SEMINAR: Physiological evaluation of contractile dysfunction in skeletal muscle: inflammation-induced muscle weakness.

The Seminar: The skeletal muscle weakness associated with chronic inflammatory diseases such as cancer, heart failure and arthritis have been attributed to the catabolic effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines that are elevated in these conditions. Skeletal muscle weakness and inflammation are also characteristics of acute injuries, such as muscle strains, contusions and burn injuries, suggesting that inflammation-induced muscle weakness can occur in the absence of muscle atrophy. However, unravelling the specific role of inflammatory cells in promoting muscle weakness is difficult in these conditions due to confounding factors such as direct physical damage to contractile proteins and other systemic factors that may influence the synthesis and degradation of contractile proteins. In this seminar I will describe the physiological techniques that have been used to investigate the cellular mechanisms of muscle damage and contractile dysfunction. Using a range of approaches from in vitro studies on single muscle cells to in vivo experiments in whole animals, it is possible to identify the contributions of acute and systemic inflammation to skeletal muscle weakness. In particular, I will focus on the contribution of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor and reactive oxygen species as mediators of muscle weakness and potential therapeutic strategies to ameliorate the severity of contractile dysfunction in various skeletal muscle disorders.

The Speaker: Dr Pinniger graduated with a BSc in Human Movement Science (1st Class Honours) from the University of Wollongong in 1996 before completing a post-graduate scholarship in Biomechanics at the Australian Institute of Sport. He returned to Wollongong in 1998 to undertake a PhD, part of which was conducted at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden while on a Guest Research Scholarship from the Swedish Institute. In 2003, Dr Pinniger was awarded a Travelling Research Fellowship from The Wellcome Trust to undertake a post-doctoral appointment at the University of Bristol, (UK). Dr Pinniger has held an academic appointment at UWA since 2006 and is currently Assistant Professor in Physiology.