Changes in muscle cell structure can affect gene expressionNew findings that shed light on how genetic damage to muscle cell proteins can lead to the development of the rare muscle-wasting disease, nemaline myopathy, are reported March 15 in the Biochemical Journal.Professor Laura Machesky and colleagues from the CRUK Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, tested cultures of muscle cells that displayed mutations of the ACTA1 gene to determine how the mutations affected the biochemical pathways leading to the muscle damage seen in nemaline myopathy.The ACTA1 gene controls the production of actin, one of the main structural proteins in muscle; mutations in this gene cause 15-20% of cases of nemaline myopathy, an inherited muscle wasting disease similar to muscular dystrophy.