The present invention concerns a novel short promoter characterized by a high activity in the skeletal muscles and a low activity in the heart. It then constitutes a valuable candidate especially for driving the expression of transgenes encoding proteins useful for the treatment of muscular dystrophies.

The present invention relates to an expression system for systemic administration comprising a sequence encoding a protein, said expression system allowing: the expression at a therapeutically acceptable level of the protein in the target tissues including skeletal muscles; and the expression at toxically acceptable level of the protein in tissues other than the target tissues, especially in the heart.

The present invention relates to an expression system for systemic administration comprising a sequence encoding a protein, said expression system allowing: the expression at a therapeutically acceptable level of the protein in the target tissues including skeletal muscles; and the expression at toxically acceptable level of the protein in tissues other than the target tissues, especially in the heart.

The present invention relates to an expression system for systemic administration comprising a sequence encoding a protein, said expression system allowing: the expression at a therapeutically acceptable level of the protein in the target tissues including skeletal muscles and/or the peripheral nervous tissue; and the expression at toxically acceptable level of the protein in tissues other than the target tissues, especially in the heart.