Dystrophin is a rod-shaped cytoplasmic protein, and a vital part of a protein complex that connects the cytoskeleton of a muscle fiber to the surrounding extracellular matrix through the cell membrane. This complex is variously known as the costamere or the dystrophin-associated protein complex (DAPC). Many muscle proteins, such as α-dystrobrevin, syncoilin, synemin, sarcoglycan, dystroglycan, and sarcospan, colocalize with dystrophin at the costamere. Spontaneous or inherited mutations in the dystrophin gene can cause different forms of muscular dystrophy, a disease characterized by progressive muscular wasting. The most common of these disorders caused by genetic defects in dystrophin is Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
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