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SUMMARY:Optimizing mechanosensitive tissue regeneration
DTSTART:20120417T153000
DTSTAMP:20260407T183613Z
UID:b493601cda40f00ada21e96fc161bab1bf6ae0fb9ea066b05d47f5db
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Alfredo Franco-Obregon\, ETHZ\nUnderlying most age-related 
 infirmities is a disruption of mechanosensitive tissue development\, parti
 cularly of skeletal muscle\, which comprises the bulk of our body mass as 
 young adults. In early adulthood\, myogenesis is exquisitely responsive to
  physical activity (exercise) having a profound impact on physiological we
 ll-being: 1) skeletal muscle activity provides a mechanical stimulus that 
 promotes the developmental programs of muscle itself\, but also of bone\, 
 connective and vascular tissues\; 2)\; as our largest tissue\, skeletal mu
 scle acts as a reservoir for many of the body’s most important metabolit
 es\, amino acids and minerals\, assuming a major homeostatic role in body 
 maintenance\; 3) skeletal muscle is a major source of the insulin-like gro
 wth factors (IGF-1s)\, our most important anabolic agent\; 4) as a prime t
 arget of insulin\, skeletal muscle helps maintain insulin levels within sa
 fe ranges\; 5) skeletal muscle\, as it is essential for coordinated moveme
 nt and stability\, prevents falls and injuries\; and 6) skeletal maintains
  metabolic efficiently by providing most of the bodies heat. Unfortunately
 \, our ability to mechanically-stimulate the development of skeletal muscl
 e greatly diminishes in old age resulting in up to a 40% loss of total mus
 cle mass by our 8th decade. Importantly\, areas of muscle (and bone) loss 
 are infiltrated by fat deposits of unique and insidious origin that releas
 e cytokines\, further accelerating bone and muscle catabolism and overwhel
 ming the already dwindling levels of IGF-1s. Thus\, the loss of skeletal m
 uscle mass with advanced age (a clinical condition known as sarcopenia) un
 derlies many disorders associated with advanced age such as diabetes\, ost
 eopenia\, cardiovascular disease\, degenerative joint disease and systemic
  catabolism while concomitantly reducing our resistance to infection and c
 ompromising our ability to overcome trauma. Succinctly\, sarcopenia sets i
 nto motion a vicious auto-degenerative cycle that literally consumes the e
 lderly into a state of fatal fragility. My research concerns the developme
 nt of strategies designed at maintaining muscle mass in the elderly and in
  persons suffering from imposed immobilization at the level of muscle rege
 neration. We also study the fundamental cellular mechanotransduction proce
 ss that initiates the developmental programs of our major mechanosensitive
  tissues.
LOCATION:CM 1 4 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==CM%201%204
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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