Lieu: Brunoy

Résumé: Muscles play a crucial role in supporting overall health and wellness. However, muscle atrophy is an inevitable part of ageing and disuse (e.g. due to immobilization, sedentary behaviour, or microgravity). In particular, prolongedinactivity in humans promotes decreases in skeletal muscle mass and strength, and is a major risk factor for developing obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Conversely, muscle mass is fairly well preserved during hibernation in some hibernating species including the brown bear. Deciphering regulated metabolic networks in inactive vs. active bears could help in understanding how the bear succeeds where the human fails. Therefore, we are exploring several hypotheses, including the regulation of bear muscle protein balance and metabolism, nitrogen recycling, and possible existence of ‘muscle sparing factors’ that could act favorably on human muscles.