Use of an in vitro muscle model to investigate cellular and molecular aspects of exercise physiology: Answering the key questions

Research within exercise physiology has traditionally focused upon measurements of gross physiological function of skeletal muscle. However, in order to develop a greater understanding of the exact mechanisms that contribute to skeletal muscle in response to exercise, the cellular and molecular determinants need to be investigated. There is a growing body of in vivo research utilising methods of molecular biology, which has led to the establishment of proposed genes and proteins involved in the adaptation of skeletal muscle to exercise stimuli. In vivo exercise testing poses problems with regards to experimental control; accounting for inter-individual differences and methods relating to tissue sampling are common flaws of such research. In vitro models of skeletal muscle for investigating adaptation to exercise are in their infancy and generally lack biomimicity. It is therefore necessary to develop a model which has greater physiological relevance with respect to exercise, which encompasses the nature of the investigations currently underway in our laboratory