John S. McIlhenny Skeletal Muscle Physiology Laboratory

Faculty


Research Focus

The goal of this laboratory is to understand and characterize the molecular mechanism(s) of mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle and its relationship to obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and aging.

About this Lab

The Skeletal Muscle Physiology Laboratory focuses primarily on assessing abnormalities in substrate utilization/switching in skeletal muscle; however, he has explored similar issues in heart, liver, and kidney to more fully understand the coordinated regulation/dysregulation of fuel utilization amongst various organ systems contributing to the pathogenesis of these metabolic diseases. Dr. Noland has recently investigated such mechanisms involved in skeletal muscle substrate handling using molecular physiology techniques, like recombinant adenovirus-mediated gene delivery and RNAi-mediated gene silencing, to manipulate gene expression in cell culture (rodent and human) and animal models.