Mark S. Miller
B.S., University of Colorado; M.S., University of Colorado; Ph.D., University of Vermont; Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of Vermont
Aging, Exercise, Skeletal Muscle, Muscle Mechanics
My primary interest is investigating the effects of aging and exercise in human skeletal muscle at the whole body, tissue, single fiber and molecular levels. The goal is to understand how alterations at the molecular and single fiber levels affect whole muscle contraction in order to find potential countermeasures to prevent the age-related loss of muscle performance. The laboratory combines the use of advanced engineering methods to measure muscle function at the molecular and single fiber levels with imaging techniques to examine muscle structure from the myofibril to the tissue level, biochemical techniques to quantify proteins as well as techniques to analyze the whole body skeletal muscle contractile performance.
Callahan DM, Bedrin NG, Subramanian M, Berking J, Ades PA, Toth MJ, Miller MS. Age-related structural alterations in human skeletal muscle fibers and mitochondria are sex-specific: Relationship to single-fiber function. Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(12), 1582-1592, 2014.
Tanner BCW, McNabb M, Palmer BM, Toth MJ, Miller MS. Random myosin loss along thick-filaments increases myosin attachment time and the proportion of bound myosin heads to mitigate force decline in skeletal muscle. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 552-553, 117-127, 2014. PMCID: PMC4043927
Miller MS, Bedrin NG, Callahan DM, Previs MJ, Jennings II ME, Ades PA, Maughan DW, Palmer BM, Toth MJ. Age-related slowing of myosin actin cross-bridge kinetics is sex specific and predicts decrements in whole skeletal muscle performance in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology 115(7), 1004-1014, 2013. PMCID: PMC3798822
Miller MS, Toth MJ. Myofilament protein loss and dysfunction promote physical disability in aging and disease. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 41(2), 93-99, 2013.
Tanner BCW, Farman GP, Irving TC, Maughan DW, Palmer BM, Miller MS. Thick-to-thin filament surface distance modulates cross-bridge kinetics in Drosophila flight muscle. Biophysical Journal 103(6), 1275-1284, 2012. PMCID: PMC3447602