Caspase-3 has demonstrated a non-apoptotic function in several developmental programs including skeletal muscle differentiation, yet the mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. Under apoptotic conditions Caspase-3 induces DNA fragmentation through activation of CAD. Recent observations have demonstrated CAD activity and the resulting DNA strand breaks are also vital for skeletal muscle differentiation. These breaks are transient in nature, suggesting an active DNA repair program to maintain genomic integrity. The aim of this study was to delineate the DNA repair mechanism coordinated with caspase/CAD mediated DNA damage. It was found that XRCC1 formed punctate nuclear foci early in myoblast differentiation concurrent to the induction of DNA damage. Caspase-3 inhibition caused attenuation of the formation of DNA lesions and XRCC1 foci in differentiating myoblasts. Targeted reduction in XRCC1 expression impaired myoblast differentiation. These results suggest that XRCC1 may play a role in repairing the DNA damage associated with myoblast differentiation.

<p>Tissue engineering of biomimetic skeletal muscle may lead to development of new therapies for myogenic repair and generation of improved in vitro models for studies of muscle function, regeneration, and disease. For the optimal therapeutic and in vitro results, engineered muscle should recreate the force-generating and regenerative capacities of native muscle, enabled respectively by its two main cellular constituents, the mature myofibers and satellite cells (SCs). Still, after 20 years of research, engineered muscle tissues fall short of mimicking contractile function and self-repair capacity of native skeletal muscle. To overcome this limitation, we set the thesis goals to: 1) generate a highly functional, self-regenerative engineered skeletal muscle and 2) explore mechanisms governing its formation and regeneration in vitro and survival and vascularization in vivo.</p><p>By studying myogenic progenitors isolated from neonatal rats, we first discovered advantages of using an adherent cell fraction for engineering of skeletal muscles with robust structure and function and the formation of a SC pool. Specifically, when synergized with dynamic culture conditions, the use of adherent cells yielded muscle constructs capable of replicating the contractile output of native neonatal muscle, generating >40 mN/mm2 of specific force. Moreover, tissue structure and cellular heterogeneity of engineered muscle constructs closely resembled those of native muscle, consisting of aligned, striated myofibers embedded in a matrix of basal lamina proteins and SCs that resided in native-like niches. Importantly, we identified rapid formation of myofibers early during engineered muscle culture as a critical condition leading to SC homing and conversion to a quiescent, non-proliferative state. The SCs retained natural regenerative capacity and activated, proliferated, and differentiated to rebuild damaged myofibers and recover contractile function within 10 days after the muscle was injured by cardiotoxin (CTX). The resulting regenerative response was directly dependent on the abundance of SCs in the engineered muscle that we varied by expanding starting cell population under different levels of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), an inhibitor of myogenic differentiation. Using a dorsal skinfold window chamber model in nude mice, we further demonstrated that within 2 weeks after implantation, initially avascular engineered muscle underwent robust vascularization and perfusion and exhibited improved structure and contractile function beyond what was achievable in vitro. </p><p>To enhance translational value of our approach, we transitioned to use of adult rat myogenic cells, but found that despite similar function to that of neonatal constructs, adult-derived muscle lacked regenerative capacity. Using a novel platform for live monitoring of calcium transients during construct culture, we rapidly screened for potential enhancers of regeneration to establish that many known pro-regenerative soluble factors were ineffective in stimulating in vitro engineered muscle recovery from CTX injury. This led us to introduce bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), an established non-myogenic contributor to muscle repair, to the adult-derived constructs and to demonstrate remarkable recovery of force generation (>80%) and muscle mass (>70%) following CTX injury. Mechanistically, while similar patterns of early SC activation and proliferation upon injury were observed in engineered muscles with and without BMDMs, a significant decrease in injury-induced apoptosis occurred only in the presence of BMDMs. The importance of preventing apoptosis was further demonstrated by showing that application of caspase inhibitor (Q-VD-OPh) yielded myofiber regrowth and functional recovery post-injury. Gene expression analysis suggested muscle-secreted tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) as a potential inducer of apoptosis as common for muscle degeneration in diseases and aging in vivo. Finally, we showed that BMDM incorporation in engineered muscle enhanced its growth, angiogenesis, and function following implantation in the dorsal window chambers in nude mice.