This book arose from a request by Ron Landes of Landes Bioscience for a book on the role of the sarcomere in human skeletal muscle diseases following our article "When contractile proteins go bad: The sarcomere and skeletal muscle disease" in BioEssays in 2005 (Vol 27, pages 809-822). The sarcomere is also the basis of heart diseases, but the remit of this book is skeletal muscle diseases alone. A number of the chapters in the book provide an up-to-date review of diseases caused by mutated proteins in the different sub-compartments of the sarcomere, others document the techniques currently being used to investigate the pathobiological bases of the diseases, which remain largely unknown, with finally discussion of possible routes to therapies. The book is intended to provide a snapshot of this rapidly moving field. I thank all the authors who responded positively to my request to provide chapters in their particular areas of expertise, with many of the chapters thus written by the discoverers of the diseases being described. Hopefully the book might generate interest in young scientists to participate in this field of research, in particular to take up the challenge of trying to develop effective treatments for these diseases caused by dysfunction of the fundamental unit of muscle contraction, the sarcomere.

Although best known for its role in heart disease, the sarcomere--the fundamental unit of muscle contraction--is also involved in skeletal muscle diseases. Chapters in The Sarcomere and Skeletal Muscle Disease provide an up-to-date review of diseases caused by mutated proteins in the different sub-compartments of the sarcomere, document the techniques currently being used to investigate the pathobiological bases of the diseases, which remain largely unknown, and discuss possible therapeutic options.