Molecular Exercise Physiology & Muscle Aging Lab

The Molecular Aging and Muscle Physiology lab is committed to consistent discussion around and implementation of equity, diversity and inclusion principles in and around our research, mentorship and learning. Please click here for more information on our lab’s EDI actions and viewpoints.

The focus of the research in the Molecular Exercise Physiology and Muscle Aging lab is on the examination of the role of exercise as an activator of satellite cells in younger and older adults.

We are interested in examining the role of cytokines such as IL-6, IGF-1 and HGF as paracrine activators of satellite cells in response to exercise and are working to reveal novel signaling mechanisms. One major achievement of our lab was the establishment of the use of flow cytometry to evaluate muscle satellite cell kinetics and provided more quantitative assessment for the understanding of their biology. We use this cutting edge methodology to show that aging impacts satellite cell activation primarily by delaying but not attenuating the response. Recently we have published work showing that exercise activated hematopoetic stems cells can alter the mesenchymal stem cell fate and that bone marrow can be pre-conditioned by exercise to better resist other stressors such as radiation.