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Welcome the Eshima lab!

Our laboratory aims to understand how metabolic insults impair skeletal muscle quantity and quality. We have also been interested in the molecular mechanisms of lipid species adapt to muscle physiology.

Skeletal muscle is important for maintaining a healthy body composition, physical function, and locomotion. In particular, skeletal muscle contractile function depends on muscle mass and is closely related to physical performance. However, physical function declines with age and is associated with increased mortality. Furthermore, metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes cause major health problems worldwide. Therefore, the synergistic effects of metabolic disorders and aging on muscle function may exacerbate morbidity and mortality.

In this regard, we recently found that calcium flux serves as a signal that alters muscle contractile function of obesity, diabetes, and or aging (Eshima et al, PMID 28408640, 30433865, 32213111). We believe intramyocellular lipid plays an important role in muscle contractile properties because there are accumulating with diet, diabetes, and aging. We will address this question using genetics, cellular and molecular biology techniques, and mouse physiology with the aim to identify novel lipid species that regulate muscle tissue function. Our goal is to use the insights we gain to restores metabolic myopathies and finds new therapeutic interventions for the treatment of metabolic disorders and aging.

Please email heshima@niu.ac.jp for inquiries on collaborative opportunities or available positions.

To learn more about our research, please see CV.