Exercise preserves fitness capacity during aging through AMPK and mitochondrial dynamics
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Exercise is a nonpharmacological intervention that improves health during aging, and a valuable tool in the diagnostics of aging-related diseases. In muscle, exercise transiently alters mitochondrial functionality and metabolism. Mitochondrial fission and fusion are critical effectors of mitochondrial plasticity, which allows a fine-tuned regulation of organelle connectiveness, size and function. Here we have investigated the role of mitochondrial dynamics during exercise in the genetically tractable model Caenorhabditis elegans . We show that in body wall muscle a single exercise session induces a cycle of mitochondrial fragmentation followed by fusion after a recovery period, and that daily exercise sessions delay the mitochondrial fragmentation and fitness capacity decline that occur with aging. The plasticity of this mitochondrial dynamics cycle is essential for fitness capacity and its enhancement by exercise training. Surprisingly, among longevity-promoting mechanisms we analyzed, constitutive activation of AMPK uniquely preserves fitness capacity during aging. As with exercise training, this benefit of AMPK is abolished by impairment of mitochondrial fission or fusion. AMPK is also required for fitness capacity to be enhanced by exercise, with our findings together suggesting that exercise enhances muscle function through AMPK regulation of mitochondrial dynamics. Our results indicate that mitochondrial connectivity and the mitochondrial dynamics cycle are essential for maintaining fitness capacity and exercise responsiveness during aging, and suggest that AMPK activation may recapitulate some exercise benefits. Targeting mechanisms to optimize mitochondrial fission and fusion balance, as well as AMPK activation, may represent promising strategies for promoting muscle function during aging. Significance Statement Exercise is a powerful anti-aging intervention. In muscle exercise remodels mitochondrial metabolism and connectiveness, but the role of mitochondrial dynamics in exercise responsiveness has remained poorly understood. Working in Caenorhabditis elegans , we find that the mitochondrial dynamics cycle of fission and fusion is critical for fitness capacity, that exercise delays an aging-associated decline in mitochondrial connectiveness and fitness capacity, and that the mitochondrial dynamics cycle is required for the latter benefit. AMPK, which regulates mitochondrial dynamics, is needed for exercise to maintain fitness capacity with age and can recapitulate this exercise benefit. Our data identify the mitochondrial dynamics cycle as an essential mediator of exercise responsiveness, and an entry point for interventions to maintain muscle function during aging.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".