How skeletal muscle relaxes after a contraction
Official title: Dissecting the structural origin of relaxation in skeletal muscle
Funded at Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester · NIH-11294311 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how skeletal and heart muscle switch off after contracting to help people with muscle or heart problems in the future.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Worcester, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $510,139 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AR081941-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11294311 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with inherited or acquired muscle disorders, unexplained muscle weakness, or heart muscle disease would be most relevant to this line of research and potential future trials.
✕Less likely to help
People without muscle or heart conditions or those seeking immediate clinical treatment are unlikely to get direct benefit from this basic science work right now.
What this research studies
From my point of view, the team will study how the molecular motors in muscle (myosin heads) fold and use less energy when a muscle is relaxed. They will combine structural imaging and biochemical measurements on muscle proteins and tissue from animals and human sources to see the shapes and energy states involved. The researchers want to explain a low-energy state called super-relaxation and how it relates to specific myosin head conformations. Learning these details aims to reveal why muscles save energy at rest and how that process can go wrong in disease.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to new ways to treat muscle and heart conditions by targeting the molecules that control relaxation and energy use.
How similar studies have gone: Previous low-resolution structural and biochemical studies have suggested energy-saving states in relaxed muscle, but the atomic details are still unproven and this work seeks novel, higher-resolution evidence.
Where this research is happening
-
Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester
Worcester, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Padron, Raul — Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester
- Study coordinator: Padron, Raul
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.