Part one of term paper
refers to, not one, but a group of muscle diseases. These diseases have three features in common: they are hereditary; they are progressive; and each causes a characteristic and selective pattern of weakness. Duchenne (DMD) is the most prevalent and severe childhood form of this group of diseases. Each form of is caused by a defect in ...

Part two of term paper
... instructions for assembling a muscle protein known as dystrophin. At about 2,500,000 nucleotides, dystrophin is one of the largest genes known. Dystrophin is largely responsible for reinforcing and stabilizing the sarcolemma. Dystrophin associates with the muscle fiber sarcolemma by interacting with the actin microfilaments and with a transmembrane protein complex linked to the extracellular matrix. This latter dystrophin-associated glycoprotein complex (DAGC) includes the extracellular proteogl ...