Muscle in Biological News

Sticky protein helps reinforce fragile muscle membranes

A new study by scientists at the University of Iowa shows why muscle membranes don't rupture when healthy people exercise. The findings shed light on a mechanism that appears to protect cells from mechanical stress. The study, which appears online July 20-24 in Proceedings of the National Acad...

Triggering muscle development -- a therapeutic cure for muscle wastage?

Scientists in the UK and Denmark have shown that if elderly men were given growth hormone and exercised their legs showed an appreciable muscle mass increase. Dr. Geoff Goldspink (Royal Free and University College Medical School, UK) says: "This raises the question: Can age-related loss of muscle ...

Peripheral nerve repair with fat precursor cells led to wider nerves and less muscle atrophy

Tampa, Fla. (June 16, 2009) To determine if guided fat (adipose) precursor cells (APCs) could improve nerve regeneration and functional recovery, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) used biodegradable nerve guides to transplant APCs into the injured peripheral nerves of laboratory r...

Adult bone marrow stem cells injected into skeletal muscle can repair heart tissue

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo researchers have demonstrated for the first time that injecting adult bone marrow stem cells into skeletal muscle can repair cardiac tissue, reversing heart failure. Using an animal model, the researchers showed that this non-invasive procedure increased...

Stanford scientists turn adult skin cells into muscle and vice versa

In a study featured on the cover of the May issue of The FASEB Journal , researchers describe how they are able to reprogram human adult skin cells into other cell types in order to decipher the elusive mechanisms underlying reprogramming. To demonstrate their point, they transformed human skin c...

Oral contraceptives impair muscle gains in young women

NEW ORLEANSMany active young women use oral contraceptives (OC) yet its effect on their body composition and exercise performance has not been thoroughly studied. A team of researchers has now examined the effects of OC on female muscle mass, and found that oral contraceptive use impairs muscle ga...

Oral contraceptives impair muscle gains in young women

NEW ORLEANSMany active young women use oral contraceptives (OC) yet its effect on their body composition and exercise performance has not been thoroughly studied. A team of researchers has now examined the effects of OC on female muscle mass, and found that oral contraceptive use impairs muscle ga...

Astronauts may need more intense workouts to maintain muscle fitness in space

MUNCIE, Ind. A new study in the The Journal of Applied Physiology , suggests that astronauts need to modify their workouts to avoid extensive muscle loss during missions onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The latest NASA-sponsored research from Ball State University's Human Perfor...

Study links molecule to muscle maturation, muscle cancer

COLUMBUS, Ohio Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that a molecule implicated in leukemia and lung cancer is also important in muscle repair and in a muscle cancer that strikes mainly children. The study shows that immature muscle cells require...

First trial in patients with a potential treatment of the incurable ALS muscle disease

Leuven (Belgium), Stockholm (Sweden) Permission has been granted to start the first safety and tolerability trial on patients for a remedy for ALS. ALS is an incurable, paralyzing neurodegenerative disorder that strikes 5 persons in every 100,000. The disease commonly affects healthy people in th...

Children's Hospital scientists achieve repair of injured heart muscle in lab tests of stem cells

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have been able to effectively repair damaged heart muscle in an animal model using a novel population of stem cells they discovered that is derived from human skeletal muscle tissue. The research team led by Johnny Huard, PhD transplant...

MSU researcher studies ties between cholesterol drugs, muscle problems

EAST LANSING, Mich. A Michigan State University researcher is studying whether the most popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs may cause muscle problems in users. There is accumulating evidence that the effect statins can have on skeletal muscle including muscle weakness, fatigue and det...

Mediator in communication between neurons and muscle cells found

A missing piece of the puzzle of how neurons and muscle cells establish lifelong communication has been found by researchers who suspect this piece may be mutated and/or attacked in muscular dystrophy. Agrin is a protein that motor neurons release to direct construction of the nerve-muscle cont...