</p><p>In summary, this thesis describes novel strategies to engineer highly contractile and regenerative skeletal muscle tissues starting from neonatal or adult rat myogenic cells. We find that age-dependent differences of myogenic cells distinctly affect the self-repair capacity but not contractile function of engineered muscle. Adult, but not neonatal, myogenic progenitors appear to require co-culture with other cells, such as bone marrow-derived macrophages, to allow robust muscle regeneration in vitro and rapid vascularization in vivo. Regarding the established roles of immune system cells in the repair of various muscle and non-muscle tissues, we expect that our work will stimulate the future applications of immune cells as pro-regenerative or anti-inflammatory constituents of engineered tissue grafts. Furthermore, we expect that rodent studies in this thesis will inspire successful engineering of biomimetic human muscle tissues for use in regenerative therapy and drug discovery applications.</p> / Dissertation

Dans la fibre musculaire squelettique, le calcium activateur de la contraction musculaire provient du réticulum sarcoplasmique (RS). Parallèlement, un influx calcique est connu pour se développer à travers la membrane plasmique au repos et en activité, mais son rôle physiologique est méconnu. Le travail présenté vise par des approches électrophysiologiques, cellulaires et moléculaires à caractériser les différentes voies d’influx de calcium et leurs mécanismes de régulation dans la fibre musculaire squelettique de souris adulte normale et pathologique. En combinant la technique de mesure d’extinction de fluorescence du Fura-2 par le manganèse à la technique de potentiel imposé, nos résultats démontrent dans une première partie que le calcium rentre au repos de manière passive selon son gradient électrochimique sans générer de courant détectable, tandis qu’en activité un influx activé par la déplétion du RS et un influx activé par la dépolarisation, tous deux électriquement silencieux, se développent en parallèle de l’entrée médiée par les canaux calciques voltage- dépendants de type L. La deuxième partie du travail s’intéresse à la protéine TRPC1 dont le rôle fonctionnel reste controversé dans la fibre musculaire. Contrairement aux résultats décrits dans la littérature, nos expériences de surexpression indiquent que TRPC1 s’exprime au niveau du RS longitudinal où il génère une fuite de calcium. Dans une dernière partie, il est décrit que l’amplitude des courants calciques voltage-dépendants de type L est réduite dans les fibres musculaires d’un modèle de souris présentant une myopathie centronucléaire liée à un déficit en une phosphatase lipidique, la myotubularine. / In skeletal muscle, calcium in charge of activation of the contraction is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). In parallel, a calcium influx is known to occur through the plasma membrane at rest and during activity, but its role remains elusive. The present work aims at characterizing the different calcium influx pathways and the mechanisms that regulate their activity in normal and pathological adult mouse skeletal muscle fiber using electrophysiological, cellular and molecular approaches. By combining the technique of manganese quenching of Fura-2 fluorescence and voltage clamp, our data first demonstrate that calcium enters muscle cell in a passive manner driven by the electro-chemical gradient without generating current, while during activity, a calcium influx activated by SR depletion and an influx evoked by depolarization, both electrically silent, occur in parallel with the calcium entry supported by voltage-dependent L-type calcium channels. The second part of the work investigates the properties of the TRPC1 protein whose functional role remains controversial in skeletal muscle. In contrast to data reported in the literature, our TRPC1 over- expression experiments indicate that TRPC1 is localized in the longitudinal SR where it operates as a calcium leak channel. In the last part of the work, we describe that the amplitude of the voltage-dependent L-type calcium channels is reduced in the muscle fiber from a murine model of centronuclear myopathy induced by a deficiency in the lipid phosphatasemyotubularin.