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## Meet the editor

Professor Kunihiro Sakuma, Ph.D., currently works in the Institute for Liberal Arts at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He is a physiologist working in the field of skeletal muscle. He was awarded his sports science diploma in 1995 by the University of Tsukuba and began his scientific work at the Department of Physiology, Aichi Human Service Center, focusing on the molecular mechanism of congenital muscular dystrophy and normal

muscle regeneration. His interest later turned to the molecular mechanism and attenuating strategy of sarcopenia (age-related muscle atrophy). His opinion is to attenuate sarcopenia by improving autophagic defects using nutrient- and pharmaceutical-based treatments.

Contents

**Section 1**

Cardiac Repair

**Section 2**

**Section 3**

*by Aleš Fajmut*

*by Georgi P. Georgiev*

Musculoskeletal System

**Preface XI**

Therapeutic Approaches for Muscular Disorder **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

**Chapter 2 19**

**Chapter 3 29**

**Chapter 4 57**

Hypothenar Muscles **71**

**Chapter 5 73**

Mathematical Model of Contraction in Vascular Smooth Muscle **85**

**Chapter 6 87**

Molecular Mechanisms and Targets of Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate

Exercise Therapy for Patients with Heart Failure: Focusing on the

Evidence for the Role of Cell Reprogramming in Naturally Occurring

Interventional Strategies to Delay Aging-Related Dysfunctions of the

Strategies to Treat Pulmonary Hypertension Using Programmed Cell Death-Inducing Anti-Cancer Drugs without Damaging the Heart *by Yuichiro J. Suzuki, Yasmine F. Ibrahim, Vladyslava Rybka, Jaquantey R. Bowens, Adenike S. Falade and Nataliia V. Shults*

*by Naomasa Fukase, Ingrid K. Stake, Yoichi Murata, William S. Hambright,* 

*by Nobuo Morotomi, Kunihiro Sakuma and Kotomi Sakai*

*Sudheer Ravuri, Marc J. Philippon and Johnny Huard*

Pathophysiology of Skeletal Muscle

*by Nataliia V. Shults and Yuichiro J. Suzuki*

Hypothenar Muscles and Guyon's Canal

(cGMP) in Vascular Smooth Muscles

## Contents


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

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

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

This book will be of interest to professionals in clinical practice, medical and health

**Kunihiro Sakuma**

Tokyo Institute of Technology,

Institute for Liberal Arts, Environment and Society,

Professor,

Tokyo, Japan

care students, and researchers working in muscle-related fields of science.

treatment of muscle wasting.

programmed cell death.

the contraction of VSMCs.
