The event, sponsored by the Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC), featured a series of lectures looking at muscle adaptation, disease, development, blood flow and metabolism. Some of the key discussions revolved around the role of stem cells in muscle repair, aging and cancers, as well as the causes and reversal of aging at a muscular level.

Professor Olivier Birot (left) of 91ÑÇɫ’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science presented his work on the role played by specific proteins in the control of blood vessel growth in muscle. He also looked at the role exercise plays in initiating the process of new vessel growth.

MHAD highlights the work of both junior and senior faculty members from across southern Ontario, and gives graduate students an opportunity to network and present their work in an informal, but educational manner. Four of the graduate students were awarded presentation prizes at the May 27 event for their work in muscle research.

Right: Winners of the MHAD poster contest (from left), Roxanna Chis of the University of Toronto, Jenna Gillen of McMaster University, Andrew Mitchell of the University of Waterloo and Brennan Smith of the University of Guelph

The Muscle Health Research Centre in the Faculty of Health provides a centralized and focused research emphasis on the importance of skeletal muscle to the overall health and well-being of Canadians. The centre’s upcoming initiatives include the sponsorship of a seminar provided by Professor Bengt Saltin of the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, who will be receiving an honorary doctorate degree for his exceptional research in the area of muscle and exercise physiology during 91ÑÇɫ’s June 15 convocation ceremony.

For more information, visit the Muscle Health Research Centre or contact Professor David A. Hood, director of the Muscle Health Research Centre, at dhood@yorku.ca. To view the MHAD program and abstracts, click here.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ÑÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The first annual Muscle Health Awareness Day, organized by 91ÑÇɫ’s  Muscle Health Research Centre, will bring together the latest findings on the contribution made by heart muscle and skeletal muscle to overall health and wellbeing.

A wide range of collaborative research on muscle biology research is being done at 91ÑÇɫ’s Muscle Health Research Centre, by researchers from the Faculty of Health and the Faculty of Science and Engineering; scientists are examining muscle development, disease, metabolism, blood supply, injury and regeneration, as well as adaptation of muscle to exercise. Using molecular, cellular and whole-body techniques, a major goal is to learn how Canadians can benefit from exercise through adaptations in the metabolism and structure of muscle, says Professor David Hood, director of the Muscle Health Research Centre and Canada Research Chair in Cell Physiology.

Researchers from the Centre will be joined by scientists from the University of Toronto, Sick Kids Hospital, the University of Guelph, McMaster University and Brock University, who will present their findings during four sessions. More than 50 poster presentations will also be on display at Muscle Health Awareness Day, showing the wide variety of muscle research being done by graduate students.

The four sessions during Muscle Health Awareness Day include:

1. Metabolism − will provide a description of important protein and fat metabolism pathways in health and disease. Emphasis will be on how enzymes responsible for synthesizing new proteins in muscle cells are activated, and how fats are taken up into muscle cells and metabolized. This has important implications for muscle wasting conditions, as well as obesity.
2. The Cardiovascular System − will examine how heart muscle adapts to stress in various ways.  The session will focus on understanding how heart muscle cells respond to stressors such as exercise and heat and how novel methods can be used to identify important proteins that are found in cardiac disease conditions. It will also provide information about heart and smooth muscle signaling during hemodynamic stress, such as high blood pressure.
3. Muscle Development and Satellite Cells − will describe some of the important molecules that regulate the process by which large, mature muscle cells develop from small precursor cells that fuse together, allowing muscle contraction and providing the energy for contraction to take place. Research will also be presented about the importance of precursor cells (called satellite cells) in adult muscle, and how they respond to exercise and aging.
4. Exercise, Metabolism and Disease − will provide an understanding of important enzymes in the mitochondria that regulate carbohydrate and fat metabolism, and will relate mitochondrial function (the powerhouse of the cell) to states of physical activity and obesity in youth. Information will also be provided about muscle diseases that lead to exercise intolerance and muscle cramps.

WHEN:             Friday May 28, 9am to 5 pm
WHERE:           Computer Science & Engineering Lobby and Lecture Hall B, Keele campus
INFO:               /mhrc/Musclehealthday.htm.
MAP:                See # 19 on map, /yorkweb/maps/index.htm

By Janice Walls, media relations officer.

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