Skeletal muscle works on the fundamental principle of ‘’Use it or Lose it’’. Conditions such as spaceflight or prolonged bed rest cause loss of muscle mass due to disuse, termed disuse muscle atrophy. No bedside intervention is known to effectively offset muscle loss in these conditions. Our laboratory investigates mechanisms and therapeutics of disuse muscle atrophy in a mouse model, termed hindlimb unloaded (HU) mouse.

We have observed that the protein dysregulation by endoplasmic reticulum (ER), termed ER stress contributes to muscle loss in HU mice. Our recent study highlights the therapeutic potential of inhibiting ER stress to restore muscle mass and strength in HU conditions. Specifically, we have reported that treating HU mice with 4-phenyl butyrate, an ER stress-inhibitor, prevents muscle atrophy and weakness. Our findings have translational potential and may be useful in preserving muscle mass and strength in human astronauts and patients with prolonged bedrest.

Link to article Amir Ali Khan, Muhammad Tehsil Gul, Asima Karim, Anu Ranade, Muhammad Azeem, Zeinab Ibrahim, Gopika Ramachandran, Vidhya A Nair, Firdos Ahmad, Adel Elmoselhi, Rizwan Qaisar Mitigating sarcoplasmic reticulum stress limits disuse-induced muscle loss in hindlimb unloaded mice PMID: 35817772, DOI: 10.1038/s41526-022-00211-w