Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD): DMD is one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy affecting 1 in 3,500 male births. DMD patients and mdx mice (the mouse model for DMD) have mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin located on the X-chromosome. These mutations result in the absence of functional dystrophin, a 427 kDa cytoskeletal protein located under the sarcolemma of muscle fibers. In DMD patients, the compromised dystrophin linkage system causes muscle fibers to detach from the extracellular matrix during muscle contraction leading to progressive loss of muscle integrity and function. DMD patients suffer from severe, progressive muscle degeneration with clinical symptoms first detected from 2 to 5 years of age. As the disease progresses patients are confined to a wheelchair in their teens and die in their second or third decade of life from cardiopulmonary failure. There are currently no definitive therapies for DMD and the only available treatments are the steroids and palliative care.