Ivan Vechetti
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE·Physiology
Long stretches of inactivity, such as bed rest or a limb in a cast, make muscles shrink. This disuse atrophy speeds up sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, and contributes to frailty.
- Fields
Physiology
Biology
Biochemistry
- Topics
muscle atrophy
disuse atrophy
sarcopenia
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Determine whether MG53, a mitochondria-protecting protein that rises in hibernating ground squirrel muscle, is necessary to lessen skeletal muscle loss during disuse-induced atrophy.
- Determine whether MG53 is required for skeletal muscle to regrow after immobilization-induced atrophy.
- Test the hypothesis that MG53 reduces damaged mitochondria and reactive oxygen species by raising AMBRA1, an autophagy regulator, thereby lowering protein breakdown and allowing more protein synthesis.
More about the research
Antioxidant supplements can blunt the loss, but prolonged use brings problems of its own, including reduced formation of new mitochondria, the cell's energy factories. Hibernating mammals hint at a different approach: their muscles stay largely intact after four to five months of near-total inactivity.
Why it matters
Muscle atrophy affects millions of people, reducing strength, raising fall risk, lengthening hospital stays, slowing recovery, and increasing mortality. If MG53 proves protective, it could become a target for therapies that prevent muscle loss during immobilization, illness, or aging, with older adults at risk of sarcopenia and frailty standing to benefit most.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Orlando Laitano
University of Florida, FL·Physiology
Test whether deleting Nox2, Nox4, or both specifically in muscle fibers — using myoAAV, a virus engineered to enter muscle — protects septic mice from weakness and atrophy during hindlimb disuse, measured by contractile force and muscle mass.
Julia Boster
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Measure mitochondrial respiration, reactive oxygen species production and oxidative stress in abdominal muscle from children with chronic cholestasis, using Oroboros O2k respirometry, and relate them to sarcopenia.
Bumsoo Ahn
Wake Forest University, NC·Physiology·Early-career
Test whether unacylated ghrelin (UnAG) combined with endurance exercise boosts mitochondrial energy production and lowers oxidative stress in skeletal muscle of older mice, compared with either treatment alone.
The school
University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 17 labs on PI Pages, $657M a year on research, 261 research doctorates a year.
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