Jérôme Frenette

After his post-doctoral studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, Professor Frenette has developed an expertise to successfully perform in vitro muscle contractility testing, behavioral/functional performance testing, echocardiography and bone morphometric and biomechanical analyses using murine models.

He has a broad background in muscle physiology and immunology with specific training and expertise in passive (muscle passively stretched up to rupture) and contractile properties (isometric, eccentric, fatigue protocols) of skeletal muscles. These passive and contractility properties are indeed the gold standard for assessing muscle integrity and function and are of paramount importance for evaluating muscle genetic defects or the efficacy of a specific treatment.

As PI and co-Investigator on several CIHR-funded grants, Prof. Frenette has a proven track record of accomplished and productive research projects in an area of high relevance such as hypogravity-induced muscle atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, crosstalk between bone-skeletal muscle-heart. More recently, his research team was able to translate basic knowledge on bone remodeling into clinical application for skeletal and cardiac muscle dysfunctions for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They previous found that osteoprotegerin (OPG), a decoy receptor for RANKL, or anti-RANKL or deletion of muscle RANK greatly improved force of dystrophy muscles. Their preliminary data indicate that OPG deficiency worsens while an anti-RANKL treatment reduce left ventricular hypertrophy associated with muscular dystrophy in mdx mice. In addition, OPG-Fc or anti-RANKL treatments significantly improve skeletal muscle and bone strength in a mouse model of congenital muscular dystrophy. The inhibition of RANK/RANKL pathway should lead to new treatment of bone, skeletal muscles, and heart with one single drug for possibly several forms of muscular dystrophy. The knowledge in basic science which he has acquired from his research combined with his formation in physical therapy have positioned Prof. Frenette as a leader on the physiology and pathology of bones, skeletal and cardiac muscles.