Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive degenerative muscular di
sease that is due to mutations in the dystrophin gene [1]. Neither the func
tion of dystrophin nor the physiopathology of the disease have been clearly
established yet. Several groups have reported elevated calcium concentrati
ons in the mdx mouse model of DMD, but the effect of calcium levels on the
progression of the disease continues to be a matter of debate [2-4]. Here,
we show that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, a gain-of-function mutation in the
egl-19 calcium channel gene dramatically increases muscle degeneration in
dystrophin mutants. Conversely, RNAi-mediated inhibition of egl-19 function
reduces muscle degeneration by half. Therefore, our results demonstrate th
at calcium channel activity is a critical factor in the progression of dyst
rophin-dependent muscle degeneration.