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Signaling pathways controlling skeletal muscle mass

ZHENG Li-Fang, CHEN Pei-Jie, XIAO Wei-Hua^*

School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sports, Shanghai 200438, China

Abstract

The skeletal muscle mass accounts for more than 40% of the body weight of healthy adults. The skeletal muscle not only plays an important role in physical activities but also affects the function of other organs as a secretory organ secreting multiple muscle factors. Therefore, it is important to maintain the normal quantity and function of skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle mass is the basis of skeletal muscle function and is often affected by many factors such as exercise and disease. Resistance exercise training induces increased protein synthesis in skeletal muscle cells, while limb disuse, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, cachexia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and many other pathological conditions lead to decreased protein synthesis or enhanced protein degradation of skeletal muscle cells. The process of skeletal muscle hypertrophy involves changes in multiple signaling pathways, such as IGF-1/PI3K/Akt, myostatin and G protein. On the other hand, activations of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, IGF-1/Akt/FoxO, autophagy-lysosomal pathway, NF-κB, and the glucocorticoid-mediated signaling pathways play important roles in regulating muscle atrophy. These signaling pathways regulate skeletal muscle mass and are modulated by some different conditions. This review briefly summarizes the signaling pathways of skeletal muscle mass control. 

Key words: skeletal muscle mass; hypertrophy; atrophy; signaling pathway

Received: 2018-10-18　　Accepted: 2019-02-13

Corresponding author: 肖卫华　　E-mail: xiaoweihua1115@163.com

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2019.0021

Citing This Article：

ZHENG Li-Fang, CHEN Pei-Jie, XIAO Wei-Hua. Signaling pathways controlling skeletal muscle mass. Acta Physiol Sin 2019; 71 (4): 671-679 (in Chinese with English abstract).