Scientists at Kyushu University in Japan are investigating a compound that could support the natural mechanisms responsible for muscle repair and potentially offer a new approach to age-related loss of muscle functionThe compound, known as lipoic acid trisulfide or LASSS, contains three consecutively linked sulfur atoms. Researchers found that it can enhance the activity of hepatocyte growth factor, or HGF, a protein that plays an important role in skeletal muscle regeneration.
The study, led by Professor Ryuichi Tatsumi and colleagues, was published on July 24, 2026, in the journal Scientific Reports HGF is involved in one of the body’s key mechanisms for responding to muscle damage. It interacts with the c-Met receptor on muscle satellite cells, which act as a reserve population capable of helping repair and regenerate muscle tissue.As the body ages, however, this mechanism can become less effective. Researchers have identified nitration of HGF as one process that may contribute to this decline. The chemical modification affects specific parts of the protein and can reduce its ability to bind effectively to the c-Met receptor.The Japanese team investigated whether certain sulfur-containing compounds could protect HGF and preserve its biological function. They compared two trisulfides – glutathione trisulfide, known as GSSSG, and LASSS.
The results revealed an important difference. Under specific laboratory conditions, treatment with LASSS increased HGF’s ability to bind to the c-Met receptor by more than twofold compared with untreated, non-nitrated HGF.
The same effect was not observed with GSSSG or ordinary lipoic acid.
Researchers believe LASSS may therefore do more than simply act as an antioxidant. The molecule appears to interact directly with HGF, producing changes that increase its receptor-binding ability while also making it more resistant to nitration-related dysfunction.
The scientists have described this enhanced state as “Super HGF”. However, the term does not refer to a new drug. It is used to describe the stronger biological activity observed after HGF interacts with LASSS under experimental conditions.The team also tested the compound in young male mice using a model designed to reproduce muscle atrophy caused by disuse. Animals that received LASSS before five days of experimentally induced muscle disuse showed protection against the nitration of HGF observed in untreated animals. GSSSG did not produce the same measurable effect.The discovery could be important because progressive loss of muscle mass, strength and regenerative capacity is one of the major consequences of ageing. Severe age-related muscle decline can contribute to reduced mobility, frailty and loss of independence.
The potential applications could eventually extend beyond normal ageing. Similar mechanisms may be relevant to prolonged physical inactivity and other conditions associated with muscle atrophy and impaired regeneration.
The findings, however, do not mean that scientists have discovered a treatment capable of reversing muscle ageing. The research remains at a preclinical stage, and no clinical trials in humans have demonstrated that LASSS can prevent or treat age-related muscle loss.
Further studies will be necessary to determine its safety, appropriate dosage and long-term effects, as well as whether the mechanism observed in laboratory experiments and animals can produce meaningful benefits in humans.
If those findings are confirmed, LASSS could provide a starting point for a new generation of treatments aimed not simply at increasing muscle mass, but at preserving the biological mechanisms that allow muscles to repair themselves as the body ages.
