Investigating Muscle Weakness and Fatigue with the MHRC No other body part moves us quite like the skeletal muscles do. As the most abundant muscle type in the human body, this often overlooked organ affects not only movement, but also respiratory function and metabolism, and can greatly impact quality of life. York Universitys Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) is Canadas leading facility in skeletal muscle research, and is home to many researchers who push the boundaries of what is known about muscle physiology. For this blog, we summarize interviews with two professors from the MHRC who investigate the mechanisms of muscle weakness and fatigue: Christopher Perry and Arthur Cheng.

Mitochondrial stress in muscle weakness disorders

Christopher Perry, PhD, is an associate professor at the MHRC whose laboratory primarily examines mitochondrial stress response in muscle weakness disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cancer-induced cachexia. For these experiments, various muscles (e.g., diaphragm, quadriceps) from mice are isolated, after which muscle force production is measured using the 1300A 3-in-1 Whole Animal System by Aurora Scientific .

"[With this system]...were able to measure force production in muscles in vivo in the mouse, in situ, and in vitro."

https://insidescientific.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Master-Headshots-ROUND-ONLY-250-_-250-px.png Professor Perry also often partners with pharmaceutical companies to develop new therapies for restoring healthy metabolism in muscle. This helps improve mobility, respiratory function, as well as myocardial function. https://youtu.be/cny7PyOXJQc

Analyzing the mechanism of skeletal muscle cell weakness

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