Sobha Tumbapo

sobha-120

Sobha Tumbapo

PhD Student

School: School of Human and Life Sciences

Campus: Canterbury


Project title

Investigating the role of dietary restriction and myosin light chains in muscle ageing. 

Profile Summary:

I did my undergraduate degree in Bioscience (BSc) at CCCU. After graduation, I continued my studies with a postgraduate degree in Cancer Biology (MSc) at University of Kent. I am now working towards my PhD under supervision of Dr. Marieke Bloemink, investigating the role of myosin light chains in the development and progression of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is an age-related condition characterized by progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. It is a major component of frailty in the elderly, resulting in loss of functional mobility and independence. 

My research is focused on the effect of dietary restriction (DR) on sarcopenia, as DR has been shown to increase the average lifespan in a wide variety of organisms. We use the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system with one of its main muscle proteins, myosin heavy chain B (unc-54), fluorescently labelled with GFP. Using fluorescence microscopy, this work will investigate age-related muscle deterioration in C.elegans under DR conditions, ranging from mild to severe, and under normal conditions as a control. Average lifespan and age-dependent motility will also be determined.

 The overall aim of this work is to determine the molecular mechanisms underlying sarcopenia. We will focus on the role of myosin light chains in particular, as this is one of the key proteins that shows significant changes during muscle ageing, both in expression levels and in post-translational modifications. 

 

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Last edited: 10/12/2018 08:59:00