Researcher ORCID Identifier
0009-0001-1660-9596
Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Biology
Reader 1
Jenna Monroy
Reader 2
Tessa Solomon-Lane
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Reese E Ger
Abstract
Exercise performance is widely believed to generally be maximal among young males. However, little research has been conducted to investigate the impact of sex or age on muscle performance. This study investigated the effects of sex and age on forelimb and all limb grip strength performance in wildtype and titin mutant mice. Titin is the largest known protein, with known involvement in muscle function. The mice in this study were Ttn∆112-158 with a 75% deletion to the PEVK region of titin. Based on limited existing research, we hypothesized that wildtype mice would outperform all Ttn∆112-158 mice, males would outperform females within the same genotype and age, and young mice would outperform their old counterparts. We did find that wildtype mice universally outperformed Ttn∆112-158 mice, male wildtype mice demonstrated greater grip strength than females, and younger mice outperformed older mice. However, female Ttn∆112-158 mice outperformed males with age-related decline disproportionately affecting males. Pairwise statistics revealed that all observed differences were sex-driven, underscoring the importance of including females in research. Possibly through some combination of changes in body mass composition, muscle quality, fiber type composition, and hormones our age and sex-based results in wildtype and Ttn∆112-158 mice may be explained, although further studies are needed.
Recommended Citation
Ger, Reese, "Female Titin Mutant Mice Outperform Young and Old Males" (2024). Scripps Senior Theses. 2374.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2374
Included in
Diseases Commons, Integrative Biology Commons, Physiology Commons
