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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Application of Chronic Stimulation to Study Contractile Activity-induced Rat Skeletal Muscle Phenotypic Adaptations
Published on: January 25, 2018
Role of Nuclear Receptors in Exercise-Induced Muscle Adaptations
Barbara Kupr1, Svenia Schnyder1, Christoph Handschin1
1Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel 4056, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Skeletal muscle is not only one of the largest, but also one of the most dynamic organs. For example, plasticity elicited by endurance or resistance exercise entails complex transcriptional programs that are still poorly understood. Various signaling pathways are engaged in the contracting muscle fiber and collectively culminate in the modulation of the activity of numerous transcription factors (TFs) and coregulators. Because exercise confers many benefits for the prevention and treatment of a wide variety of pathologies, pharmacological activation of signaling pathways and TFs is an attractive avenue to elicit therapeutic effects. Members of the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily are of particular interest owing to the presence of well-defined DNA- and ligand-binding domains. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the involvement of NRs in muscle biology and exercise adaptation.
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