Missing PGC-1 Protein Leaves 'Healthy' Mice Unable To Exercise

RoseTracker| Researchers have unveiled a new model for studying muscle function: the couch potato mouse. Lacking PGC-1 in their muscle tissue, these mice maintain normal activity and body weight but can’t exercise.

Normally, exercise boosts PGC-1, leading to ‘trained’ muscles. In obese individuals, PGC-1 levels drop, with a high probability of reducing a person’s capacity to exercise. When researchers completely removed PGC-1 from the muscle tissue of mice, even healthy body-weight mice couldn’t jump on the treadmill, although they functioned well in routine living requiring muscle development.

The PGC-1 deficient mice presented another surprise. They weren’t insulin resistant.

 … many scientists believe that dysfunctional mitochondria trigger a cascade of insulin resistance and diabetes. This study dispels that notion, instead suggesting that perhaps malfunctioning mitochondria are a result of diabetes, rather than a cause.via Science Daily

Note: mitochondria are the cell’s power producers, converting energy into forms that are usable by cells.