Stabilizing force for good communication between neurons and muscle cells found

You can't raise a finger without your brain directing muscle cells, and scientists have figured out another reason that usually works so well. A neuron sends a message, or neurotransmitter, to the muscle cell to tell it what to do. To get the message, the receiving cell must have a receptor. Od...

Penn biophysicists create new model for protein-cholesterol interactions in brain and muscle tissue

PHILADELPHIA - Biophysicists at the University of Pennsylvania have used 3,200 computer processors and long-established data on cholesterol's role in the function of proteins to clarify the mysterious interaction between cholesterol and neurotransmitter receptors. The results provide a new model o...

Women do not recover their muscle strength as fast as men

HILTON HEAD, SCWomen are four times more likely than men to experience a broken forearm and require a cast (immobilization). To examine whether the effects of casting were similar between the sexes, researchers examined immobilized volunteers for a period of three weeks. They determined that while...

Cholesterol-lowering drugs and the effect on muscle repair and regeneration

HILTON HEAD, SCStatins are powerful drugs that reduce "bad" cholesterol and thus cut the risk of a heart attack. While these medications offer tremendous benefits to millions, they can carry side effects for some. The most frequently reported consequence is fatigue, and about nine percent of patie...

Older people who diet without exercising lose valuable muscle mass

BETHESDA, Md. (Sept. 17, 2008) - A group of sedentary and overweight older people placed on a four-month exercise program not only became more fit, but burned off more fat, compared to older sedentary people who were placed on a diet but did not exercise. The new study also showed that when old...

Cutting calories could limit muscle wasting in later years

GAINESVILLE, Fla. Chemical concoctions can smooth over wrinkles and hide those pesky grays, but what about the signs of aging that aren't so easy to fix, such as losing muscle mass? Cutting calories early could help, say University of Florida researchers who studied the phenomenon in rats. A r...

Low-gravity training machine reduces joint, muscle impacts, says CU-Boulder study

A University of Colorado at Boulder study of a space-age, low-gravity training machine used by several 2008 Olympic runners showed it reduced impacts on muscles and joints by nearly half when subjects ran at the equivalent of 50 percent of their body weight. The new study has implications for b...

Treating chronic pain, migraine & muscle spasticity through inhibition of neurotransmitter glutamate

LA JOLLA, CA, June 20, 2008 A Webinar hosted by TorreyPines Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TPTX) at 11 a.m. EDT on June 25 will bring together industry experts to discuss the opportunity of treating chronic pain, migraine and muscle spasticity through the inhibition of the neurotransmitter glutamat...

Stem cell researchers give old muscle new pep

Berkeley - Old muscle got a shot of youthful vigor in a stem cell experiment by bioengineers at the University of California, Berkeley, setting the path for research on new treatments for age-related degenerative conditions such as muscle atrophy or Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. In a ne...

Toad research could leapfrog to new muscle model

A toad sits at a pond's edge eyeing a cricket on a blade of grass. In the blink of an eye, the toad snares the insect with its tongue. This deceptively simple, remarkably fast feeding action offers a new look at how muscles work. This fresh perspective could lead to designing more efficient ele...

Kids with autism may have gene that causes muscle weakness

CHICAGO Some kids with autism may have a genetic defect that affects the muscles, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 1219, 2008. The study looked at 37 children with autism spectrum disorders who w...

Pitt and University of Chicago researchers uncover process behind heart muscle contraction

PITTSBURGHResearchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Chicago were able to control heart muscle function in a new way after discovering the previously unknown role of two enzymes in heart muscle contraction, as detailed in the April 11 cover story of the Journal of Biologic...

Ibuprofen or acetaminophen in long-term resistance training increases muscle mass/strength

Taking daily recommended dosages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen caused a substantially greater increase over placebo in the amount of quadriceps muscle mass and muscle strength gained during three months of regular weight lifting, in a study by physiologists at the Human Performance Laboratory, Ba...

