Research group Christoph Handschin

How does a muscle react to training or in muscle diseases?

The molecular processes inherent in trained or diseased muscles may provide information about the development of muscle diseases.

Cytoskeleton of muscle stem cells in culture. Courtesy of Petra Eisele

Physical activity combined with a balanced diet is one of the most important measures that we can take to prevent many diseases. Surprisingly, the possibilities of molecular adaptation responsible for the health-promoting effects of muscle training are still largely unknown.

Muscle functioning during training or in disease

Our research group's projects aim to investigate the molecular processes that are set in motion during training and have a beneficial effect on our health. In addition, we want greater understanding of exactly how muscle diseases lead to dysfunction of the muscle, and how we can apply our knowledge of the developmental processes in trained muscles to the treatment of disease.

From molecule to patient

We work mainly with cultured muscle cells from established cell lines. We also obtain new cell lines through the isolation of muscle stem cells from mice or from human muscle biopsies taken from healthy volunteers or donors with muscle disease.

Improved understanding of muscle diseases

Our goal is to gain a better molecular understanding of healthy and diseased muscle. This may make it possible in the future to develop new treatments for diseases that are associated with a lack of physical activity, such as type 2 diabetes. We also hope that we will be able to find therapeutic approaches to help patients who suffer from various types of muscle disease.