title: Lost in translation: regulation of skeletal muscle protein synthesis.
abstract: Skeletal muscle accounts for about 50% of the body's mass in higher vertebrates. Besides its obvious role in motor activity, it also can serve as a reservoir for amino acids during times of starvation, or even as a metabolic water supply for migratory birds' during long flights. An imbalance between anabolic and catabolic processes can lead to the loss of muscle mass and life-threatening cachexia or sarcopenia. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge about the regulation of protein translation in skeletal muscle; it also discusses the role of the mTOR pathway, as well as new findings about the influence of specific miRNAs on protein expression in skeletal muscle.
authors.affiliation: Medical University Vienna, Department of Special Anesthesia and Paintherapy, Währinger Gürtel 18 - 20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. lukas.weigl@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Lukas G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Weigl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D055550:Protein Stability; D020871:RNA Stability; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases