Research Initiative Award: Deciphering the Molecular Mechanisms Preceding the Aging Skeletal Muscle Phenotype

研究计划奖：破译骨骼肌衰老表型之前的分子机制

• 批准号: 1901096
• 负责人: Tyesha Burks
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Bowie State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1901096&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Initiative; Award; Deciphering; Molecular

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to Bowie State University seeks to investigate the adult time-point in efforts of deciphering the biological mechanisms of the aging process. This project will increase the research capacity of the institution and provide research experiences for underrepresented minority students. This project is centered around the hypothesis that alterations in molecular mechanisms governing the homeostasis of skeletal muscle occur during the aging process and contribute to the aging phenotype that develops decades later. It is hypothesized that adult skeletal muscle will display a unique signaling profile and phenotype when unchallenged and when challenged with immobilization and injury, as compared to young and aged counterparts. To decipher the profile upon challenge, the adult skeletal muscle will be subjected to an injury or immobilization; microscopy will be utilized to assess the histological phenotype and Western blots will be employed to determine the signaling mechanisms. To decipher the profile when unchallenged, mice of various ages ranging from 2- to 12- months will be characterized using in vivo strength tests, microscopy, Western blots and RNAseq. This study will provide a characterization of molecular, histological and functional changes that occur during the aging process. Additionally, it seeks to support the notion that aging is an ongoing developmental process as opposed to an endpoint phenotype and therefore, intermediate timepoints are very informative and should be included in age-related studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

研究启动奖为历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的初级和职业生涯中期教师提供支持，他们正在建立新的研究计划或重新定向和重建现有计划。预计该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，改善所在机构的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。该奖项授予鲍伊州立大学，旨在调查成年人的时间点，努力破译衰老过程的生物学机制。该项目将增加该机构的研究能力，并为代表不足的少数民族学生提供研究经验。这个项目围绕着这样一个假设，即控制骨骼肌内稳的分子机制在衰老过程中发生变化，并有助于几十年后发展的衰老表型。与青年和老年骨骼肌相比，成年骨骼肌在未受到挑战时以及在受到制动和损伤时将显示出独特的信号特征和表型。为了破译挑战时的轮廓，成年骨骼肌将受到损伤或固定；将使用显微镜来评估组织表型，并将使用Western blotts来确定信号机制。为了在没有受到挑战的情况下破译这一特征，将使用体内强度测试、显微镜、Western blotts和RNAseq对不同年龄从2个月到12个月的小鼠进行表征。这项研究将提供在老化过程中发生的分子、组织和功能变化的特征。此外，它寻求支持这样的概念，即衰老是一个持续的发展过程，而不是终点表型，因此，中间时间点非常有信息量，应该包括在与年龄相关的研究中。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。