Research Focus

SUMOylation in Muscle Physiology and Cachexia

Mobility is an indispensable trait that determines survival and success in the living world. The skeletal musculature—which enables this mobility—is an amazing organ consisting of over 650 muscles, which account for about 40% of total body mass and up to 30% of basal energy expenditure. Skeletal muscle, which exhibits a characteristic striated pattern, consists of linearly arranged units known as “sarcomers.” Each individual sarcomere contains highly organized structures such as actin and myosin filaments. The cyclic interaction between these two types of filaments is responsible for the generation of force and movement at both the molecular and organismic levels.

The precise molecular arrangement of the sarcomeres is of central importance for muscle function. Disorganization of the sarcomeres and the resulting impaired muscle function are the typical hallmarks of myopathies, including cancer cachexia, which occurs in nearly 80% of cancer patients and is associated with a mortality rate of more than 30%.

Our group’s primary focus is on understanding how the SUMO (Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier)-mediated epigenetic program regulates skeletal and cardiac muscle physiology—including sarcomere organization, muscle differentiation, and the regeneration process—as well as muscle wasting disorders such as cachexia. Another important goal of our group is to understand the molecular mechanism underlying chemotherapy-induced cachexia.

As part of our ongoing projects, we have developed unbiased screening systems to test the effects of various chemotherapeutic agents on muscle wasting, with the goal of identifying a better therapeutic option that reduces the burden of cancer without causing a loss of muscle mass and function.

For more information, please visit the Nayak Research Group’s website.