Preface

The contraction of skeletal muscles enables the body to move and maintain homeostasis. Human health is markedly affected by any deterioration in the material, metabolic, and contractile properties of skeletal muscle. The loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength substantially impairs physical performance and quality of life. Muscle wasting and weakness such as cachexia, atrophy, and sarcopenia are characterized by marked decreases in protein content, myonuclear number, muscle fiber size, and muscle strength. To attenuate various forms of muscle wasting, many researchers have investigated exercise-based, supplemental, and pharmacological strategies. This book introduces some approaches to the treatment of muscle wasting.

Our circulatory system is managed by the heart, lungs, and vasculature. These components serve crucial roles in controlling blood and lymph flow, and in the delivery of gases, hormones, and essential nutrients (i.e., glucose, fat, or amino acids). Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease without a cure. If untreated, increased pulmonary vascular resistance kills patients within several years due to right heart failure. This book also introduces novel applications against PAH such as cell reprogramming and the use of anticancer drugs that induce programmed cell death.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are the most prevalent cell types in blood vessels and serve critical regulatory roles, particularly for vasoconstriction, vasodilatation, and synthesis of the vascular extracellular matrix. Cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cGMP) is an intracellular second messenger that facilitates a broad spectrum of physiologic processes in multiple cell types within the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urinary, reproductive, nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. In particular, cGMP signaling plays a vital role in regulating the endothelium, VSMCs, and cardiac myocytes. This publication also reviews mathematical models concerning the molecular mechanism and the targets of cGMP in the contraction of VSMCs.

This book will be of interest to professionals in clinical practice, medical and health care students, and researchers working in muscle-related fields of science.

> **Kunihiro Sakuma** Professor, Institute for Liberal Arts, Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

**1**

Section 1

Therapeutic Approaches

for Muscular Disorder

### Section 1
