Targeting ERRs to counteract age-related muscle atrophy associated with physical inactivity: a pilot study
Bonanni R, Falvino A, Matticari A, et al. (2025). Frontiers in Physiology.
Summary
A pilot study in which muscle biopsies were taken from 20 women during hip replacement surgery, split by self-reported physical activity. Inactive women's muscle showed higher NOX4 and lower SIRT1, PGC-1α, ERRα and FNDC5 expression, and smaller fibre diameter. Myoblasts cultured from the inactive group were then treated with the ERR agonist SLU-PP-332, which was associated with reversal of those expression changes, less oxidative stress and senescence, and more myotube formation. The compound was applied only to cells in culture, not to people; the authors call for further mechanistic work.