“I am fascinated by the molecular architecture and machinery of muscle cells, and I am constantly surprised by the number of cellular mechanisms that maintain muscle function. I am encouraged by these discoveries, too, because all of these mechanisms provide us with many possibilities for attacking the muscle disease.” So says Kevin Campbell, HHMI Investigator, Roy J. Carver Distinguished Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at University of Iowa, and 2009 recipient of the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.

Kevin, together with Michael Rudnicki (Ottawa Hospital Research Institute) and David Glass (Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research), is co-Editor-in-Chief of Skeletal Muscle, a new journal focusing on exploring the molecular mechanisms which underlie a wide range of skeletal muscle biology, including development, metabolism, aging and dystrophy.

In the inaugural editorial, the Editors tell us their reasons for starting the journal. In addition to providing a home for their field and place for their peers to publish, they also hope that promoting better dissemination of skeletal muscle research will result in greater understanding of how the relevant cellular systems work, and possibly contribute to improvements in human health.

Other articles published at launch include: a review from Stefano Schiaffino on the role of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) pathway in skeletal muscle fibers – this pathway is essential for muscle growth during development and further understanding could lead to targeted therapies preventing muscle wasting; a commentary on the possible benefits of targeting the myostatin/activin signalling pathway as a therapy for cancer patients with cachexia; and a study from Dobrowolny et al., which reports that caspase-mediated apoptosis is causally linked to motor neuron degeneration.

For more details please visit the journal website or contact the editorial office.