Fragmented futures: ROCK1 drives mitochondrial fission and muscle loss in CKD.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience skeletal muscle wasting that leads to weakness and negatively impacts quality of life. Decreases in mitochondrial health and function have long been associated with skeletal muscle wasting in CKD, yet mechanisms linking mitochondrial alterations to muscle atrophy are lacking. In this issue, Si et al. present experimental work in mice with CKD linking Rho-associated protein kinase-1 activation to increased mitochondrial fission, oxidative stress, and atrophy. They also investigate therapeutic strategies to alter this mitochondria-muscle atrophy axis to promote better outcomes in CKD.