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Energy Use And Work Output By Cross-bridges In Fast- And Slow-twitch Muscles
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$191,177.00
Summary
All voluntary movement is produced by the action of skeletal muscles. The muscles provide the mechanical power required to move the limbs and the body. To do so, they require energy which is ultimately derived from the breakdown of food. Therefore, we can describe the fundamental process underlying muscular contraction as the conversion of energy from a chemical form into a mechanical form. This project investigates the relationship between the breakdown of molecules that provide energy and the ....All voluntary movement is produced by the action of skeletal muscles. The muscles provide the mechanical power required to move the limbs and the body. To do so, they require energy which is ultimately derived from the breakdown of food. Therefore, we can describe the fundamental process underlying muscular contraction as the conversion of energy from a chemical form into a mechanical form. This project investigates the relationship between the breakdown of molecules that provide energy and the production of mechanical energy or work. Normal contraction involves many cyclic interactions between two proteins, actin and myosin. Each cycle produces a tiny force that contributes to the shortening of the muscle. For over 30 years, it has been thought that energy required for each force producing cycle was provided by the breakdown of one energy-providing molecule, called ATP. Almost all current models of muscle contraction are based on this idea. Recently, data from studies using isolated actin and myosin and observing their interaction in vitro have indicated that many force-producing cycles may be performed with the energy from just one ATP. If this is correct, it will revolutionise our ideas about the way muscles convert chemical energy into mechanical energy. However, the interaction of proteins in a dish is far removed from a normal muscle and the aim of this project is to determine the relationship between force producing cycles and energy use in intact muscles. If multiple force-producing cycles can be powered by one ATP molecule in intact muscle too, then the current idea that the biochemical processes that release energy from ATP are intimately linked to the mechanical changes in myosin that occur as it produces force will be untenable. In short, we will have to rediscover how muscles convert chemical energy into mechanical energy and find out how that energy can be stored from one force-producing cycle to the next.Read moreRead less
Therapeutic Potential Of Modulating Heat Shock Protein Expression For Muscle Wasting Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,172,146.00
Summary
Heat shock proteins help stressed proteins fold back to their original conformation and restore function. In a discovery published in Nature we identified induction of heat shock protein 72 (Hsp72) as a novel approach for muscular dystrophy and other conditions where there is inflammation and muscle weakness. This proposal will investigate whether Hsp72 induction is similarly effective in tackling the muscle wasting and weakness in conditions like ageing and frailty and in muscle injury.
Modulating Heat Shock Protein Expression In Skeletal Muscle To Improve The Pathophysiology Of Muscular Dystrophy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$502,361.00
Summary
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common and severe form of muscular dystrophy. Dystrophic muscles are fragile, prone to injury, and regenerate poorly after damage. Defective calcium handling has been implicated in these processes. We have revealed that upregulating levels of stress proteins called _heat shock proteins� (HSPs) can improve calcium regulation in muscular dystrophy. Modulating the HSP response has significant potential to delay the onset or slow the progression of DMD.
Asthma is a significant burden to the health care system and to individual sufferers. Currently we can treat asthma with corticosteroids to reduce inflammation in the lung but the side effects of these medications, particularly in children, make them less than ideal treatments. In order to design a more specific treatment for asthma, which would only target the inflammatory cells which are involved in the lung, we need to understand how these cells behave and what initiates the cascade of events ....Asthma is a significant burden to the health care system and to individual sufferers. Currently we can treat asthma with corticosteroids to reduce inflammation in the lung but the side effects of these medications, particularly in children, make them less than ideal treatments. In order to design a more specific treatment for asthma, which would only target the inflammatory cells which are involved in the lung, we need to understand how these cells behave and what initiates the cascade of events in the lung. This project is designed to investigate how chemical mediators, cytokines, are produced by various cells in the lung and how they induce lung cells to make structural changes to the lung tissue and increase the inflammation. The source and specific types of cytokines released are being investigated to provide important information regarding the disease process of asthma. From this new knowledge, design of specific new treatments, with fewer unwanted side-effects, should be possible.Read moreRead less
I am a physiologist investigating the molecular basis of normal function in skeletal muscle and the dysfunctions occurring in various muscle diseases and in fatigue. In addition, I investigate analogous dysfunction of calcium release and excitability occu
Establishing STARS As A Therapeutic Target To Reduce Muscle Wasting And Improve Muscle Function
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$446,189.00
Summary
Muscle wasting occurs rapidly with disuse after injuries occurring at work, during sport, with chronic disease and in road accidents. It is also a consequence of ageing. Muscle wasting and reduced muscle function places considerable financial strain on our health care system. We aim to use gene therapy and pharmacological interventions to increase the levels of a protein called STARS. We hypothesize that STARS will reduce disuse-induced muscle wasting, increase recovery and improve function.