Extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, are secreted by skeletal muscle tissues and may play a role in physiological adaptations induced by exercise. Endurance exercise changes the microRNA (miRNA) profile of circulating extracellular vesicles; however, the effects of resistance exercise are unknown. In this study, we examined the effect of resistance exercise as electrical pulse stimulation (EPS)-induced muscle contraction on the miRNA and mRNA profiles of circulating extracellular vesicles in mice using a comprehensive RNA sequencing-based approach. EPS-induced muscle contraction resulted in changes in the miRNA profile of circulating extracellular vesicles. In particular, 90 min after EPS-induced muscle contraction, a considerable increase in expression of muscle-specific microRNAs, such as miR-1, miR-133, and miR-206, was observed. Furthermore, we found that the expression of 208 mRNAs was considerably altered immediately after EPS-induced muscle contraction and that of 267 mRNAs changed considerably after 90 min. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that mRNA expression changes in circulating extracellular vesicles after EPS-induced muscle contraction promoted angiogenesis and regulated the immune response. Changes in the properties of circulating extracellular vesicles owing to muscle contraction may play an important role in resistance exercise-induced physiological adaptations.
Keywords: exosomes; extracellular vesicles; miRNA; muscle contraction.