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Measuring whole body metabolism and performance

Time Course of Metabolic Adaptations During Loading and Unloading

Contents

• Contact Information
• Funding Agency 
• Research Emphasis 
• Disease Focus 
• Scales Examined 
• Biomedical, Biological &  Behavioral Areas
• Modeling Methods & Tools  
• Software Development 

Contact Information

Principal Investigator/Contact
Marco E. Cabrera
Case Western Reserve University
Phone (216) 844-5085
Fax (216) 844-5478
Email marco.cabrera@case.edu

Co-PIs and Collaborators
Ranjan K. Dash
Case Western Reserve University
Phone (216) 368-5553
Fax (216) 368-4832
Email ranjan.dash@case.edu

Fatima Silva
Case Western Reserve University
Phone (216) 844-3220
Email fatima.silva@case.edu

Stephen Previs
Case Western Reserve University
Phone (216) 368-6533
Email stephen.previs@case.edu

Michelle Puchowicz
Case Western Reserve University
Phone (216) 368-1107
Email michelle.puchowicz@case.edu

Grant Number - TBD

Funding Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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Research Emphasis

The alterations in skeletal muscle structure and function induced by space travel or endurance training are the result of a chronic mechanical stimulus (or lack of it) and a series of metabolic interactions spanning from the cellular to the organism level. Reduced activation of the weight bearing muscles causes metabolic changes that enable the body to meet the functional demands of weightlessness, ensuing muscle atrophy, reduced capacity to process fatty acids, and reduced muscle endurance. On the other hand, endurance training results in increased fatty acid oxidation capacity and muscle endurance.

The objective of this proposal is to identify the time course of the adaptations to loading and unloading and to integrate them using a multiscale model of skeletal muscle and whole body metabolism, in order to predict the system integrated response after periods of space travel or endurance training.

Disease Focus

Chronic Physical Inactivity and Diabetes

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Scales Examined 

Time Scales

• Millisecond (ms)
• Second (s)
• Minutes
• Hours
• Days
• Months

Biological Scales

• Sub-Cellular
• Cellular
• Multi-Cellular Systems
• Tissue
• Organ
• Organ Systems
• Organism

Length Scales 

• Nanometer and below (nm)
• Micrometer (μm)
• Millimeter (mm)
• Centimeter (cm)
• Ten centimeter

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Biomedical, Biological and Behavioral (BBB) Areas and Percent Focus

40% - Space & exercise physiology; 40 % - cellular, tissue/organ & whole body metabolism; 20% - biochemical reactions, pathways & metabolic control.

Modeling Methods and Tools (MMT)Areas and Percent Focus

70% - Ordinary differential equations; 30% - system identification methods.  

Software Development