Breakthrough in skeletal muscle regeneration

Newly published research from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy identifies key mechanisms of skeletal muscle regeneration and growth of muscles following resistance exercise. It’s a finding that opens the door to the development of targeted therapies for various muscle disorders, like Muscular Dystrophy, which affect millions of people worldwide.

When it comes to muscles and muscle disorders, the importance of a discovery like this cannot be overstated.

The muscle of muscles

The very core function of life — breathing — is controlled by your skeletal muscles, as is regulation of whole-body metabolism and every movement you make:

  • And even blinking

In context

Skeletal muscles are formed during embryonic development by the fusion of hundreds of specialized cells called myoblasts. Adult skeletal muscles maintain regenerative capacity, which is attributed to the presence of muscle stem cells, named satellite cells.

After injury, satellite cells undergo several rounds of proliferation followed by their differentiation into myoblasts. These myoblasts once again fuse with each other and to injured myofibers to accomplish muscle regeneration.

In many muscular disorders, this intrinsic capacity of muscles to regenerate is diminished resulting in the loss of muscle mass and function.

The science

UH researchers found that Inositol-requiring enzyme 1, a key signaling protein, is essential for myoblast fusion during muscle formation and growth.

“During muscle regeneration, IRE1 augments the activity of X-box binding protein 1 which in turn stimulates the gene expression of multiple transmembrane proteins required for myoblast fusion,” reports Ashok Kumar, Else and Philip Hargrove Endowed Professor of pharmacy in the Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the UH College of Pharmacy, in EMBO Reports.

According to researchers, increasing the levels of IRE1 or XBP1 in muscle stem cells outside the body, followed by their injection in patients’ muscle tissues will improve muscle repair and reduce the severity of disease.

“We also found that augmenting the levels of IRE1α or XBP1 in myoblasts leads to the formation of myotubes (muscle cells) having an increased diameter,” said Kumar.

That increase in diameter can be significant.

“Size is very important for muscle. Muscle grows only in size, not in number,” said Aniket Joshi, a graduate student in Kumar’s lab and first author on the article. “Muscular people have larger muscle cells. Larger muscles generally work better- can lift more weight, run and walk faster, and improve overall metabolism of the body and prevent various diseases, such as type II diabetes.”

Flexing their muscles

This new research is not the first flex for Kumar’s team. In 2021, research from Kumar’s lab published in the ELife journal described the role of the IRE1α/XBP1 signaling axis in regeneration of healthy skeletal muscle after acute injury and in models of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In this study, they found that IRE1α/XBP1 signaling axis also plays an important cell autonomous role in satellite cells.

Along with Kumar and Joshi, post-doctoral fellow Meiricris Tomaz da Silva and research assistant professor, Anirban Roy conducted the research in Kumar’s lab. Other authors on the article from the University of Houston include Micah Castillo, Preethi Gunaratne, Mingfu Wu, Yu Liu, and a former post-doctoral fellow in Kumar’s lab Tatiana E. Koike along with Takao Iwawaki of Kanazawa Medical University, Japan.

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Simon Cowell’s Company Responds To Rumoured Dig On Jade Thirlwall’s New Single

Simon Cowell’s company has issued a response to an apparent dig on Jade Thirlwall’s debut single.

Last week, the former Little Mix singer unveiled her first ever solo offering, Angel Of My Dreams, which she has described as her personal “love/hate letter to the music industry”.

While promoting the single, Jade has said her song is intended to represent the highs and lows she’s experienced during her 13 years in the public eye.

One lyric in particular, “sold my soul to a psycho”, has been interpreted by many as a jab at Simon Cowell, whose now-defunct record label, Syco, she and her bandmates were signed to for almost a decade after winning The X Factor in 2011.

Responding to the lyric, a representative for Simon Cowell’s entertainment company told the Daily Mail: “The entire team who worked incredibly hard behind the scenes with Little Mix to help make the group a success would, I’m sure, always continue to wish them solo success.”

Little Mix performing in front of Simon Cowell on The X Factor in 2017
Little Mix performing in front of Simon Cowell on The X Factor in 2017

Summers/Thames/Syco/Shutterstock

Jade previously said: “[Angel Of My Dreams] is about how obsessed I am with the industry – so there are lyrics like ‘love when you call me a star’ – but also there’s the dark side that comes with that. It’s not as glam as it seems.”

The track opens with a sample of Sandie Shaw’s Eurovision-winning Puppet On A String, of which Jade said: “In the beginning of our career you do think you are this puppet, but at the same time it isn’t true – we wrote a lot of our songs, and we were behind a lot of what we put out there. I resented that as a statement.

“So, it felt natural to take that and show that it can be true and untrue at the same time.”

Jade Thirlwall launched her solo career last week with her debut single Angel Of My Dreams
Jade Thirlwall launched her solo career last week with her debut single Angel Of My Dreams

The Official Charts Company announced on Sunday that Angel Of My Dreams is currently on track to chart at number two in this weeks UK singles chart.

Check out the song’s official music video below:

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