Select articles on autophagy and cellular physiology of exercise relating to human function, health, and training adaptations.
"Diet and exercise will help you live longer":
The meme that turns on housekeeping genes
Advances in Geriatric Medicine and Research, 2(1), e200002. doi:10.20900/agmr20200002
Humans evolved under conditions of high physical activity and periodic privation which shaped our genes and explains why "exercise is medicine". The human body is used to physical and energetic stress rather than physical inactivity and caloric excess. During times of energetic challenge autophagy would have been stimulated to provide energy through the degradation of intracellular components and aided in survival. Exercise and caloric restriction can upregulate autophagy and appears to be involved in their beneficial outcomes. This article discusses how the origins of the well-known meme, “Diet and exercise will help you live longer” span back to our evolutionary environment while its effects extend into our intracellular environment
Autophagy and aging: Maintaining the proteome through exercise and caloric restriction
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Maintenance of the intracellular environment is key to tissue function and health. Accumulation of damaged and dysfunctional proteins, organelles, and mitochondria are related to chronic and age-related disease. Autophagy acts to degrade cellular components and can be upregulated with exercise and caloric restriction. However, autophagy appears to decline with age. This article discusses the relationship between autophagy, mTOR, exercise, and caloric restriction on aging.
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Autophagy response to acute high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training is dissimilar in skeletal muscle and peripheral blood mononuclear cells and is influenced by sex
Human Nutrition & Metabolism, 23. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.hnm.2020.200118
Much of the research on autophagy and exercise has studied continuous aerobic training with some data on resistance training. These studies have also only measures autophagy in one tissue, skeletal muscle or white blood cells (PBMCs). Our study investigated the effects of HIIT on autophagy compared to continuous aerobic exercise in both skeletal muscle and PBMCs. We showed both HIIT and continuous exercise caused changes in autophagy with continuous exercise appearing to alter autophagy to a greater degree. This study also showed autophagy responses are different in skeletal muscle and PBMCs and may also be affected by sex. These
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Book chapters
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Articles in preparation or review
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Biphasic relationship of autophagy and heat shock response in peripheral blood mononuclear cells following an acute bout of eccentric resistance exercise
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Novel heat stress increases heat shock and hypertrophy related signaling in trained individuals
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The effect of moderate intensity exercise in hypobaric hypoxia on markers of autophagy and angiogenesis
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The potential interplay between HIF-1α, angiogenic, and autophagic signaling during intermittent hypoxic exposure and exercise
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