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Scientists have identified previously unreported genes which appear to play a key role in the muscle aging process. It is hoped that the findings from a Nottingham Trent University study could be used to help delay the impact of the aging process.

The study, which also involved Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital, and Anglia Ruskin University, is reported in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.

Muscle aging is a natural process that occurs in everyone, causing people to lose muscle mass, strength and endurance as they get older—and is linked to increasing falls and physical disabilities.

The work provides new insight and understanding into the genes and mechanisms that drive muscle aging. The researchers argue that they may have found new targets for drug discovery, which could spark therapies for muscle aging and for older people living with the disease sarcopenia, enhanced muscle loss linked to this process.

Physical exercise is currently the only recommended treatment for muscle aging and sarcopenia, showing benefits in improving life expectancy and delaying the onset of age-associated disorders.

The new study involved analyzing gene expression datasets of both younger (aged 21-43) and older (63-79) adults related to both muscle aging and resistance exercise. Using artificial intelligence, the researchers were able to identify the top 200 genes influencing—or being influenced by—aging or exercise, along with the strongest interactions between them.

The team found that one gene in particular—USP54 –appears to play a key role in the advancement of muscle aging and muscle degradation in older people. The significance of the findings was then further confirmed via muscle biopsy in older adults, where the gene was found to be highly expressed.

The researchers also discovered several potential resistance exercise-associated genes. While further research is required, the team argues these could aid development of more informed exercise-based interventions targeting the preservation of muscle mass in older people, which would be key to mitigating against falls and disabilities.

“We want to identify genes that we can utilize to delay the impacts of the aging process and extend the healthspan,” said Dr. Lívia Santos, an expert in musculoskeletal biology at Nottingham Trent University. “We have used AI to identify the genes, gene interactions and molecular pathways and processes associated with muscle aging that until now have remained undiscovered. The data was analyzed in 20 different ways and every time the significant genes were found to be the same.

“Muscle aging is a huge challenge. As people lose muscle mass and strength, we see changes in their gait, which makes them more prone to falls, but they are also at increased risk of developing a range of physical disabilities, making it a major public health concern. We urgently need to understand the mechanisms regulating muscle aging. This is crucial in helping to prevent and treat sarcopenia and enable a greater level of dependency among older people.”

Researcher Dr. Janelle Tarum said, “This study suggests that AI has a potential to benefit the field of muscle aging and sarcopenia.

“AI has not previously been used in the field of skeletal muscle mass regulation. This motivated us to apply it to discover new genes to better understand and predict sarcopenia, or be used as targets for therapies that could benefit research on sarcopenia.”