ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the specific role of myostatin, a protein that encompasses the several levels of control over muscle morphology and yet underscores the challenges and opportunities facing the nascent field of sport and exercise systems genetics. The transforming growth factor-beta superfamily includes a diverse group of growth and differentiation factors that regulate embryonic development and subsequently, tissue homeostasis in adult animals. The chapter focuses on myostatin’s impact on muscle size and strength characteristics with particular attention paid to its role in exercise adaptation and muscle wasting. Structural characterization of the latent myostatin complex suggests that it circulates in serum in a “spring-loaded” state that can be quickly triggered into activation in the appropriate physiological context. Myostatin inhibition was initially considered to be a potential resistance exercise mimetic because of the hypermuscular phenotype it generates across multiple species. Myostatin upregulation is observed in muscle of hypoxemic patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
