Unraveling the Molecular Mechanisms of Heart and Skeletal Muscle Pathologies

Dear Colleagues,

Inherited and acquired cardiomyopathies are associated with progressive heart failure, and are a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, while skeletal myopathies are a heterogeneous group of genetic and acquired of disorders, characterized by muscle weakness and atrophy, often leading to disability, respiratory insufficiency, paralysis, and premature death. Thus, cardiac and skeletal muscle disorders significantly reduce quality of life and lifespan and have an enormous social, emotional, and economic impact. Currently, there are only few approved therapies for treating myopathies, while multidisciplinary standard of care, including respiratory, nutritional, orthopedic, and physical/occupational therapies, is the gold standard of treatment. Cardiomyopathies are managed via conventional therapy, including multiple medications, implanted devices, and heart surgery, to slow, but not prevent, the progression of the disease, ignoring disease cause and subtype. Thus, there is a strong need for better, more targeted therapies that are able to substantially modify the disease trajectory or cure these disorders.

This Special Issue of Biomedicines focuses on recent advances in the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac and skeletal pathologies as a basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Thus, we welcome original research articles and reviews that provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac and skeletal muscle disorders, including the identification of novel therapeutic targets and pre-clinical testing of potential therapeutic strategies to improve treatment and cure. Areas of interest include, but are not limited, to, the following topics:

• The use of pre-clinical models (animal and cell-based models) to provide a better understanding of the molecular pathways that lead to the onset and progression of pathologies affecting cardiac and/or skeletal muscle;
• The identification of novel therapeutic targets;
• Pre-clinical testing of potential therapies to improve treatment and cure.

Dr. Marie-Louise Bang
Prof. Dr. Edoardo Malfatti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• cardiomyopathies
• skeletal myopathies
• molecular basis of cardiac and skeletal pathologies
• pre-clinical models, including animal and cell-based models.