Optimizing mechanosensitive tissue regeneration
Event details
| Date | 17.04.2012 |
| Hour | 15:30 › 16:30 |
| Speaker | Dr Alfredo Franco-Obregon (Institut für Biomedizinische Technik, ETHZ) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
ABSTRACT :
The human race is rapidly aging. It has been estimated that in some western countries the number of individuals over retirement age will double in less than a quarter century, a change in global demographics that will be mirrored by increases in age-related infirmities and rising health care costs. The additional socioeconomic burden of simply maintaining the steadily aging population ambulatory and self-sufficient will be most strongly felt in Sweden, Japan and Switzerland, the countries with oldest populations on earth.
Underlying most age-related infirmities is a disruption of mechanosensitive tissue development, particularly 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 well-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 muscle acts as a reservoir for many of the body’s most important metabolites, amino acids and minerals, assuming a major homeostatic role in body maintenance; 3) skeletal muscle is a major source of the insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1s), our most important anabolic agent; 4) as a prime target of insulin, skeletal muscle helps maintain insulin levels within safe ranges; 5) skeletal muscle, as it is essential for coordinated movement 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 muscle greatly diminishes in old age resulting in up to a 40% loss of total muscle mass by our 8th decade. Importantly, areas of muscle (and bone) loss are infiltrated by fat deposits of unique and insidious origin that release cytokines, further accelerating bone and muscle catabolism and overwhelming the already dwindling levels of IGF-1s. Thus, the loss of skeletal muscle mass with advanced age (a clinical condition known as sarcopenia) underlies many disorders associated with advanced age such as diabetes, osteopenia, cardiovascular disease, degenerative joint disease and systemic catabolism while concomitantly reducing our resistance to infection and compromising our ability to overcome trauma. Succinctly, sarcopenia sets into motion a vicious auto-degenerative cycle that literally consumes the elderly into a state of fatal fragility. My research concerns the development of strategies designed at maintaining muscle mass in the elderly and in persons suffering from imposed immobilization at the level of muscle regeneration. We also study the fundamental cellular mechanotransduction process that initiates the developmental programs of our major mechanosensitive tissues.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER :
Dr. Franco-Obregón received his PhD in the Neurosciences at the University of California at San Francisco, where he studied the contribution of calcium entry via mechanically-gated channels in muscular dystrophy. His main scientific focus continues to be the understanding of the biophysical mechanisms influencing skeletal muscle cell survival and development. He is currently in the Space Biology Group of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the ETH where he leads the Rehabilitation and Regenerative Strategies Group. He is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
The human race is rapidly aging. It has been estimated that in some western countries the number of individuals over retirement age will double in less than a quarter century, a change in global demographics that will be mirrored by increases in age-related infirmities and rising health care costs. The additional socioeconomic burden of simply maintaining the steadily aging population ambulatory and self-sufficient will be most strongly felt in Sweden, Japan and Switzerland, the countries with oldest populations on earth.
Underlying most age-related infirmities is a disruption of mechanosensitive tissue development, particularly 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 well-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 muscle acts as a reservoir for many of the body’s most important metabolites, amino acids and minerals, assuming a major homeostatic role in body maintenance; 3) skeletal muscle is a major source of the insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1s), our most important anabolic agent; 4) as a prime target of insulin, skeletal muscle helps maintain insulin levels within safe ranges; 5) skeletal muscle, as it is essential for coordinated movement 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 muscle greatly diminishes in old age resulting in up to a 40% loss of total muscle mass by our 8th decade. Importantly, areas of muscle (and bone) loss are infiltrated by fat deposits of unique and insidious origin that release cytokines, further accelerating bone and muscle catabolism and overwhelming the already dwindling levels of IGF-1s. Thus, the loss of skeletal muscle mass with advanced age (a clinical condition known as sarcopenia) underlies many disorders associated with advanced age such as diabetes, osteopenia, cardiovascular disease, degenerative joint disease and systemic catabolism while concomitantly reducing our resistance to infection and compromising our ability to overcome trauma. Succinctly, sarcopenia sets into motion a vicious auto-degenerative cycle that literally consumes the elderly into a state of fatal fragility. My research concerns the development of strategies designed at maintaining muscle mass in the elderly and in persons suffering from imposed immobilization at the level of muscle regeneration. We also study the fundamental cellular mechanotransduction process that initiates the developmental programs of our major mechanosensitive tissues.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER :
Dr. Franco-Obregón received his PhD in the Neurosciences at the University of California at San Francisco, where he studied the contribution of calcium entry via mechanically-gated channels in muscular dystrophy. His main scientific focus continues to be the understanding of the biophysical mechanisms influencing skeletal muscle cell survival and development. He is currently in the Space Biology Group of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the ETH where he leads the Rehabilitation and Regenerative Strategies Group. He is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- IMT - Institute of Microengineering