Towards a More Perfect Union: Multi-Scale Models of Muscle and Their Experimental Validation

An emerging generation of computational models and modeling approaches that cross multiple temporal and spatial scales is enabling new understanding of the mechanisms that regulate striated muscle contraction. These models and their technical underpinnings rely on new, higher-order information about protein and sarcomere structural dynamics, and this is supported by the current resolution-revolution in structural biology. Coupling experimental and computational approaches provides a powerful approach to describe the functional properties and interactions of sarcomere proteins both at rest and during contraction. This understanding then offers new insights into mechanisms that regulate cardiac and skeletal muscle contractile function and its dysfunction in diseases. Moreover, such approaches support the identification of small molecule targets for therapeutic interventions and can predict their mechanism of action. The thematic meeting will provide a forum for colleagues from academia and industry to connect between disciplines and discuss their own advances and prospects for applying new computational and experimental tools. The aim is for a new generation of muscle researchers to forge close collaboration amongst themselves and bridge the gap between modelers and experimentalists.