Functional genomics applications and therapeutic implications in sarcopenia

Publication date: Available online 20 April 2019Source: Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation ResearchAuthor(s): Aicha Melouane, Abdelaziz Ghanemi, Mayumi Yoshioka, Jonny St-AmandAbstractIt is well known that the human genome contains around 100,000 genes coding for 30,000 proteins. Some proteins represent therapeutic targets for human diseases. RNA and protein expression profiling tools allow the study of the molecular basis of aging and drug discovery validation. Age-related physiological and disease-related muscle decline progressively throughout the life. Sarcopenia is defined as a loss of muscle mass and a decrease in functional status, such as muscle strength and or physical performance. However, there is still no consensus on the methods to be used to evaluate it. The main challenge of this complex biological phenomena is its multifactorial etiology. Thus, functional genomics methods attempt to shape the related scientific approaches via a novel in-depth view on sarcopenia. Gene and drug high throughput screening combined with functional genomics studies allow the generation and the interpretation of a large amount of data in sarcopenia and therapeutic research. This review focuses on the application of some functional genomics techniques such as RNA interference, RNA silencing, proteomics, transgenic mice, metabolomics, genomics, and epigenomics to better understand sarcopenia mechanisms.
Source: Mutation Research Reviews in Mutation Research - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research