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Molecular Choreography of Acute Exercise
Kévin Contrepois1, Si Wu2, Kegan J Moneghetti3
1Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Cell
|May 30, 2020
Summary
This study reveals the complex molecular changes in the body after exercise, identifying key pathways and potential blood biomarkers for peak oxygen consumption, especially noting differences in insulin-resistant individuals.
Area of Science:
- Exercise physiology
- Systems biology
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Acute physical activity impacts metabolic, cardiovascular, and immune systems.
- Previous research has focused on isolated molecular changes, not the complete system-wide response to exercise.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively characterize the system-wide molecular response to an acute exercise bout using multi-omic profiling.
- To identify differences in these responses between healthy and insulin-resistant individuals.
- To discover exercise response pathways and potential biomarkers for cardiorespiratory fitness.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal multi-omic profiling (metabolome, lipidome, immunome, proteome, transcriptome) of plasma and PBMCs.
- Analysis of data from 36 volunteers before and after a controlled, symptom-limited exercise test.
- Time-series analysis to identify molecular changes and biological process orchestration.
Main Results:
- Thousands of molecular changes were observed, indicating coordinated shifts in energy metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammation, tissue repair, and growth factor pathways.
- These exercise-induced molecular responses were generally attenuated or reversed in insulin-resistant participants.
- New biological pathways related to cardiopulmonary exercise response were identified, leading to predictive models for cardiorespiratory fitness biomarkers.
Conclusions:
- Acute exercise triggers a complex, orchestrated molecular response across multiple biological systems.
- Insulin resistance significantly alters the body's molecular adaptation to exercise.
- Resting blood biomarkers may predict cardiorespiratory fitness, offering insights into exercise response and health.
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