Vandré Figueiredo

Assistant Professor, Ph.D.
Office: 303 DH
(248) 370-2517
Lab location: 310 and 312 DH
[email protected]
Figueiredo lab website

Courses: 

BIO 4620/5620 Advanced Human Physiology

Skeletal muscle plays a pivotal role in whole body metabolism, overall health and longevity. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of muscle mass determination during hypertrophy and atrophy will lead to better targets to ameliorate muscle loss and eventually lifespan and health span. Skeletal muscle mass is primarily dictated by the balance between protein synthesis and degradation. A main component of overall protein synthesis is the abundance of cellular ribosomes to engage in mRNA translation. Dr. Figueiredo seeks to understand how ribosome biogenesis and ribosome degradation is regulated in myofibers, the muscle cells and how those cellular processes impact on ribosome homeostasis/turnover, muscle protein synthesis and muscle size. Dr. Figueiredo’s work aims to use knowledge gained from these investigations to develop new strategies and therapies to ameliorate and mitigate muscle atrophy conditions, such as during limb immobilization or bed rest, sarcopenia and cancer cachexia.

Selected Publications:

Vandré C. Figueiredo list of publications

Dungan CM, Figueiredo VC, Wen Y, VonLehmden GL, Zdunek CJ, Thomas NT, Mobley CB, Murach KA, Brightwell CR, Long DE, Fry CS, Kern PA, McCarthy JJ and Peterson CA. (2022). Senolytic treatment rescues blunted muscle hypertrophy in old mice. Geroscience. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-022-00542-2.

Figueiredo VC, Wen Y, Alkner B, Fernandez-Gonzalo R, Norrbom J, Vechetti IJ Jr, Valentino T, Mobley CB, Zentner GE, Peterson CA, McCarthy JJ, Murach KA and von Walden F. (2021). Genetic and epigenetic regulation of skeletal muscle ribosome biogenesis with exercise. J Physiol. 599(13):3363-3384. DOI: 10.1113/JP281244

Figueiredo VC and McCarthy JJ. (2021). Targeting cancer via ribosome biogenesis: the cachexia perspective. Cell Mol Life Sci. 78(15):5775-5787. DOI: 10.1007/s00018-021-03888-6.

Figueiredo VC, D'Souza RF, Van Pelt DW, Lawrence MM, Zeng N, Markworth JF, Poppitt SD, Miller BF, Mitchell CJ, McCarthy JJ, Dupont-Versteegden EE and Cameron-Smith D. (2021). Ribosome biogenesis and degradation regulate translational capacity during muscle disuse and reloading.  J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 12(1):130-143. DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.12636.

Englund DA, Figueiredo VC, Dungan CM, Murach KA, Peck BD, Petrosino JM, Brightwell CR, Dupont AM, Neal AC, Fry CS, Accornero F, McCarthy JJ and Peterson CA. (2020). Satellite Cell Depletion Disrupts Transcriptional Coordination and Muscle Adaptation to Exercise. Function (Oxf). 2(1):zqaa033. eCollection 2021. DOI: 10.1093/function/zqaa033.

Figueiredo VC and McCarthy JJ. (2018). Regulation of Ribosome Biogenesis in Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy. Physiology (Bethesda). 34(1):30-42. DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00034.2018.