Postnatal overexpression of CT carbohydrate in mdx skeletal muscle inhibits the development of muscle pathology but not muscle growth.
(A) AAV2-Galgt2 was used to overexpress CT carbohydrate in mdx muscle (tibialis anterior, infection at 2 weeks, staining at 6 weeks). Muscle was stained with DBA to identify CT carbohydrate overexpressing myofibers (left) and with hematoxylin and eosin on the next section in a serial series to determine myofibers with central nuclei. Myofibers overexpressing CT carbohydrate were protected from developing central nuclei. (B) Gastrocnemius muscle in an mdx mouse was infected with AAV1-Galgt2 at 2 weeks of age and analyzed for CT carbohydrate overexpression (green) and for central nuclei (red) at 6 weeks of age. Myofibers overexpressing CT carbohydrate were protected from muscle damage and did not contain central nuclei. Bar is 50μm in A and B.