Mechanical loading of murine bioengineered skeletal muscle mimics the transcriptional & epigenetic response of human skeletal muscle after exercise

Abstract

Recent investigations from our lab have characterised the genome-wide epigenetic (DNA methylation) and gene expression changes in skeletal muscle (SkM) following anabolic (resistance) exercise (RE) in humans [1]. We aimed to create 3D bioengineered SkM that mimicked the in-vivo response to anabolic exercise using bioreactor systems in-vitro. The ultimate aim, to provide a suitable replacement for in-vivo human exercise interventions that would enable deeper investigation into the molecular mechanisms of adaptation to exercise and importantly, the impaired anabolic responses we observe after physical activity in ageing (termed anabolic resistance). A phenomenon that is strongly associated with the progression of sarcopenia.