The influence of alpha actinins on human performance [ 2004 - 2006 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Kathryn North (Principal investigator) ,  Dr Nan Yang ,  Prof Edna Hardeman ,  Prof Peter Gunning

Brief description There is a wide variation in skeletal muscle function in the general population. At one end of the spectrum are elite athletes who excel in a specialised area of sprint, power or endurance performance, while at the other end of the spectrum are individuals with muscle weakness due to inherited muscle disease. Part of this variation in human muscle performance is due to the genetic makeup of the individual. For example, world class sprinters have muscles which are genetically predisposed to generate maximal force at high speed. Similarly, the severity of muscle disease in an affected individual is influenced, in part, by other genes that affect normal muscle performance. The genes responsible for normal variations in muscle function in humans are unknown. The alpha-actinins are structural components of skeletal muscle. The two forms of alpha-actinin in skeletal muscle interact with a number of proteins involved in human muscle disease and thus likely contribute to the severity of muscle weakness in affected patients. Alpha-actinin-3 is present only in fast (type 2) fibres - the muscle fibres responsible for perfomance at high speed. We have identified a genetic change that results in absence of this protein in 1 in 5 people in the general population, without causing disease. We now have evidence that this genetic change, and hence whether or not muscle contains alpha-actinin-3, influences muscle performance in elite athletes. We will now use a variety of approaches to study the alpha-actinins in normal and diseased skeletal muscle. We will study the effect of changes (mutations) in the alpha-actinins in the muscle cells grown in the laboratory and in animal models. This work will impact on our understanding of how normal skeletal muscle functions, and the factors that influence human diversity in the general population.

Funding Amount $AUD 542,500.00

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant