C.I. helped design the experiments, assisted in data analysis, and contributed to the writing and editing of the manuscript. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.