Muscle Physiology - General Overview

Muscle Physiology — General Overview

The muscle physiology laboratory is dedicated to the education and training of students via scientific research.
Our scientific goal is to understand the design and plasticity of the neuromuscular system.

The UCSD muscle physiology laboratory, located in the Veterans Administration Medical Center, was dedicated on September 16, 1986. Currently, the laboratory is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Administration, and private corporations.

The laboratory consists of physiologists, hand surgeons, residents, graduate students, and undergraduates. We encourage collaboration with faculty and scholars from other Universities.

To discover the underlying design principles of the neuromuscular physiology system.
To describe and understand the adaptive ability of the neuromuscular system.
To effectively communicate these findings to the scientific and medical communities.
To teach the scientific method to high school, undergraduate, graduate, medical and post-doctoral students.
To develop student's critical thinking ability.
To provide career guidance at many levels via exposure, discussion and debate.

All of our studies fall into one of two general categories:

Currently, the objectives of the laboratory are:

To understand the relationship between sarcomere length and joint angle in amphibian and mammalian systems.
To understand the architectural design of human arm muscles commonly used in surgical tendon transfer procedures.
To develop analytic and graphical models of muscles, tendons, and the joints on which they act.
To identify the factors which affect strength recovery in humans following surgical tendon transfer.
To identify the cellular events associated with muscle adaptation to surgical manipulation.
To understand the physiological relevance of the various myosin isoforms.

An index of a few abstracts and papers from this year formatted for presentation on the WWW. A more comprehensive list can be found in our Lab Bibliography.

Deletion of nebulin alters the length-tension properties of neonatal skeletal muscle. D.S. Gokhin, J. Zhang, J. Chen, and R.L. Lieber.
A mathematical model of force transmission by desmin in skeletal muscle. G.A. Meyer, M. Kellermeyer, S.R. Ward, and R.L. Lieber.
Muscle excursion scales with normalized fiber length in a rabbit model. T.M. Winter, M. Takahashi, R.L. Lieber, and S.R. Ward.
Scaling of muscle architecture and fiber types in the rat hindlimb. Eng CM, Smallwood LH, Rainiero MP, Lahey M, Ward SR, Lieber RL
Syncoilin is required for generating maximum isometric stress in skeletal muscle but dispensable for muscle cytoarchitecture. Zhang J, Bang ML, Gokhin DS, Lu Y, Cui L, Li X, Gu Y, Dalton N, Scimia MC, Peterson K, Lieber RL, Chen J.
Quantitative analysis of neonatal skeletal muscle functional improvement in the mouse. Gokhin DS, Ward SR, Bremner SN, Lieber RL.
Differential muscle and tendon adaptation after tendon transfer surgery. M. Takahashi, S.R. Ward, and R.L. Lieber.
Muscle architecture determines active and passive tension-generating impairments during surgical release. M.J. Lim, M. Takahashi, J. Fridén, R.L. Lieber and S.R. Ward.
Differential effect of dose and volume on muscle structure and function after botulinum toxin injection. J.B. Hulst, V.B. Minamoto, M.J. Lim, S.R. Ward and R.L. Lieber.
Decreased elastic modulus with muscle fiber atrophy in response to botulinum toxin injection. B.E. Thacker, A. Tomiya, J.B. Hulst, S.N. Bremner, R.L. Lieber and S.R. Ward.
Increased serial sarcomere number does not result in increased muscle excursion after tendon transfer surgery. M. Takahashi, S.R. Ward, and R.L. Lieber.
Microarchitecture studies of the human multifidus muscle reveal its unique design as a major dynamic stabilizer of the lumbar spine. C.W. Kim, S.R. Ward, A. Tomiya, G. Regev, M. Dhawan, L. Gottschalk, S.R. Garfin and R.L. Lieber.
Scapulothoracic and glenohumeral muscle architecture in middle-aged individuals. G.G. Altobelli, C.M. Eng, A.B. Taylor, D. Gokhin, R.L. Lieber and S.R. Ward.
Glenohumeral muscle architecture differs in middle-aged and elderly individuals. G.G. Altobelli, C.M. Eng, A.B. Taylor, D. Gokhin, R.L. Lieber and S.R. Ward.
Increased efficacy and decreased systemic-effects of botulinum toxin A injection after active or passive muscle manipulation. Minamoto VB, Hulst JB, Lim M, Peace WJ, Bremner SN, Ward SR, Lieber RL.
Relationship between muscle stress and intramuscular pressure during dynamic muscle contractions. Ward SR, Davis J, Kaufman KR, Lieber RL.
Growth-dependent enhancement of mouse neonatal muscle morphology and contractile function. D.S. Gokhin and R.L. Lieber.
Scaling of joint mechanics and muscle architecture in the human knee. S.R. Ward, T. Kingsbury, T. Winters, K.M. Lieber, J. Braun, C. Eng, and R. Lieber.
The relationship between muscle force and intramuscular pressure during dynamic muscle contractions. S.R. Ward, J. Davis, K.R. Kaufman, R.L. Lieber.
Increased stress production and response to injury in desmin knockout muscles rescued by plasmid transfection. M.G. Palmisano, S.N. Bremner, and R.L. Lieber.
Functional implications of optimal muscle fiber lengths of the ankle plantarflexors. E.M. Arnold, S.R. Ward, R.L. Lieber and S.L. Delp.
Human lower extremity design: architecture of human hamstring and quadriceps muscles. K.M. Lieber, J. Braun, T. Kingsbury, T. Winters, C. Eng, S.R. Ward, and R.L. Lieber.
The use of molecular biology in biomechanics. R.L. Lieber.
[Skeletal muscle biomechanics.] (article printed in Chinese) Palmisano M, Lieber RL.
Structural and regulatory roles of the nuscle ankyrin repeat protein family in skeletal muscle. Barash I, Bang ML, Mathew L, Greaser ML, Chen J, Lieber RL.
Intraoperative muscle measurements reveal a relationship between contracture formation and muscle remodeling. Ponten E, Gantelius S, Lieber RL.
Muscle geometry affects accuracy of forearm volume determination by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Eng CM, Abrams GD, Smallwood LR, Lieber RL, Ward SR.
Intraoperative single-site sarcomere length measurement accurately reflects whole-muscle sarcomere length in the rabbit. Takahashi M, Ward SR, Lieber RL

The skeletal muscle physiology laboratory is supported by the Veterans Administration, the National Institutes of Health, NASA and Preferred Medical Products.