Principal Investigator: Dawn Lowe, Ph.D.
Skeletal muscle responds positively to moderate intensity exercise by increasing its ability to utilize oxygen for energy production and by becoming stronger. These beneficial training effects occur in muscles of adult, dystrophic mice following short-term exercise, such as voluntary wheel running for two months. However, there exists a concern for potential harmful effects to dystrophic muscle that has been chronically exercised. A legitimate concern is that the regenerative capacity of dystrophic muscle could be exhausted as a result of long-term exercise. We hypothesize that this will not occur and that long term exercise will have only beneficial effects on skeletal muscle of young dystrophic mice. We will test this hypothesis by providing exercise wheels to four week-old dystrophic mice in their home cages. Six months later leg muscles will be assessed for energy production, strength, fatigue resistance, and resistance to injury. We predict that exercise will improve these muscle characteristics. Telomeres will also be analyzed in leg muscles to determine regenerative capacity. We predict that telomeres will not be affected by six months of exercise in young dystrophic mice indicating that long term exercise is not deleterious.