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Ultra Fast and Ultra Active: The Strange Life of the Extraocular Muscles
Sponsored by APS Muscle Biology Group

The ocular motor system is arguably the best understood mammalian motor system. At the same time, the extraocular muscles, its effector arm, have not been systematically studied. This is despite a growing body of evidence demonstrating that these muscles are extreme examples of the skeletal muscle class. Their unique biology underlies the clinical observation that extraocular muscles are preferentially targeted (e.g., myasthenia gravis) or spared (e.g., Duchenne muscular dystrophy) by several neuromuscular disorders. In this symposium, the speakers will present novel findings that highlight how the physiology and molecular biology of the extraocular muscles diverge from skeletal muscle stereotypes and our evolving understanding of how these muscles are integrated with their motor system. The topic is of importance for scientists interested in the integration of motor and sensory systems. It is also of interest to those who study how the skeletal muscle phenotype is coordinated with the needs of its corresponding motor system. Finally, it will provide the bases to study why the ocular motor system is preferentially targeted and spared by some neuromuscular disorders.