The exercise-induced stress response in skeletal muscle: failure during aging

Mammalian adult skeletal muscle adapts to the stress of contractile activity with increased gene expression by yielding a family of highly conserved cytoprotective proteins known as heat shock proteins (HSPs). Although the exercise-induced stress response of both animal and human skeletal muscle is now well documented, the precise mechanisms underlying this adaptation remain unclear. The induction of HSPs after exercise is severely blunted in the muscle of older individuals. This review focuses on the effects of different forms of exercise and training on the induction of HSPs in the muscles of adult individuals, and examines the proposed mechanisms underlying this adaptation. Furthermore, the functional effect of the inability of the muscles of older individuals to adapt in this way is discussed, together with the proposed mechanisms underlying this maladaptation.