University of Kentucky · PhysiologyMccarthy Myonuclei Lab
John Joseph Mccarthy · Lexington, Kentucky
Research Focus
Dr. John McCarthy's lab at the University of Kentucky focuses on understanding how skeletal muscle cells maintain themselves throughout an organism's life. They study the turnover of myonuclei, which are the nuclei of muscle cells, to see how damage is repaired or replaced. The team's research is not only significant for aging muscles but could also impact therapies for muscular diseases.
myonuclear turnovermuscle agingnucleophagymuscle repairgene therapy
Research Aims
3AIM 01Determine the rate of myonuclear turnover in different muscles across ages and exercise levels.
AIM 02Investigate if myonuclear damage triggers turnover using transgenic mouse models.
AIM 03Explore the mechanisms of myonuclear degradation, focusing on nucleophagy.
Skills the Lab Values
mouse modelscell cultureautophagy assaysRNA sequencingWestern blotting
Output against the department
Publications286top 18% of dept.52nd of 286
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations16ktop 20% of dept.56th of 286
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.