ALTERED MEMBRANE-DYSTROPHIN ASSOCIATION IN THE CARDIOMYOPATHIC HAMSTER HEART-MUSCLE

In the ventricular muscle from 30- to 40-day-old Bio 14.6 cardiomyopathic hamsters, the concentration of dystrophin was about 50% less than the normal controls. Despite its reduced content, extraction of dystrophin from the myopathic muscle into the microsomal fraction was threefold higher as compared to the control. These results suggest that abnormality exists in the association of dystrophin with sarcolemmal membranes in the myopathic muscle. No obvious difference, however, was observed between normal and myopathic myocytes in their immunofluorescence staining patterns. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc.