# Molecular mechanisms of telomere function in muscle stem cells

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $353,925

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is the most common childhood form of muscular
dystrophy and arises from mutations in the dystrophic gene. DMD is characterized by
progressive skeletal muscle degeneration, the presence of focal groups of necrotic myofibers,
muscle hypertrophy and high levels of serum creatine kinase. While
over
focused
the last decade
on treatment
with respect to potential
of skeletal muscle and do
progress has been made
treatments for DMD, current strategies
not take satellite cells into consideration.
are
We
recently demonstrated that telomere shortening is a district feature of dystrophic muscle stem
cells (MuSCs) in both mice and DMD patients already at a very young age. The studies
proposed here will study
determine
stem cells within their native tissue environment of live
the cellular consequence of telomere shortening in MuSCs (Aim 1)
mice
and
will
. This proposal will
also investigate a previously unknown crosstalk between NF-κB and telomeres (Aim 2) and will
determine the function of a telomeric protein in the progression of muscular dystrophy (Aim 3).
Understanding the molecular the link between stem cell functional exhaustion and telomere
shortening will provide potential alternative methods to bypass the use of long-term corticosteroid
treatment currently in use.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10328962
- **Project number:** 5R01AR075914-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Foteini Mourkioti
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $353,925
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10328962

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10328962, Molecular mechanisms of telomere function in muscle stem cells (5R01AR075914-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10328962. Licensed CC0.

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