The cover of April 2020 issue of Nature Materials features an image from work recently published by the Lammerding Lab. The paper entitled, “Mutant lamins cause nuclear envelope rupture and DNA damage in skeletal muscle cells” describes nuclear instability in laminopathies.
Lamin mutations responsible for muscular dystrophy are shown to reduce nuclear envelope stability, resulting in mechanically induced nuclear envelope rupture, DNA damage and activation of DNA damage response pathways that lead to muscle cell death. Preventing nuclear envelope damage by reducing cytoskeletal forces on the nucleus improves muscle fibre health and function.
The cover image, provided by Lammerding Lab Ph.D. student Tyler Kirby, presents in vitro differentiated muscle fibers containing a mutation in the gene encoding the nuclear envelope proteins lamin A/C, which causes muscular dystrophy. Nuclei (lamin B) are labeled in yellow, while the cytoskeleton (myosin heavy chain) is labeled in magenta.
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