Muscle Research Laboratory (MRL)

Director: Marcas M. Bamman, PhD

Department/Center Association: UAB Department of Physiology and Biophysics, UAB Center for Aging, VA Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)

Established: October 2001

Mission

The Muscle Research Laboratory (MRL) provides resources and expertise to carry out molecular and cellular analyses of skeletal muscle. Tissue specimens typically analyzed include human muscle biopsy samples, surgical specimens, whole muscles from small laboratory animals, and human blood serum samples. A variety of tools are used to assess muscle fiber morphology, protein expression, gene expression, and enzyme activities, and serum cytokine and metabolite concentrations.

Facility Description

The MRL is a fully renovated core facility located in laboratories 3R-26, 3R-27, and 3R-23 in the Birmingham Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center Research Building. Renovations were completed in the fall of 2001 and the laboratory was stocked with all new equipment. The MRL consists of three wet laboratories, a darkroom, a fluorescence microscopy facility, and office space. The Laboratory houses all equipment necessary to carry out experiments from sample preparation (including small animal dissection) to digitized image analysis.

A summary of major laboratory equipment includes: a fluorescence microscopy station, a light microscopy station, a cryostat microtome, a digital densitometry system (i.e., a digital darkroom with computer controlled CCD camera), a standard darkroom with film developer, two thermocyclers with an in situ hybridization module, a fluorometer, a spectrophotometer, a speed vac lyophilizer, a computer-controlled microplate reader, two refrigerated microcentrifuges, tissue homogenizers, two ultra-low freezers, two incubators, two water purification systems, and additional equipment and supplies necessary for immunoblotting, mRNA expression studies, immunofluorescence microscopy, myofiber morphometry, and enzyme activity assays.

Research Information

The overall aims of Dr. Bamman’s research are to elucidate mechanisms of muscle plasticity in response to various stimuli including loading, unloading, and aging. Currently the two primary interests are the etiology of age-related sarcopenia and molecular mechanisms of hypertrophy in older and younger men and women. Human muscle biopsy analyses are the primary focus, including protein and mRNA expression studies of contractile protein isoforms, enzymes, cytoskeletal proteins, myogenic regulatory factors, cell cycle regulators, and growth factors; studies of satellite muscle cells both in situ and in primary tissue culture; and quantification of muscle fiber type, fiber size, and capillary supply.

Funded Investigations Currently Using the MRL

• Muscle Plasticity with Resistance Training and Detraining in Older Adults (R01 AG17896), PI: MM Bamman, PhD (Physiology and Biophysics)
• Etiology, Timecourse, and Functional Sequelae of Age-Associated Sarcopenia (VA Merit award), PI: MM Bamman, PhD (Physiology and Biophysics)
• Frequency of Aerobic/Resistance Training in Older Women (R01 DK072028), PI: GR Hunter, (Human Studies and Nutrition Sciences)

Services and Fees

Laboratory services are available to any funded investigator. For future applications in which the MRL will be a proposed core resource, please contact the MRL to define experiments and establish costs prior to submitting the application. The MRL can incur minor expenses required to generate preliminary data in preparation for an application.

Additional information can be found at www.physiology.uab.edu/BammanLab.htm

Contact Information

Director: Marcas M. Bamman, PhD

Email: mbamman@uab.edu

Phone: 205-558-7064

Research Associate: Jeong-su Kim, PhD

Email: jskim@uab.edu

Phone: 205-933-8101, ext. 7305

Post-Doctoral Fellow: John K. Petrella, PhD

Email: jpetrella@uab.edu

Phone: 205-933-8101, ext. 7310

Approved by: Marcas M. Bamman, PhD, Director
Date: May 23, 2006 (Update requested)

Click here to return to the SOM Research Web Site's home page.