Research summary
Muscle degeneration due to aging or degenerative diseases—such as muscular dystrophies, myopathies and neuromuscular disorders—is a leading cause of disability worldwide. We know that such degeneration is characterized by a decline in the number and function of muscle stem cells. But the underlying causes of this decline are still unclear.
Dr. Mireille Khacho has already discovered that dysregulation of mitochondrial dynamics and function, as observed in muscle wasting, impairs stem cells’ longevity and regenerative capacity. Now, as Canada Research Chair in Mitochondrial Dynamics and Regenerative Medicine, she is using metabolomic, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to explore how mitochondrial dynamics control muscle stem cell function during physiological and disease states. Ultimately, she and her research team hope their work will lead to treatments that restore muscle regeneration by modifying mitochondrial dynamics in muscle stem cells.