Research summary
The neuromuscular system includes all the muscles in our bodies as well as the nerves serving them. Muscles and nerves work together in this system to make our bodies move the way we want them to and function as they should. Dr. Vladimir Ljubicic, Canada Research Chair in Neuromuscular Plasticity in Health and Disease, is studying the mechanisms that maintain and remodel the neuromuscular system.
Ljubicic and his team have already demonstrated that an enzyme called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is critical in regulating our neuromuscular system. Now, they are using lifestyle and pharmacological approaches—like exercise or compounds that stimulate AMPK—to target this protein in the neuromuscular system. Ultimately, their findings could lead to new and exciting approaches to treat common neuromuscular disorders, such as muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis.