The profound energetic demand of prolonged exercise imposed upon skeletal muscle and the heart is met by oxidation of substrate within mitochondria. As such, several coordinated events are initiated in order to maintain mitochondria, collectively known as mitochondrial quality control. In this review, we discuss how mitochondrial quality control functions to maintain the integrity of the reticulum and energy production in response to prolonged exercise, as well as the relevant signaling events that dictate these responses. Based upon the prevailing data in the field, we propose a model where exercise-mediated quality control may be chiefly regulated through local mechanisms, thus allowing for the remarkable precision in mitochondrial quality control events.
Keywords: exercise; mitochondria; mitophagy; muscle; myofiber; quality control.