Questions and Answers About Myostatin, GDF11, and the Aging Heart.

Myostatin and GDF11 are highly homologous TGFβ family members implicated in skeletal and cardiac muscle growth. Myostatin promotes muscle wasting. In contrast, GDF11 was identified as a factor that reverses aging-related cardiac hypertrophy, and in separate experiments, GDF11 supplementation was linked to the reversal of aging associated skeletal muscle dysfunction. These initial findings have been challenged by work from others, specifically where injection of GDF11 did not replicate the original findings. Now, a new report in Circulation Research demonstrates that GDF11 delivery did produce a reduction in cardiac mass in both young and old animals.