Redox regulation of skeletal muscle

The potential deleterious roles of "oxidative stress" have been studied in skeletal muscle for over 30 years, but recent studies have identified that reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide generated by skeletal muscle can exert regulatory roles in cell signalling processes. This "redox regulation" appears to depend upon the reversible oxidation of cysteine residues within key proteins with reversible gluathionylation and formation of protein disulphides potentially leading to changes in the activities of proteins such as enzymes, transcription factors or transporters. Control of this process is dependent upon the local redox environment pertaining at a subcellular level. This short review provides examples of redox-regulated physiological processes in skeletal muscle that include some activation of transcription factors and changes in gene expression that result from contractile activity and the modulation of force generation during sustained contractions. There is also increasing evidence that dysregulation of redox-sensitive processes plays a role in the loss of muscle mass and function that occurs during normal ageing and in the gross muscle degeneration in disorders such as the muscular dystrophies.