HDACs in skeletal muscle remodeling and neuromuscular disease

Skeletal muscle is made of heterogeneous myofibers with different contractile and metabolic properties. The diverse functionality of myofibers enables skeletal muscle to carry out different tasks from maintaining body posture to performing active movements. In addition to motility, skeletal muscle, which constitutes 40% of body mass, is also a key target of insulin action and performs an essential function in glucose metabolism. Adult skeletal muscle is a highly adaptive organ system and can undergo specific changes in contractile and metabolic properties to meet different functional demands. This plasticity of myofibers reflects a highly coordinated change in gene expression program that is controlled by neural activity. The capacity for on-demand remodeling confers skeletal muscle the remarkable adaptability important for animal survival; its dysregulation, however, could contribute to muscle and metabolic diseases. How neural activity dictates transcriptional programming to modify muscle functionality and diversity is a fundamental issue. Recent studies have identified members of class IIa HDACs as important effectors in both physiological and pathological muscle remodeling. By way of modifying myofiber properties, pharmacological manipulation of IIa HDACs activity could have potential therapeutic utility in the treatment of muscle disorders.