Uncovering mechanisms of skeletal muscle specific force loss with age.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Uncovering mechanisms of skeletal muscle specific force loss with age.
IRAS ID
159628
Contact name
Stephen Harridge
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Frailty in old age has been partly attributed to ‘sarcopenia,’ which is the age related loss of muscle mass. However, studies have also shown that a reduction in muscle strength relative to muscle size occurs, termed "specific force loss." Several mechanisms for age related specific force loss have been proposed, including changes in the behaviour of muscle proteins during a muscle contraction, and the degradation of the important protein, Myosin. The relative contributions of these mechanisms has not yet been determined, so a primary goal of our research is to understand how much of the reduction in specific force is due to degradation of myosin, and how much is due to changes in the behaviour of the muscle proteins during a muscle contraction.
Specific force loss has been observed in sedentary elderly individuals. Studying physically active elderly individuals has been proposed as a clean model for ageing, since they will not have health issues associated with a sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, another aim of our research is to assess the impact of physical fitness on the prevention of specific force loss.
We will achieve our aims by studying the contractile properties of single muscle fibres from muscle samples of elderly master cyclists (from previous work 12/LO/0457), inactive elderly hip fracture patients and a young, healthy control group. The specific force of single muscle fibres will be measured using different chemical solutions, and the myosin concentration of these fibres will then be quantified. How muscle protein content is related to the number and spatial arrangement of nuclei (cell control centres) attached to a muscle fibre will be assessed. Finally, the behaviour of muscle proteins will be assessed using x-ray diffraction experiments. Together, the data from these four experimental techniques will aid our understanding of the cause of age-related specific force loss.REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0250
Date of REC Opinion
2 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion