| First Author | Pearsall RS | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Sci Rep | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 11392 |
| PubMed ID | 31388039 | Mgi Jnum | J:283782 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6388109 | Doi | 10.1038/s41598-019-47818-w |
| Citation | Pearsall RS, et al. (2019) Follistatin-based ligand trap ACE-083 induces localized hypertrophy of skeletal muscle with functional improvement in models of neuromuscular disease. Sci Rep 9(1):11392 |
| abstractText | Skeletal muscle is under inhibitory homeostatic regulation by multiple ligands of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) superfamily. Follistatin is a secreted protein that promotes muscle growth and function by sequestering these ligands extracellularly. In the present study, we evaluated the potential of ACE-083 - a locally acting, follistatin-based fusion protein - as a novel therapeutic agent for focal or asymmetric myopathies. Characterization of ACE-083 in vitro revealed its high affinity for heparin and extracellular matrix while surface plasmon resonance and cell-based assays confirmed that ACE-083 binds and potently neutralizes myostatin, activin A, activin B and growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11). Intramuscular administration of ACE-083 caused localized, dose-dependent hypertrophy of the injected muscle in wild-type mice and mouse models of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, with no evidence of systemic muscle effects or endocrine perturbation. Importantly, ACE-083 also increased the force of isometric contraction in situ by the injected tibialis anterior muscle in wild-type mice and disease models and increased ankle dorsiflexion torque in CMT mice. Our results demonstrate the potential of ACE-083 as a therapeutic agent for patients with CMT, muscular dystrophy and other disorders with focal or asymmetric muscle atrophy or weakness. |
