Factors affecting morphology of skeletal muscles

Abstract

Myostatin is a TGF-β family member. It plays a negative role in regulating the growth of the skeletal muscles. The effects of the myostatin mutation in adipose tissue are an indirect effect of the lack of myostatin signaling in skeletal muscle. An elucidation of the mechanism by which myostatin regulates fat metabolism in vivo will ultimately require the analysis of genetically manipulated animals in which components of the myostatin signaling pathway have been blocked specifically in either skeletal muscle or adipose tissue. Although the expression level of the transgene in adipose tissue was extremely low compared with the level in skeletal muscle, it is possible that this low-level expression was sufficient to block myostatin signaling in fat. Several data suggest that myostatin inhibitors such as follistatin and the myostatin propeptide, or activin type II receptor inhibitors may be effective muscle-enhancing agents for both human and agricultural applications.