Rehabilitation Science faculty, Russ Hepple, PhD, professor in the Dept. of Physical Therapy, and collaborators Manuela Corti, PT, PhD, assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and RSD alumna, and Terence Ryan, PhD, assistant professor in the College of Health & Human Performance’s Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology, received funding from the UF Opportunity Seed Fund for their study, “A New Understanding of Muscle Atrophy in Neuromuscular Disease.”
The research team is interested in how mitochondria are involved in skeletal muscle atrophy in health and disease. The purpose of the two-year study is twofold. First, the team will discover the signals by which an event known as mitochondrial permeability transition activates atrophy signaling in skeletal muscle. Second, using rodent models of the neuromuscular diseases Pompe Disease and Friedreich’s Ataxia, they will employ strategies that make it more difficult for mitochondria to undergo permeability transition to determine if this can attenuate the muscle atrophy associated with these devastating diseases.
Congratulations Dr. Hepple, Dr. Corti and Dr. Ryan!