Feeley-Liu Lab for Muscle Regeneration

1700 Owens Street, Room 361
San Francisco, CA 94158
Tel: 415-575-0546

Our work

The focus of our research is to understand the cellular and molecular changes that occur within the muscle after different injuries, but particularly rotator cuff tears. We have developed novel injury and repair models to study the acute and chronic effects of rotator cuff injury on the important signal transduction pathways that govern muscle cell size and stem cell fate within the muscle. We also focus on understanding how muscle injury patterns affect the stem cell populations within the muscle (satellite cells, FAP cells) in an effort to determine treatment strategies that would improve muscle function after orthopedic injuries.

Our lab is located at 1700 Owens Street, Room 361, San Francisco, CA 94158.

Current projects

We are currently evaluating the relationship between these signaling pathways, beige adipose tissue (BAT), and FAP cells since both stem cell populations share similar markers of expression. BAT has an important role in energy balance, and may produce local growth factors such as IGF-1 that can promote a healing environment for muscle. The emergence of BAT is of particular importance in RC injury given the clinical significance of fatty infiltration. Our goal over the next five years is to expand our understanding of how these resident stem cells function in our mouse model of RC tears, and study these cell populations in patients undergoing RC repair. We are currently funded by the VA and the NIH. To learn more, visit the Feeley Lab web site.

Research projects in our lab include:

Novel models of rotator cuff injury and repair in normal and genetically modified mouse strains
Treatment strategies to induce muscle FAPs to beige fat and improve muscle quality
Understanding the phenotypic and genotypic differences in FAPs from different muscle groups, and how they may be induced to beige fat differently
Strategies to improve muscle quality after rotator cuff repair with the use of endogenous stem cell activation
Use of nanofibers to improve muscle regeneration in volumetric muscle loss and rotator cuff repair
The role of FAPs in muscle regeneration in ischemia and reperfusion injury, as well as blood flow restriction therapy