Skeletal Muscle Plasticity in Health, Aging and Disease

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue in Cells will showcase broad, interdisciplinary advances in skeletal muscle biology, emphasizing how muscle adapts, repairs, and becomes dysfunctional across the lifespan and in diverse diseases. We invite original research articles and state-of-the-art reviews that clarify mechanisms governing myofiber growth and atrophy, satellite cell activation and regeneration, neuromuscular junction maintenance, and extracellular matrix remodeling, fibrosis, and vascular interactions. Topics of interest include mitochondrial bioenergetics and quality control, proteostasis and autophagy, oxidative and metabolic stress, endocrine and paracrine signaling, inflammation and immune–muscle crosstalk, and the roles of non-coding RNAs, epigenetic regulation, and mechanotransduction. We welcome studies spanning exercise and disuse, aging and sarcopenia, obesity and diabetes, cancer cachexia, critical illness, trauma, neuromuscular disorders, and cardiopulmonary conditions that impair muscle function. Submissions using multi-omics approaches, advanced imaging, organoid or engineered muscle systems, computational modeling, and translational or therapeutic approaches are encouraged, including biomarker discovery and interventions targeting recovery and performance. Collectively, this Issue aims to connect fundamental cell biology with clinically meaningful outcomes in muscle health. We especially encourage integrative perspectives that bridge cellular mechanisms to functional phenotypes, highlight sex- and ancestry-related biology, and define reproducible standards for muscle assays, data sharing, and rigorous preclinical-to-clinical translation across models and populations.

Dr. Junaith S. Mohamed
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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