Muscle aging: Stronger for longer

Date:
September 9, 2020
Source:
University of Basel
Summary:
With life expectancy increasing, age-related diseases are also
on the rise, including sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass due
to aging.

Researchers have demonstrated that a well-known drug can delay
the progression of age-related muscle weakness.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
With life expectancy increasing, age-related diseases are also
on the rise, including sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass due to
aging. Researchers from the University of Basel's Biozentrum have
demonstrated that a well-known drug can delay the progression of
age-related muscle weakness.


========================================================================== Already in our best years, our muscles begin to shrink and their strength dwindles. Unfortunately, this is a natural part of aging. For some people,
the decline in muscle mass and function is excessive. This condition,
called sarcopenia, affects every second or third person over 80, reducing mobility, autonomy and quality of life.

The causes of sarcopenia are diverse, ranging from altered muscle
metabolism to changes in the nerves supplying muscles. Researchers led by Professor Markus Ru"egg have now discovered that mTORC1 also contributes
to sarcopenia and its suppression with the well-known drug rapamycin
slows age-related muscle wasting.

Rapamycin preserves muscle function "Contrary to our expectations, the long-term mTORC1 suppression with rapamycin is overwhelmingly beneficial
for skeletal muscle aging in mice, preserving muscle size and strength,"
says Daniel Ham, first author of the study.

"Neuromuscular junctions, the sites where neurons contact muscle
fibers to control their contraction, deteriorate during aging. Stable neuromuscular junctions are paramount to maintaining healthy muscles
during aging and rapamycin effectively stabilizes them." The researchers
also demonstrate that permanently activating mTORC1 in skeletal muscle accelerates muscle aging.

Molecular signature of sarcopenia In collaboration with Professor Mihaela Zavolan's team, the scientists identified a molecular 'signature'
of sarcopenia, with mTORC1 as the key player. To help the scientific
community further investigate how gene expression in skeletal muscle
changes during aging or in response to rapamycin treatment, they developed
the user-friendly web application, SarcoAtlas, which is supported by
sciCORE, the Center for Scientific Computing at the University of Basel.

There is currently no effective pharmacological therapy to treat
sarcopenia.

This study provides hope that it may be possible to slow down age-related muscle wasting with treatments that suppress mTORC1 and thereby extend
the autonomy and life quality of elderly people.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Basel. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Daniel J. Ham, Anastasiya Bo"rsch, Shuo Lin, Marco Thürkauf,
Martin
Weihrauch, Judith R. Reinhard, Julien Delezie, Fabienne Battilana,
Xueyong Wang, Marco S. Kaiser, Maitea Guridi, Michael Sinnreich,
Mark M.

Rich, Nitish Mittal, Lionel A. Tintignac, Christoph Handschin,
Mihaela Zavolan and Markus A. Rüegg. The neuromuscular
junction is a focal point of mTORC1 signaling in sarcopenia. Nature
Communications, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18140-1 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200909085946.htm

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