Transcriptional and epigenetic control of skeletal muscle mass

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Autophagy is a proteolytic pathway whereby organelles such as mitochondria can be delivered to the lysosome for recycling. Recent studies including ours have demonstrated the importance of autophagy to the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass and function. Over the past five years, with funding from NSERC, I established a leading-edge research program at McGill University dedicated to study the importance of autophagy in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass and function. This program resulted in the publication of seven articles in highly-rated journals and in the successful training of several graduate and undergraduate students. This program also revealed that autophagy in skeletal muscles persists for days and that this requires prolonged upregulation of autophagy-related gene expression by transcriptional and epigenetic networks. Little is known about the nature of these networks. To fill this gap in basic cell biology knowledge, I would like to establish a research program that focuses on identifying the roles of transcription factor EB (TFEB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) as well as micro RNAs (miRNAs) in the regulation of skeletal muscle autophagy. This program would be an essential element in