RING finger protein 5 may guide treatment for muscle disease in older adults

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered a new player in the development of a disorder called Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis (sIBM). sIBM is a muscle disease that affects predominantly older men, causing muscles to gradually weaken and waste away. The n...

An ambulance man for muscle damage

It does not take much to injure a muscle. Sometimes one sudden, inconsiderate movement does the job. Unfortunately, damaged muscles are not as efficient at repair as other tissues such as bone. Researchers of the European Molecular Biology Laboratorys Mouse Biology Unit (EMBL), Italy, and the Hare...

Mechanism for regulation of growth and differentiation of adult muscle stem cells is revealed

During muscle regeneration, which is a natural response to injury and disease, environmental cues cause adult muscle stem cells (satellite cells) to shift from dormancy to actively building new muscle tissue. Although the signaling pathways controlling muscle regeneration are fairly well known, h...

Massive microRNA scan uncovers leads to treating muscle degeneration

Researchers have discovered the first microRNAs tiny bits of code that regulate gene activity linked to each of 10 major degenerative muscular disorders, opening doors to new treatments and a better biological understanding of these debilitating, poorly understood, often untreatable diseases. Th...

Stem cell breakthrough: Monitoring the on switch that turns stem cells into muscle

In a genetic engineering breakthrough that could help everyone from bed-ridden patients to elite athletes, a team of American researchersincluding 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchihave created a "switch" that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor...

Long-term use of mechanical ventilation contributes to the deterioration of human diaphragm muscle

PHILADELPHIA A new study by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows, for the first time in humans, that ventilators combined with diaphragm disuse contributes to muscle atrophy in the diaphragm in as little as eighteen hours. Muscle atrophy in the diaphragm is a major contributor of w...

Pittsburgh scientists identify human source of stem cells with potential to repair muscle

For the first time, scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have discovered a unique population of adult stem cells derived from human muscle that could be used to treat muscle injuries and diseases such as heart attack and muscular dystrophy. In a study using human muscle tissu...

Salk scientists hammer out a pathway that promotes muscle cell survival in mice

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified an enzyme that pumps up a cell’s ability to maintain healthy muscle and restores normal muscle function in genetically engineered mice with weak muscles. The study, published online in Nature Medicine, is the first to explore t...

Dinosaur hearing, listening to muscle noise, quieter cubicles

How did the hearing of dinosaurs compare to that of present-day animal species" What are some ways to improve acoustical conditions in office cubicles" How can sound waves diagnose and monitor muscle activity" These and other questions will be addressed at the 153rd Meeting of the Acoustical So...

Power-boosting signal in muscle declines with age

As people age, they may have to exercise even harder to get the benefits afforded to younger folk. That's the suggestion of a report in the February issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press, showing that a signal that gives muscles a kind of metabolic boost in response to exerc...

'Marathon mice' elucidate little-known muscle type

Researchers report in the January issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press, the discovery of a genetic "switch" that drives the formation of a poorly understood type of muscle. Moreover, they found, animals whose muscles were full of the so-called IIX fibers were able to run fa...

Robotic exoskeleton replaces muscle work

A robotic exoskeleton controlled by the wearer's own nervous system could help users regain limb function, which is encouraging news for people with partial nervous system impairment, say University of Michigan researchers. The ankle exoskeleton developed at U-M was worn by healthy subjects to me...

Lead-'scrubbing' drug may also improve muscle function in lead-exposed children

University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers say a therapy commonly used to remove dangerously high levels of lead from the body may also improve muscle functions associated with postural balance and movement in lead-exposed children. Led by Amit Bhattacharya, PhD, the UC team ...

Stem cell therapy shows promise in regenerating damaged muscle in heart attack patients

Heart attack patients who received an new intravenous adult stem cell therapy, Provacel? experienced a lower number of adverse events, such as cardiac arrhythmias, and had significant improvements in heart, lung and global function compared to those who received a placebo, according to six-month Ph...