| First Author | Gill JF | Year | 2018 |
| Journal | Aging Cell | Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 1 | PubMed ID | 29067788 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:256432 | Mgi Id | MGI:6113995 |
| Doi | 10.1111/acel.12697 | Citation | Gill JF, et al. (2018) PGC-1alpha affects aging-related changes in muscle and motor function by modulating specific exercise-mediated changes in old mice. Aging Cell 17(1) |
| abstractText | The age-related impairment in muscle function results in a drastic decline in motor coordination and mobility in elderly individuals. Regular physical activity is the only efficient intervention to prevent and treat this age-associated degeneration. However, the mechanisms that underlie the therapeutic effect of exercise in this context remain unclear. We assessed whether endurance exercise training in old age is sufficient to affect muscle and motor function. Moreover, as muscle peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1alpha (PGC-1alpha) is a key regulatory hub in endurance exercise adaptation with decreased expression in old muscle, we studied the involvement of PGC-1alpha in the therapeutic effect of exercise in aging. Intriguingly, PGC-1alpha muscle-specific knockout and overexpression, respectively, precipitated and alleviated specific aspects of aging-related deterioration of muscle function in old mice, while other muscle dysfunctions remained unchanged upon PGC-1alpha modulation. Surprisingly, we discovered that muscle PGC-1alpha was not only involved in improving muscle endurance and mitochondrial remodeling, but also phenocopied endurance exercise training in advanced age by contributing to maintaining balance and motor coordination in old animals. Our data therefore suggest that the benefits of exercise, even when performed at old age, extend beyond skeletal muscle and are at least in part mediated by PGC-1alpha. |
