Yulia Lomonosova

My primary focus in Wood group is development of combination therapeutics for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) involving manipulation of pre-mRNA splicing using antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) to correct aberrant reading frame and translate functional dystrophin protein. Particularly, since dystrophin is a large sub-sarcolemmal protein, I study plasma membrane in dystrophic muscle and after its treatment with ASO to identify novel drivers of disease and putative therapeutic targets. In parallel, I am investigating the role of eEF2k/eEF2 and PI3K/mTOR/p70S6k signaling pathways in a marked reduction of protein synthesis rate in DMD muscle and in case of muscle wasting.

Biography. I completed my PhD program at the Institute of Bio-medical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, focusing on prevention of atrophy development during space flight and hypokinesia utilizing microgravity models, in particular, head-out dry immersion in humans and hindlimb suspension of rodents. I investigated signaling pathways involved in regulation of proteolysis (calpains, E3-ubiquitin ligases) and protein synthesis (IGF-1/mTOR/p70S6k) in skeletal muscle upon disuse and eccentric exercise. I was recognised as a laureate of the RF President’s Prize in the field of science and innovations for young scientists. In collaboration with NASA and Neuromuscular Group, Charité – University Medicine Berlin, I continued my research in the investigation of fast-to-slow transition of skeletal muscle contractile function under microgravity. In 2017, I joined the lab of Prof. Matthew Wood at the University of Oxford as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Muscle Biology.