Inactivity-induced skeletal muscle atrophy: a brief review

Abstract

Skeletal muscle is an adaptable tissue that responds rapidly to both increased contractile activity and inactivity. For example, lengthy peri- ods of skeletal muscle disuse (e.g., bed rest) result in a decline of mus- cle protein and muscular strength. Our understanding of the processes that contribute to disuse muscle atrophy has expanded markedly during the past two decades and this review will provide an overview of the mechanisms responsible for disuse-mediated muscle atrophy. The first segment of this review will outline the experimental models commonly used to investigate disuse muscle atrophy. The second section will dis- cuss our current understanding of muscle proteases whereas the final sector will identify the role that reactive oxygen species play in inactivi- ty-induced muscle atrophy.