Skeletal muscles make up a large proportion of total body mass and act as very important reserves of the energy substrates that are needed to support critical organ function. Increased muscle protein degradation under catabolic conditions leads to loss of muscle mass, or atrophy. Autophagy is the mechanism that removes and recycles unnecessary or damaged components from cells. It is essential to cell growth and development and is of crucial importance to protein and organelle recycling. Autophagy is generally thought of as a pro-survival process, although excessive activation can result in severe losses in muscle mass. The process through which dysfunctional mitochondria is recycled by the autophagy pathway is known as mitophagy.

Although autophagy has been described in all cells, until recently, its roles in skeletal muscle protein degradation, homeostasis and energy balance have largely been ignored. Recent evidence indicate that autophagy is activated in skeletal muscles in many catabolic conditions which are associated with muscle atrophy. These conditions include fasting, inactivity, denervation, diabetes, sepsis, and cancer. There is also evidence that the kinetics of autophagy is relatively long and requires enhanced transcription of several autophagy-related genes. Basal autophagy is critical for maintenance of skeletal muscle mass and healthy mitochondrial function. Despite this recent progress in elucidating the functional roles of autophagy in regulating skeletal muscle function and metabolism, its contribution to various muscle pathologies remains unclear.

We welcome submissions of the following article types: Brief Research Report, Hypothesis and Theory, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Perspective, and Review related to the following aspects of autophagy and mitophagy in skeletal muscles
• Role of autophagy in skeletal muscle injury and repair
• Epigenetic regulation of autophagy in skeletal muscles
• Exercise-induced autophagy: regulation and contribution to muscle metabolism
• Mechanisms and contribution of mitophagy to muscle function
• Functional role of autophagy in sarcopenia of the elderly
• The impact of nutrition and supplements on autophagy in skeletal muscles
• Contribution of autophagy to skeletal muscle dysfunction in respiratory diseases

Submit your idea

Impact

Frontiers in Physiology

Participating Journals

Impact