Sarcoglycans are transmembrane components in the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex which help stabilize the muscle fiber membranes and link the muscle cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix.The dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) is a multisubunit protein complex that spans the sarcolemma and provides structural linkage between the subsarcolemmal cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix of muscle cells.
There are 3 main subcomplexes of the DGC: the cytoplasmic proteins dystrophin (DMD; MIM 300377) and syntrophin (SNTA1; MIM 601017), the alpha- and beta-dystroglycans (see MIM 128239), and the sarcoglycans (see, e.g., SGCA; MIM 600119) (Crosbie et al., 2000 [PubMed 10942431]).[supplied by OMIM].