Research

Muscles require constant repair and regeneration during the life cycle of an organism. This repair/growth is dependent on specialized cells called muscle stem cells/satellite cells. The stem cells reside in the vicinity of muscle fibers and stay quiescent under normal conditions. Following an injury or a developmental signal, stem cells exit quiescence, undergo proliferation, and differentiate to make up the muscle mass.  Mammalian studies have highlighted the role of diet in regulating muscle growth/repair. However, the detailed mechanisms through which this regulation takes place is not clearly understood.  The long-term objective of our lab is to understand how diet controls muscle health during development, aging and myopathies in Drosophila.