Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Skeletal muscle mass is a balance between growth and loss. Some situations (e.g. age, muscle wasting conditions) are a result of an imbalance in growth and loss. A contributor to the balance of muscle growth and loss are mitochondria, the energy producers of the cell. If mitochondria are healthy, this will provide the necessary energy from muscle growth. If mitochondria are unhealthy, this will impact energy production, impair muscle growth, and possibly signal muscle loss. Energy production in mitochondria involves the critical interaction between proteins and fat. A specific fat that helps the organization of proteins important in energy production and is only found in mitochondria is cardiolipin. This fat has a very unique structure and changes to this structure decrease mitochondrial function. There are a number of enzymes responsible for making cardiolipin and changes to these enzymes results in altered cardiolipin and decreased mitochondrial function. We currently don't know the role of cardiolipin in the balance of muscle growth and loss. By understanding what happens in normal muscle mass balance, we can appreciate what contributes to muscle growth and loss and determine if there are alternative treatment strategies to prevent muscle loss seen with, for example, aging and muscle wasting conditions.