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have been extensively used over the past two decades to study muscle development, human myopathies and dystrophies, due to its higher degree of homology with human disease causing genes and genome. Despite its unique qualities, zebrafish have only been used as an in-vivo model for muscle development research, due to the limitations surrounding lack of a consistent isolation and culture protocol for zebrafish muscle progenitor cells in-vitro. Using different mammalian myoblast isolation protocols, a novel and robust protocol has been developed to successfully isolate and culture zebrafish skeletal muscle cells repeatedly and obtain differentiated long multi nucleated zebrafish myotubes. Commitment to myogenic lineage was confirmed by immuno-staining against muscle specific protein desmin, and expression pattern of different genetic markers regulating myogenesis. In order to recapitulate the in-vivo bio-physiological environment for zebrafish skeletal muscle cells in-vitro, these cells were successfully cultured in tissue engineered three dimensional (3D) constructs based on fibrin and collagen models. Maturation of tissue engineered collagen and fibrin based constructs was confirmed using the basic parameters described in the literature i.e. collagen three times greater contraction from the original width (Mudera, Smith et al. 2010) and fibrin constructs tightly coiled up to 4mm of diameter (Khodabukus, Paxton et al. 2007). In-vitro characterisation of zebrafish skeletal muscle cells showed hypertrophic growth of muscle mass compared to hyperplasic growth in-vivo as suggested for fish species in literature (Johnston 2006), which is different from human and other mammals. Comparative analysis of zebrafish muscle cells cultured in monolayer against cultured in 3D tissue engineered constructs showed significant increase in fusion index, nuclei per myotube (two-fold) and myotubes per microscopic frame (two-fold). Cells cultured in tissue engineered construct closely resembled in-vivo muscle in terms of their unidirectional orientation of myotubes. These tissue engineered 3D zebrafish skeletal muscle models could be used for various purposes such as drug screening, effect of different temperature extremes, studying underlined pathways involved in human diseases; and with further refinements it would potentially replace the need for studies on live fish in these areas.

Previous research showed mutations in muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum-bound calcium handler proteins cause swimming defects in embryonic zebrafish. CaMK-II is a highly conserved Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase expressed in all vertebrates has been defined to activate and inactivate multiple Ca2+ handler proteins involved in excitation- contraction coupling and relaxation of cardiac and skeletal muscle. In this study, evidence is provided through pharmacological and genetic intervention that CaMK-II inhibition and overexpression causes swimming defects, particularly response to stimuli and swimming ability, reinforced by immunolocalization of skeletal muscle. Transient CaMK-II inactivation does not have any long-term defects to swimming behavior. Overexpression of wild-type, constitutively active, and dominant-negative CaMK-II-GFP in embryos tended to co-localize in fast muscle which led to defects in swimming behavior. This study concludes that inhibition or overexpression of CaMK-II in skeletal muscle diminishes normal swimming behavior specifically in response to mechanical stimulation and swimming ability.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases. Impairments in exercise capacity, kinesiology and skeletal muscle function are well established in these patients. Recently presented data also suggests impairments in postural balance and increased risk of falls in patients with COPD. The aim of this study is to examine postural balance functions in a group of patients and compare the results with a control group. Methods: Twelve patients (the average age 65,6 ± 7,1, 5 women, 7 men) with COPD hospitalized at the Pulmonary Clinic at the Faculty Hospital, Prague Motol and 10 healthy control subjects (the average age 58,6 ± 5,2, 7 women, 3 men) participated in this study. Participants were measured by The Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) and The Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest). Results: COPD patients scored significantly worse (0,0099, p < 0,05) on the ABC scale total score compared to healthy controls, 78,38 ± 21,14 for COPD versus 97,78 ± 3,88 for controls. The total score and the six subsystem categories score of the BESTest were lower in COPD patients, but not significantly, compared to controls. Conclusion: Patients with COPD showed a lower degree of balance confidence and postural balance functions....

