Etienne Lefai

Université d’Auvergne, INRAE, Unité de Nutrition Humaine, Clermont-Ferrand, France

Dr. Etienne Lefai, is a research director at the INRAE in Theix, whose work on the Scandinavian brown bear should make it possible to develop new strategies to combat muscle atrophy. Etiene Lefai studies the underlying mechanisms of brown bear hibernation which have not been understood yet. Together with a large international network of collaborator he develops new approaches combining molecular and cellular studies of bear muscle as well as human muscle cells exposed to bear serum. His recent demonstration of trans-species effects of bear serum controlling protein degradation in cultured human muscle cell holds promising potential. His exploration of winter bear serum therefore holds potential for developing new tools to fight human muscle atrophy and related metabolic disorders.