# Expanding synchrotron applications in biomedical research: Myocardial and skeletal muscle imaging at Brookhaven National Labs

> **NIH NIH R43** · ACCELERATED MUSCLE BIOTECHNOLOGIES CONSULTANTS, L.L.C. · 2024 · $311,168

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
In spite of the rich molecular-scale data provided, clinical applications of high-powered synchrotron radiation for
skeletal and cardiac muscle physiology — collectively known as muscle small-angle X-ray scattering or
(MyoSAXS) — are limited. MyoSAXS is the only technology available that directly images sarcomeric protein
organization in live tissue and is used both in fundamental muscle mechanics research and within the drug
development pipeline. Unfortunately, most applications still lie in academia where typical use cases involve
competitive access reservations months in advance at one of the few synchrotron beamlines in the world
equipped for near-physiological biological samples. The main barriers of entry are thus access, long lead times,
and a short supply of trained life-science beamline scientists in the field. As biological beamline scientists
ourselves, we recognized how strongly these barriers limit hundreds of academic and industry researchers from
using X-ray science and so we founded our firm, Accelerated Muscle Biotechnologies, as a science-as-a-service
solution specifically for MyoSAXS synchrotron applications and is the foundation of this application. For this
Phase I application, we propose to develop MyoSAXS infrastructure at the LiX beamline at Brookhaven National
Labs, a synchrotron facility on Long Island NY, initially for academic users who aren't beamline scientists
themselves but wish to acquire sarcomeric data and have more flexible requirements on lead times. We will
evaluate our advancement by studying the highly relevant mechanism of Mavacamten on muscle, a recent FDA-
approved drug for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that directly suppresses muscle motor function and used
MyoSAXS experiments to show its' interactions with sarcomeric proteins. Our long-term vision however is for
MyoSAXS to be available for clinical research where hospitals can send skeletal or cardiac muscle biopsies for
molecular testing with at most a 1-week lead time. The proposed improvement at Brookhaven focuses on two
objectives: 1) to acquire MyoSAXS data comparable in quality to the current gold standard in the field and 2) to
develop reproducibility and repeatability (R&R) metrics to standardize data quality across different synchrotron
facilities. These objectives are critical necessities for our business strategy to use Brookhaven as an operational
base for the multiple healthcare and academic hubs in the northeast regional area and for future work at other
synchrotrons. The lessons learned here about data quality and R&R for muscle tissues are generalizable to other
biological samples as well, including renal and nervous tissue, and will set the path for further innovations of
synchrotron radiation in clinical applications.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11007351
- **Project number:** 1R43GM156170-01
- **Recipient organization:** ACCELERATED MUSCLE BIOTECHNOLOGIES CONSULTANTS, L.L.C.
- **Principal Investigator:** Samantha P Harris
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $311,168
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11007351

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11007351, Expanding synchrotron applications in biomedical research: Myocardial and skeletal muscle imaging at Brookhaven National Labs (1R43GM156170-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11007351. Licensed CC0.

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