Kuang Lab
Principal Investigator: Shihuan Kuang
Institution: Duke University (Durham, NC)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Metabolic regulation of muscle satellite cell homeostasis and function Abstract Muscle satellite cells (MuSCs) are resident stem cells in the skeletal muscle responsible for its postnatal growth, maintenance and regeneration. MuSCs in adult homeostatic muscles are predominantly in the quiescent state. In response to injury, quiescent MuSCs are activated, enter the cell cycle and proliferate as myoblasts, then differentiate to repair the injury or self-renew to replenish the stem cell pool. The homeostasis of these various cell states (quiescence, activation, proliferation, differentiation and self-renewal) is necessary to support multiple rounds of successful and sustainable regeneration throughout the lifetime. Despite the remarkable progress accomplished in the past decades, the key regulators and signaling mechanisms underlying the homeostasis and function of MuSCs remain elusive. Lipid droplets (LDs) are cellular organelles commonly found in adipocytes, where they function as a central hub for lipid biosynthesis, storage and utilization that are crucial for cell metabolism and signaling. Recent studies have begun to elucidate a paramount role of LDs in cancer cell metabolism an…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01DK132819-04: Metabolic regulation of muscle satellite cell homeostasis (2026)
- 5R01AR078695-05: Immunomyoblasts in muscle regeneration (2025)
- 7R01AR079235-04: Targeting PTEN to ameliorate muscular dystrophy in a mouse model (2025)
- 7R01DK132819-03: Metabolic regulation of muscle satellite cell homeostasis (2025)
- 7R01AR078695-04: Immunomyoblasts in muscle regeneration (2024)
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