If you've ever wondered how strenuous exercise translates into better endurance, researchers may have your answer. In a study published in the journal Cell Reports, scientists have shown that the protein ERRγ (ERR gamma) helps deliver many of the benefits associated with endurance exercise.
"ERRγ helps make endurance exercise possible," says co-senior author on the paper. "It gears up the energy-creating cellular power plants known as mitochondria, creating more blood vessels to bring in oxygen, take away toxins and help repair damage associated with muscle use. This makes ERRγ a really interesting potential therapeutic target for conditions with weakened muscles."
The story starts with the PGC1α and PGC1β proteins, which stimulate 20 other proteins associated with skeletal muscle energy and endurance exercise, including one from the lab called ERRγ. In turn, ERRγ, a hormone receptor, acts to turn on genes. The researchers wanted to precisely understand ERRγ's role in skeletal muscle energy production and how that impacts physical endurance.
To unravel this relationship, the team studied mice without PGC1α/β. In some, they increased ERRγ selectively in skeletal muscle cells. This approach allowed them to measure how ERRγ and PGC1 act independently, as well as how they function in combination.
Losing PGC1 had a negative impact on muscle energy and endurance. However, boosting ERRγ restored function. The team found ERRγ is essential to energy production, activating genes that create more mitochondria. In other words, they found the power switch for skeletal muscles.
The lab also showed that increased ERRγ in PGC1-deficient mice boosted their exercise performance. By measuring voluntary wheel running, they found that increasing ERRγ produced a five-fold increase in time spent exercising compared to mice with no PGC1 and normal ERRγ levels.
"Now that we have detected this direct target (ERRγ) for exercise-induced changes," says the paper's first author, "we could potentially activate ERRγ and create the same changes that are being induced by exercise training."
In addition to increasing the number of mitochondria in skeletal muscle cells, ERRγ also increased muscular blood flow.
"You have to get more blood supply in to get more energy and take away toxic metabolites," says the other co-senior author on the paper. "ERRγ boosts vascularization as well as mitochondria."
But perhaps the most important finding is that ERRγ could be a significant therapeutic target in helping to repair damaged muscles.
"Mitochondria play such a central role in cells throughout the body, but particularly in muscle cells, which tend to require more energy," says the first co-senior author. "We now know that, by increasing mitochondria energy output, ERRγ can actually rescue damaged muscle. If we can identify small molecules that specifically target ERRγ, we hope to help people with muscular dystrophy and other skeletal muscle conditions."
https://www.salk.edu/news-release/salk-scientists-find-power-switch-muscles/
http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(18)30228-6
How strenuous exercise translates into better endurance?
- 2,436 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
Abusive drugs hijack natura…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Mechanism of action of the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Role of fat in rare neurolo…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
How protein synthesis in de…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Atlas of mRNA variants in d…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Other Top Stories
Novel chip-based gene expression tool analyzes RNA quickly and accu…
Read more
Vitamin C in the body can be tracked by fluorescence
Read more
'Smart' contact lenses monitor glucose levels in tears
Read more
Anxiety Cells' Identified in the Brain's Hippocampus
Read more
Cryo-EM structure of full length serotonin receptor
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Exploiting pancreatic cance…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Structure of antiviral drug…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Type-I-interferon-responsiv…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Selenium, diabetes, and the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Long-term neuropsychologica…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar