Nuclear envelope defects in muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophies are a heterogeneous group of disorders linked to defects in 20–30 different genes. Mutations in the genes encoding a pair of nuclear envelope proteins, emerin and lamin A/C, have been shown to cause the X-linked and autosomal forms respectively of Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. A third form of muscular dystrophy, limb girdle muscular dystrophy 1b, has also been linked to mutations in the lamin A/C gene. Given that these two genes are ubiquitously expressed, a major goal is to determine how they can be associated with tissue specific diseases. Recent results suggest that lamin A/C and emerin contribute to the maintenance of nuclear envelope structure and at the same time may modulate the expression patterns of certain mechanosensitive and stress induced genes. Both emerin and lamin A/C may play an important role in the response of cells to mechanical stress and in this way may help to maintain muscle cell integrity.