MYH8 and muscular dystrophy: We also observed a broad down-regulation of genes encoding structural proteins that maintain the functional integrity of skeletal muscle in response to stress, and a substantial number of these genes cause various forms of muscular dystrophy when mutated in humans (i.e., Tcap, Titin, Acta1, Myh3, Myh7, Myh8, Myl1) [28] (Fig. 3E).