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Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is the most common but severe of the Muscular Dystrophies known. The disease is generally diagnosed by muscle biopsy. The characteristics of this disease are severe skeletal and heart muscle deterioration as a male ages, and grossly enlarged calves. Intellectual impairment is sometimes present as well. Generally, as young males age, their skeletal and heart muscles add mass and tone to aid with strength and growth. The muscles of a boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy act in an opposite manner. They start strong and waste away over time. A boy that has DMD is missing an essential protein known as dystrophin. |
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| Click above to listen to a pronunciation of the disease. When prompted, click 'open from current location'! | ||
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The figure shown above is a model of N-Terminal Actin-Binding Domain Of Human Dystrophin. It was created in RasMol version 2.7.1.2 by Herbert Bernstein using the pdb coordinates from the pdb file 1DDX. The 3D coordinates were determined from X-ray Diffraction. Structure by Norwood, F. L., Sutherland-Smith, A. J., Keep, N. H., Kendrick-Jones, J.: The Structure of the N-Terminal Actin-Binding Domain of Human Dystrophin and How Mutations in This Domain May Cause Duchenne or Becker Muscular Dystrophy Structure (London) 8 pp. 481 (2000).
Click on the picture for an enlarged version of the above picture.
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This page created by: Jennifer Butt