MSCA fellowship awarded to Chiara D’Ercole for her research on muscle aging
Chiara D’Ercole, postdoctoral researcher in the “Signaling Pathways & Striated Muscle” team at the Myology Research Centre, has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) postdoctoral fellowship by the European Commission. Dr. D’Ercole joined the team in 2024 under the supervision of Dr. Lorenzo Giordani, after completing her PhD at Sapienza University of Rome, where she investigated the role of glial cells in muscle denervation and atrophy.
The MSCA fellowships are among the most competitive funding opportunities offered by the European Commission to support the international mobility, training, and career development of talented researchers. For the 2024 call, over 10,000 proposals were submitted, and only 1,696 projects were selected for funding, resulting in a 16.6% success rate. France performed slightly above average, with 160 fellowships awarded out of 932 applications—a 17.4% success rate.
Chiara D’Ercole’s project, GLI-AGE (“Role of glial cells in age-related muscle sarcopenia and NMJ dysfunction”), explores how glial cells may contribute to sarcopenia, the progressive loss of muscle mass and function associated with aging. Although glial cells have been implicated in nerve regeneration after injury, their potential role in the decline of neuromuscular function during aging remains largely unknown.
To investigate this, Chiara D’Ercole will use spatial transcriptomics, a state-of-the-art technique that combines high-resolution imaging with advanced RNA sequencing. This approach will allow her to map the spatial organization and molecular activity of glial cells in aged versus young mouse muscles. By identifying how these cells interact with the neuromuscular system during aging, and by validating candidate molecular targets both in vivo and in vitro, the project aims to uncover potential pathways for therapeutic intervention.
Chiara D’Ercole’s work could help lay the groundwork for innovative strategies to preserve muscle health and improve quality of life in the elderly.
Sarcopenia is an age-related decline in muscle strength and mass, driven by several factors, including loss of innervation and alteration in neuromuscular junction (NMJ) functions. This condition affects both men and women and is particularly pronounced in the lower limbs. GLI-AGE hypothesizes that ageing impairs the ability of glial cells to coordinate neurogenic regeneration processes, leading to NMJ dysfunctions. The goal is to restore glial regenerative potential and counteract sarcopenia.