SUMMARY PGC-1α is a transcriptional coactivator induced by exercise that gives muscle many of the best known adaptations to endurance-type exercise, but has no effects on muscle strength or hypertrophy. We have identified a novel form of PGC-1α (PGC-1α4) that results from alternative promoter usage and splicing of the primary transcript. PGC-1α4 is highly expressed in exercised muscle but does not regulate most known PGC-1α targets such as the mitochondrial OXPHOS genes. Rather, it specifically induces IGF1 and represses myostatin, and expression of PGC-1α4 in vitro and in vivo induces robust skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Importantly, mice with skeletal muscle-specific transgenic expression of PGC-1α4 show increased muscle mass and strength, and dramatic resistance to the muscle wasting of cancer cachexia. Expression of PGC-1α4 is preferentially induced in mouse and human muscle during resistance exercise. These studies identify a novel PGC-1α protein that regulates and coordinates factors involved in skeletal muscle hypertrophy.

Pathological and physiological stimuli, including acute exercise, activate autophagy; however, it is unknown whether exercise training alters basal levels of autophagy and whether autophagy is required for skeletal muscle adaptation to training. We observed greater autophagy flux (i.e., a combination of increased LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and LC3-II levels and reduced p62 protein content indicating a higher rate of initiation and resolution of autophagic events), autophagy protein expression (i.e., Atg6/Beclin1, Atg7, and Atg8/LC3) and mitophagy protein Bnip3 expression in tonic, oxidative muscle compared to muscles of either mixed fiber types or of predominant glycolytic fibers in mice. Long-term voluntary running (4 wk) resulted in increased basal autophagy flux and expression of autophagy proteins and Bnip3 in parallel to mitochondrial biogenesis in plantaris muscle with mixed fiber types. Conversely, exercise training promoted autophagy protein expression with no significant increases of autophagy flux and mitochondrial biogenesis in the oxidative soleus muscle. We also observed increased basal autophagy flux and Bnip3 content without increases in autophagy protein expression in the plantaris muscle of sedentary muscle-specific Pgc-1α transgenic mice, a genetic model of augmented mitochondrial biogenesis. These findings reveal that endurance exercise training-induced increases in basal autophagy, including mitophagy, only take place if an enhanced oxidative phenotype is achieved. However, autophagy protein expression is mainly dictated by contractile activity independently of enhancements in oxidative phenotype. Exercise-trained mice heterozygous for the critical autophagy protein Atg6 showed attenuated increases of basal autophagy flux, mitochondrial content, and angiogenesis in skeletal muscle, along with impaired improvement of endurance capacity. These results demonstrate that increased basal autophagy is required for endurance exercise training-induced skeletal muscle adaptation and improvement of physical performance.

Skeletal muscle exhibits superb plasticity in response to changes in functional demands. Chronic increases of skeletal muscle contractile activity, such as endurance exercise, lead to a variety of physiological and biochemical adaptations in skeletal muscle, including mitochondrial biogenesis, angiogenesis, and fiber type transformation. These adaptive changes are the basis for the improvement of physical performance and other health benefits. This review focuses on recent findings in genetically engineered animal models designed to elucidate the mechanisms and functions of various signal transduction pathways and gene expression programs in exercise-induced skeletal muscle adaptations.

Endurance exercise stimulates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) expression in skeletal muscle, and forced expression of PGC-1alpha changes muscle metabolism and exercise capacity in mice. However, it is unclear if PGC-1alpha is indispensible for endurance exercise-induced metabolic and contractile adaptations in skeletal muscle. In this study, we showed that endurance exercise-induced expression of mitochondrial enzymes (cytochrome oxidase IV and cytochrome c) and increases of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1, CD31)-positive endothelial cells in skeletal muscle, but not IIb-to-IIa fiber-type transformation, were significantly attenuated in muscle-specific Pgc-1alpha knockout mice. Interestingly, voluntary running effectively restored the compromised mitochondrial integrity and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) protein expression in skeletal muscle in Pgc-1alpha knockout mice. Thus, PGC-1alpha plays a functional role in endurance exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis and angiogenesis, but not IIb-to-IIa fiber-type transformation in mouse skeletal muscle, and the improvement of mitochondrial morphology and antioxidant defense in response to endurance exercise may occur independently of PGC-1alpha function. We conclude that PGC-1alpha is required for complete skeletal muscle adaptations induced by endurance exercise in mice.

Abnormal conditions during early development adversely affect later health. We investigated whether maternal exercise could protect offspring from adverse effects of a maternal high-fat diet (HFD) with a focus on the metabolic outcomes and epigenetic regulation of the metabolic master regulator, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (Pgc-1α). Female C57BL/6 mice were exposed to normal chow, an HFD, or an HFD with voluntary wheel exercise for 6 weeks before and throughout pregnancy. Methylation of the Pgc-1α promoter at CpG site −260 and expression of Pgc-1α mRNA were assessed in skeletal muscle from neonatal and 12-month-old offspring, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed in the female offspring at 6, 9, and 12 months. Hypermethylation of the Pgc-1α promoter caused by a maternal HFD was detected at birth and was maintained until 12 months of age with a trend of reduced expression of Pgc-1α mRNA (P = 0.065) and its target genes. Maternal exercise prevented maternal HFD-induced Pgc-1α hypermethylation and enhanced Pgc-1α and its target gene expression, concurrent with amelioration of age-associated metabolic dysfunction at 9 months of age in the offspring. Therefore, maternal exercise is a powerful lifestyle intervention for preventing maternal HFD-induced epigenetic and metabolic dysregulation in the offspring.