1. A large protein found in muscle cells that helps maintain muscle fiber structure and function; its absence or deficiency causes muscular dystrophy.
Usage: technical; biology/medicine

Examples

• Duchenne muscular dystrophy results from mutations in the gene that codes for dystrophin.
• Without functional dystrophin, muscle cells gradually break down and weaken.
• Researchers are developing gene therapies to restore dystrophin production in affected patients.
• The dystrophin protein is essential for anchoring muscle fibers to the surrounding tissue.
• A deficiency of dystrophin leads to progressive muscle degeneration in boys with DMD.