Fiber Type-Specific Adaptations to Exercise Training in Human Skeletal Muscle: Lessons From Proteome Analyses and Future Directions

Abstract

Skeletal muscle is a key determinant of sports performance. It is a highly specialized, yet complex and heterogeneous tissue, comprising multiple cell types. Muscle fibers are the main functional cell type responsible for converting energy into mechanical work. They exhibit a remarkable ability to adapt in response to stressors, such as exercise training. But while it is recognized that human skeletal muscle fibers have distinct contractile and metabolic features, classified as slow/oxidative (type 1) or fast/glycolytic (type 2a/x), less attention has been directed to the adaptability of the different fiber types. Methodological advancements in mass spectrometry-based proteomics allow researchers to quantify thousands of proteins with only a small amount of muscle tissue-even in a single muscle fiber. By exploiting this technology, studies are emerging highlighting that muscle fiber subpopulations adapt differently to exercise training. This review provides a contemporary perspective on the fiber type-specific adaptability to exercise training in humans. A key aim of our review is to facilitate further advancements within exercise physiology by harnessing mass spectrometry proteomics.

Keywords: athletes; exercise; muscle adaptations; physical activity; proteomics; training.

FIGURE 1

Myosin heavy chain (MYH) isoform distribution in human muscle fiber type pools (vastus lateralis). (A) Fiber type pools with a homogenous MYH expression pattern that separate clearly in a principal component (PC) analysis along PC1. (B) Heterogenic fiber type pools with mixed MYH expression pattern that are not clearly separated in a PC analysis. Data based on Deshmukh et al. [29] (A) and Reisman et al. [40] (B).