5′-Adenylic Acid Deaminase in Dystrophic Mouse Muscle

Abstract

THE discovery¹, in 1955, of a hereditary myopathy in a strain of mice has provided a useful subject for the investigation of muscular dystrophy. Although the ultimate cause of the mouse disease may not be identical with the cause of any of the human muscular dystrophies, it is a reasonable assumption that many of the secondary changes will be similar. A number of workers have reported quantitative enzyme changes in the dystrophic mouse muscle. Some activities, for example, cathepsins² and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase³, show an increase; others, for example, lactic dehydrogenase⁴ and phosphorylase⁵, are decreased.