While calf muscle hypertrophy is a striking diagnostic finding in sarcoglycanopathy, as it is in
Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies, its pathogenetic mechanism remains
unknown. γ-Sarcoglycan, one of the subunits of the sarcoglycan complex, is the protein
responsible for γ-sarcoglycanopathy. To elucidate the pathogenetic mechanisms of muscle
hypertrophy and degeneration in muscular dystrophy, we utilized a mutant mouse as a
model animal. In this study, we generated γ-sarcoglycan-deficient (gsg−/−) mice by gene …