Dynamic epigenetic responses to muscle contraction

Morten Rasmussen; Juleen R Zierath; Romain Barrès

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2014.03.003

Dynamic epigenetic responses to muscle contraction

Drug Discov Today. 2014 Jul;19(7):1010-4. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.03.003. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Authors

Morten Rasmussen¹, Juleen R Zierath², Romain Barrès³

Affiliations

¹ The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
² The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Section of Integrative Physiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: barres@sund.ku.dk.

PMID: 24631681
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.03.003

Abstract

Skeletal muscle is a malleable organ that responds to a single acute exercise bout by inducing the expression of genes involved in structural, metabolic and functional adaptations. Several epigenetic mechanisms including histone H4 deacetylation and loss of promoter methylation have been implicated in modifying exercise-responsive gene expression. These transient changes suggest that epigenetic mechanisms are not restricted to early stages of human development but are broad dynamic controllers of genomic plasticity in response to environmental factors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Epigenesis, Genetic / physiology*
Exercise / physiology*
Humans
Motor Neurons / physiology
Muscle Contraction / physiology*
Muscle, Skeletal / physiology*