Health and Human Performance
Molecular Physiology of Muscle Laboratory
Led by Elisabeth Barton · Applied Physiology and Kinesiology
What we study
The Barton lab studies how muscles repair themselves after damage, using mice and cell cultures. They explore how growth factors like IGF-I and mechanical signals help muscles heal, with potential to treat injuries and diseases.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Mice
- Cells in a dish
- Projects
- 4
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Use of insulin-like growth factor I to promote muscle growth and repair
Tests whether insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) can help muscles grow and heal after injury, using mice and muscle cells grown in the lab.
Role of muscle insulin-like growth factor I in regulation of glucose homeostasis
Examines how IGF-I produced in muscle affects blood sugar regulation, using mouse models to connect muscle biology to glucose control.
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Mechanical signal transduction and load-sensing in muscle
Studies how muscle fibers sense mechanical load and turn it into chemical signals, using mice and cultured cells to understand how muscles respond to stress.
Role of extracellular matrix in skeletal muscle health and disease
Investigating how the matrix supports muscle function and repair.
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Resident mesenchymal progenitor cells require autocrine IGF-I in homeostatic and regenerating skeletal muscle
2026 · Stem Cell Reports
Finds that muscle cells need their own growth factor to heal properly.
- Selective targeting of skeletal muscle resident fibro-adipogenic progenitors via recombinant adeno-associated viral delivery
2026 · Scientific Reports
Builds a tool to target muscle cells with a virus for research.
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- Passive Bicycle Training Stimulates Bone Formation After Spinal Cord Injury Independent Of Muscle Recovery
2026 · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- Increased Insulin Action, Glucose Metabolism and Muscle Function in Supervillin‐Knockout and Supervillin‐Mutant Mice
2026 · Cytoskeleton
Tests whether mice missing a muscle protein have better muscle function and metabolism.
- Fibro‐Adipogenic Progenitor Ablation Triggers Muscle Atrophy Through Cell Death‐Induced Inflammation
2026 · Journal of Cachexia Sarcopenia and Muscle
Shows how deleting muscle cells triggers muscle loss through inflammation.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Elisabeth Barton hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.