From the Neuromuscular Junction to the Single Fiber: Muscle Plasticity in Metabolic Disorders and Aging

Dear Colleagues,

Skeletal muscle represents the largest human organ (> 40% of body mass), responsible for a myriad of functions spanning from locomotion, metabolic regulation, heat transfer and endocrine functions, just to name a few. It goes without saying that any alteration in this organ will impact the health and the quality of life of the affected individual. Aging, for instance is characterised by a decline in muscle mass and function (sarcopenia) which in some individuals could become extreme, which is a condition known as frailty and is associated with a variety of health problems and reduced life expectancy. Interestingly, the metabolic disorder Diabetes mellitus (DM) can induce specific damage at the level of skeletal muscle. This has been recently defined as a sort of accelerated aging. Indeed, both aging and DM share important pathogenetic mechanisms such as inflammation and oxidative stress, which have been directly related to muscle atrophy and dysfunction. This Special Issue will integrate new knowledge about muscle regulation in response to aging and DM, considering, transcription, RNA processing and translation, cytokine signalling and exercise responses. This will be accomplished by combining both experimental papers and review articles. Ultimately, the goal of this Special Issue is to highlight current advances in the understanding of the normal physiology and genetics of muscle regulation, including the role of the neuromuscular junction, and denervation.

It is therefore, with great pleasure that we invite you to contribute to this Special Issue in Cells, entitled “From the Neuromuscular Junction to the Single Fiber: Muscle plasticity in Metabolic Disorders and Aging." The aim of the issue is to provide a comprehensive and integrated series of research papers and reviews on key topics in muscle regulation in aging, inactivity, and metabolic disorders.

Prof. Giuseppe De Vito
Prof. Marco Vincenzo Narici
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Skeletal muscle signaling
• Inactivity
• Diabetes mellitus
• Aging
• Muscle function
• Denervation