Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression in Long-Term Endurance and Resistance Trained Elderly

Abstract

Physical exercise is deemed the most efficient way of counteracting the age-related decline of skeletal muscle. Here we report a transcriptional study by next-generation sequencing of vastus lateralis biopsies from elderly with a life-long high-level training practice (n = 9) and from age-matched sedentary subjects (n = 5). Unsupervised mixture distribution analysis was able to correctly categorize trained and untrained subjects, whereas it failed to discriminate between individuals who underwent a prevalent endurance (n = 5) or a prevalent resistance (n = 4) training, thus showing that the training mode was not relevant for sarcopenia prevention. KEGG analysis of transcripts showed that physical exercise affected a high number of metabolic and signaling pathways, in particular those related to energy handling and mitochondrial biogenesis, where AMPK and AKT-mTOR signaling pathways are both active and balance each other, concurring to the establishment of an insulin-sensitive phenotype and to the maintenance of a functional muscle mass. Other pathways affected by exercise training increased the efficiency of the proteostatic mechanisms, consolidated the cytoskeletal organization, lowered the inflammation level, and contrasted cellular senescence. This study on extraordinary individuals who trained at high level for at least thirty years suggests that aging processes and exercise training travel the same paths in the opposite direction.

Non-Coding RNAs in the Transcriptional Network That Differentiates Skeletal Muscles of Sedentary from Long-Term Endurance- and Resistance-Trained Elderly

“…Data are reported in Table S1 and have been deposited in GEO (GSE165633). By setting the statistical significance at Adj p Value < 0.05, no significant differences in their expression were found between subjects who practiced either endurance or resistance training (ET versus RT), in analogy with what we described for mRNA expression in our previous paper [ 7 ]. As a matter of fact, 71 out of a total 6599 sequences resulted to be differentially expressed in TRA versus SED subjects.…”

“…We recently provided evidence of the fact that life-long high-level exercise training can offset most pathways leading to age-related sarcopenia by counteracting mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, cellular senescence, impairment of proteostatic mechanisms, and fostering an efficient use of energy. All these mechanisms were studied at the level of protein-coding gene expression and were found to be remarkably independent of the type of exercise training (endurance or resistance, ET or RT) [ 7 ]. The study took advantage of the availability of vastus lateralis (VL) biopsies from senior exceptional amateur athletes (65–79 years of age) with a life-long practice of high-level physical activity [ 8 ], which were compared to biopsies from age-matched sedentary individuals.…”

“…From this brief overview, the complexity of the ncRNA landscape clearly emerges, as well as the multiple interactions that occur between different types of RNA and between the RNAs and the machinery involved in the overall regulation of protein synthesis. We have recently compared the mRNA transcripts of VL from two groups of elderly, representing the two ends of a physical activity scale, the study revealed the intertwining of different pathways, in some cases conflicting, which contributed to the maintenance of a substantial efficiency of the skeletal muscle in the well-trained elderly [ 7 ]. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the miRNA and lncRNA espression profile in trained and sedentary elderly, going beyond the mRNA transcriptome, in order to shed light on the underlying transcriptional network in the skeletal muscle, aimed at finely tuning relevant activities involved in the maintenance of muscular performance in old age.…”

Home-Based Functional Electrical Stimulation of Human Permanent Denervated Muscles: A Narrative Review on Diagnostics, Managements, Results and Byproducts Revisited 2020

“…Severely ill people, and even the extreme elderly, may counteract muscle deterioration by working to maintain the majority of their skeletal muscles in the best possible shape [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. All chronic and progressive muscle impairments need permanent management.…”

Effects of exercise training on the biochemical pathways associated with sarcopenia

“…RE is significantly effective in treating and preventing sarcopenia and acts by regulating muscle protein synthesis (MPS), thereby resulting in improved muscle strength and skeletal muscle mass [ 53 ]. Evidence suggests that acute and chronic RE play a crucial role in regulating skeletal muscle metabolism in elderly individuals [ 54 ]. However, the exact mechanism through which acute RE regulates skeletal muscle metabolism is not clearly known.…”