David Waning, PhD

Associate Professor
Department: Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology 
Email: dwaning@psu.edu;
Phone: 717-531-3853

 


Research Interests:
Muscle satellite stem cells; bone-muscle crosstalk in aging and disease
Systems/Organs:
Musculoskeletal; skeletal muscle
Cell/Cellular compartments:
Muscle satellite stem cells
Signaling pathways:
TGF-β, mycostatin, activin
Diseases/Conditions:
cancer cachexia, bone metastasis, aging
Focus Groups: Musculoskeletal;
Research description: Basic/Translational
The overarching goal of my research program is to discover and characterize molecular mechanisms that impair musculoskeletal health in disease and aging. Bone and muscle are tightly coupled during growth and development, and also during aging and disease yet the cellular and molecular mechanisms linking these two tissues are not well understood. I am developing novel therapeutic approaches that improve musculoskeletal health in pre-clinical models of cancer and chemotherapy-induced sequelae, osteoporosis, and aging.

The major aims of my research are to identify and characterize signal mediators of bone-muscle crosstalk that affect musculoskeletal health. I am especially interested in: 1) identifying targets of oxidative stress that affect bone and muscle function, 2) understanding muscle weakness in osteoporosis, 3) cachexia and the relative contribution of muscle wasting and contractile dysfunction, and 4) bone-muscle crosstalk in rare bone diseases.

Selected Publications:

  • Waning DL, Mohammad KS, Reiken S, Xie W, Andersson DC, John S, Chiechi A, Wright LE, Umanskaya A, Niewolna M, Trivedi T, Charkhzarrin S, Khatiwada P, Wronska A, Haynes A, Benassi MS, Witzmann FA, Zhen G, Wang X, Cao X, Roodman GD, Marks AR, Guise TA. Excess TGF-ß mediates muscle weakness associated with bone metastases in mice. Nat Med. 2015 Nov; 21(11):1262-71.
  • Waning DL, Li B, Jia N, Naaldijk Y, Goebel WS, HogenEsch H, Chun KT. Cul4A is required for hematopoietic cell viability and its deficiency leads to apoptosis. Blood. 2008 Jul 15;112(2):320-9.

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