Researchers have identified a molecule that can convert muscles from one type to another, making it possible to change a muscle that tires easily into a high-endurance muscle.
Dr Jiandie Lin and colleagues from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, hope that this technique could one day be used to help bedridden patients build up muscle without training.
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Higher levels of lean muscle The molecule, called PCG-1, is found in skeletal and heart muscle, as well as in the liver, where it regulates the production of glucose which fuels the body.
The researchers engineered mice to carry PCG-1 in both skeletal muscle, or type 1 slow twitch muscle and type 2 fast twitch muscles.
Type 2 muscle makes up the most of the bulk seen in weightlifters. This type of muscle metabolises glucose for energy and is easily fatigued.
Type 1 muscle, which is the lean muscle used for sustained aerobic exercise, relies on oxygen for fuel.
The researchers found that mice with PCG-1 in both types of muscle, showed higher than normal levels of type 1 muscle fibres and were able to contract their muscles for longer than mice without the molecule.
Their findings are published in the August issue of the journal Nature.
Skipping tough training Certain diseases and conditions can deplete type 1 muscles and boosting the supply of PCG-1 could allow people to build muscle needed for endurance without requiring them to go through arduous training.
The researchers warn however, that the same technique can not be used to increase endurance in professional athletes. – (Health24)
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