title: Muscle-to-organ cross talk mediated by myokines.
abstract: Cytokines and other peptides are secreted from skeletal muscles in response to exercise and function as hormones either locally within the muscle or by targeting distant organs. Such proteins are recognized as myokines, with the prototype myokine being IL-6. Several studies have established a role of these muscle-derived factors as important contributors of the beneficial effects of exercise, and the myokines are central to our understanding of the cross talk during and after exercise between skeletal muscles and other organs. In a study into the mechanisms of a newly defined myokine, CXCL-1, we found that CXCL-1 overexpression increases muscular fatty acid oxidation with concomitant attenuation of diet-induced fat accumulation in the adipose tissue. Clearly this study adds to the concept of myokines playing an important role in mediating the whole-body adaptive effects of exercise through the regulation of skeletal muscle metabolism. Yet, myokines also contribute to whole-body metabolism by directly signaling to distant organs, regulating metabolic processes in liver and adipose tissue. Thus accumulating data shows that myokines play an important role in restoring a healthy cellular environment, reducing low-grade inflammation and thereby preventing metabolic related diseases like insulin resistance and cancer.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism at Department of Infectious Diseases and Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre; Rigshospitalet and Faculty of Health Sciences; University of Copenhagen; Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Line
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Pernille
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hojman
keywords: cancer; diabetes; exercise; myokine; physical activity