Award funds study of muscle atrophy

FAYETTEVILLE — An exercise science researcher at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville has received a three-year, $412,668 federal grant to study the prevention of muscle atrophy.

Nicholas Greene is the recipient of a grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

“If a person with cancer can maintain the rest of the body health, including preventing muscle wasting, their chance of survival is better,” Greene, a UA assistant professor, said in a statement.

Greene will work with other researchers on the project at UA and elsewhere. The project will involve the study of mitochondria, a part of human cells that converts substances like glucose into energy.

“It’s our idea that mitochondria might degenerate before muscle wasting begins,” Greene said. If mitochondria health can be preserved, muscle wasting might be prevented, he said.