Between Bedside and Bench in 2010

Muscle diseases can take many forms, from the progressive muscle degeneration of dystrophies to the childhood cancer rhabdomyosarcoma. In 'Bench to Bedside', Joel R. Chamberlain and Jeffrey S. Chamberlain discuss studies using antisense oligonucleotides to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy. In 'Bedside to Bench', Simone Hettmer and Amy J. Wagers examine the implications of clinical studies describing a type of rhabdomyosarcoma that resembles acute leukemia. The findings dovetail with other studies suggesting that some of these cancers might originate outside of muscle tissue and highlight the need for a better understanding of the cells that give rise to this condition.

The vasculature suffers damage as a result of diabetes, often leading to conditions such as kidney failure. In bench to bedside, Christian Rask-Madsen and George King examine endogenous factors that protect against damage of the vasculature, such as vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Recent studies report that VEGF is expressed by kidneys and fends off renal failure; such findings have implications for the development of treatments that harness endogenous factors and sound a note of caution for the therapeutic use of VEGF inhibitors. People with end-stage renal disease often die of cardiovascular complications and clinical studies have shown that one popular class of drugs, statins, does not work in this population. In bedside to bench, S. Ananth Karumanchi and Ravi Thadhani show how this clinical finding is spurring research into the biological mechanisms behind cardiovascular death in people with kidney disease.