Identification of the minimum peptide from mouse myostatin prodomain for human myostatin inhibition.

Myostatin, an endogenous negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, is a therapeutic target for muscle atrophic disorders. Here, we identified minimum peptides 2 and 7 to effectively inhibit myostatin activity, which consist of 24 and 23 amino acids, respectively, derived from mouse myostatin prodomain. These peptides, which had the propensity to form α-helix structure, interacted to myostatin with KD values of 30-36 nM. Moreover, peptide 2 significantly increased muscle mass in Duchenne muscular dystrophy model mice.