Redox-relays in ageing muscle
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Disruption of redox relays in the age-related failure of muscle responses to contractile activity
IRAS ID
240989
Contact name
Graeme Close
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Liverpool John Moores University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 17 days
Research summary
After exercise skeletal muscle can increase in size and function and these changes are signalled by a number of genes. As we age, the signal for these positive changes becomes less effective and we believe that this is a major contributor to the loss of muscle mass and function we see in older people. Exercising muscle generates highly reactive compounds (known as free radicals) which act as signalling agents to stimulate the beneficial changes we see with exercise. Although we know these reactive signalling molecules are very important, to date we do not know exactly how they work as methods to study them are still being developed. We believe that "Hydrogen Peroxide" is the most important of these signalling molecules and that it works by causing a chain reaction of signals, something termed a "redox relay". The proposed project will determine whether failure of these "redox relays" is what causes muscles to become frail as we age and we will determine the mechanisms by which this occurs. The study will examine muscle biopsies taken from young and older people prior to, during and following exercise to study in depth these "redox relays". Data generated from this project will allow interventions to be developed to maintain muscle size and function as we age.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0734
Date of REC Opinion
4 Mar 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion