ADAPTATION OF SKELETAL MUSCLE TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE: MOLECULAR AND ENERGY CONSIDERATIONS

ABSTRACT

The health benefits and physiological adaptations to regular physical exercise are widely known, and with the advent of the omic and molecular sciences, a complex network of signaling pathways and regulatory molecules that coordinate the adaptive response of skeletal muscle to exercise has been revealed. Transient organic changes, however, are cumulative in the post-exercise period. They mainly include transcription of genes related to regulatory factors of myogenesis, carbohydrate metabolism, fat mobilization, transport and oxidation of substrates, mitochondrial metabolism through oxidative phosphorylation, and finally, the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. Given their great scientific impact, in addition to some of the main molecular responses experienced by the skeletal muscle to exercise, factors that coordinate muscle plasticity for performance gain were summarized in this work. This review mentioned dozens of biomarkers linked to some molecular aspects of skeletal muscle adaptations to physical exercise, some major signaling pathways and the role of mitochondria, revealing some new paradigms for the understanding of this field of science.

Keywords:
exercise; muscle, skeletal; biomarkers; energy metabolism.