(MIDDLETOWN, CT) -- Zebrafish lead a simple life. They spend their mornings mating and days swimming around together in quiet, small streams. But they are also helping researchers find treatments for aliments such as muscular dystrophy, heart disease and birth defects, says Stephen Devoto, Assistant Professor of Biology at Wesleyan University.

In his lab, Devoto is studying the development of the zebrafish skeletal muscle and a special signaling protein called Hedgehog. This protein, when sent to the muscle, triggers muscle cells to divide or to become specialized. Without this signaling protein, Devoto has found, the muscle does not develop properly, which then may result in such aliments as muscular dystrophy.

Last year, Devoto received a half million-dollar grant for four years from the National Institute of Health to study Hedgehog. Currently, he and his lab members are researching what happens to zebrafish when the hedgehog protein is intentionally blocked during muscle development. To block Hedgehog, Devoto is using a compound called cyclopamine, which is currently used in treatment trials for people with Cancer.

“We’re looking at what happens to muscle development when the signaling protein Hedgehog is blocked,” explains Devoto. “If we can understand how muscle development is triggered, and how specific types of muscle fibers are formed, then we can start to design therapies that will trigger muscle regeneration.”

Devoto and his laboratory hope that the work they are doing by isolating and studying the protein Hedgehog will help lead to cures for muscle ailments like muscular dystrophy and heart disease.

To contact Stephen Devoto, please contact Laura Perillo in Wesleyan’s media relations office at 860-685-3813 or lperillo@wesleyan.edu

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