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Zipora Yablonka-Reuveni

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Email: reuveni@u.washington.edu


Our research focuses on the regulation of myogenic stem cell function throughout the lifespan. Our long-term goal is to identify means to ameliorate age-related muscle deterioration (sarcopenia). Sarcopenia is characterized by a decline in mass, strength, and endurance of skeletal muscles, and by fat accumulation between and within myofibers. Subtle muscle injuries that occur during routine muscle activity raise a continuous demand for functional myofiber repair throughout life. However, myogenic stem cell performance declines in old age and this decline can be a contributory factor to sarcopenia. We investigate satellite cells, classically defined tissue specific myogenic stem cells that reside beneath the myofiber basal lamina, as well as non-myogenic progenitors associated with the microvasculature that may contribute to myogenesis by myogenic reprogramming. Our research approach is based on the view that muscle aging is not an isolated event that starts late in life, but rather a continuum of ongoing developmental biology processes that progress with life.

The following research areas are of our interest:

Dr. Yablonka-Reuveni is a Professor at the Department of Biological Structure, School of Medicine. She served as a regular member on NIH "Skeletal Muscle Biology and Exercise Physiology" study section (2003-2007) and has been a reviewer on various other grant review panels (NIH, USDA, NASA and NSBRI). She is an associate editor of the "Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry" and a board member of the journals "Basic and Applied Myology (BAM)" and "Histology and Histopathology".


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