Title: Observing of the skeletal muscle shape changes depending on human body surface temperature Objectives: The aim of this work is to observe the cross-section changes of the m. rectus femoris depending on human body surface temperature changes. The cross section of the muscle was characterized by two dimensions: VDDM (ventrodorsal dimension of muscle) and LMDM (lateromedial dimension of muscle). The body temperature was affected by local positive and negative thermotherapy methods. Methods: The first part of the experiment focused on the selection of appropriate local positive and negative thermotherapy forms. Four of them were selected (two positive thermotherapy methods - Peat thermotherapy bags and infrared heater InfraPhil HP3616 and two negative thermotherapy methods - gel bag Cryoflex and Cryogen 3 device) for the main research. Twelve subjects participated on the main experiment. Selected local positive thermotherapy methods were applied on the centre of the subject's thighs, subsequently selected negative thermotherapy methods were applied. The body surface temperature was measured immediately before application, after 30 minutes of positive thermotherapy and after subsequent negative thermotherapy application. Ultrasound images of m. rectus femoris were taken at same time. VDDM and...

Les facteurs de croissance de la superfamille TGF-β jouent un rôle dans toutes les étapes de la myogenèse prénatale et régissent l'entretien des muscles adultes. Les protéines morphogénétiques osseuses (BMPs) sont membres de la sous-famille des TGF-β et sont à l’origine de signaux clés régulant le développement musculaire embryonnaire. Cette thèse étudie le rôle de la signalisation BMP dans les cellules souches musculaires, dénommées cellules satellites. J'ai montré qu’après la naissance les BMPs régulent la croissance des fibres musculaires dépendante des cellules satellites. Suite à l’inhibition de la voie BMP, j'ai observé que les précurseurs myogéniques deviennent quiescents et cessent de progresser vers la différenciation, tandis que le traitement avec BMP4 suffit pour réactiver leur programme myogénique. La signalisation BMP affecte aussi la taille du muscle indépendante des cellules satellites. J'ai observé que les BMPs fournissent un signal hypertrophique et protègent de l’atrophie musculaire suite à une dénervation. Dans les conditions précédentes, la voie BMP inhibe l'expression de l’ubiquitine ligase E3, Fbxo30. J'ai analysé l'interaction entre la myostatine et la signalisation BMP. La myostatine est un autre membre de la famille des TGF-β, mais elle se lie à des récepteurs différents de ceux des BMPs. En l'absence de myostatine, l’hypertrophie musculaire dépend entièrement de la signalisation BMP. La dénervation musculaire chez les souris déficientes en myostatine provoque une atrophie, aggravée par l’inhibition des BMPs. Par conséquent, la voie BMP est un signal hypertrophique essentiel dans le muscle adulte qui prédomine sur la signalisation de la myostatine. / Growth factors of the TGF-β superfamily play a role in all stages of prenatal myogenesis and govern adult muscle maintenance. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are members of the TGF-β subfamily and are key signals that regulate embryonic and fetal muscle development. This work investigates the role of BMP signaling in muscle stem cells of the postnatal muscle, the satellite cells. I showed that BMPs regulate satellite cell-dependent growth of postnatal fibers and the generation of the satellite cell pool. After inhibition of BMP signaling, I observed that myogenic precursor cells become quiescent and fail to progress towards differentiation, whereas treatment with BMP4 on its own is sufficient to reactivate the myogenic program. BMP signaling also affects the size of the muscle in a satellite cell-independent manner. I found that BMPs provide a hypertrophic signal and protect from denervation-induced muscle atrophy. Under such condition, BMP signaling inhibits the expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Fbxo30. I further analyzed the interaction between myostatin and BMP signaling. Myostatin is another member of TGF-β superfamily, but myostatin and BMPs bind to different receptors for signaling. Large muscles in absence of myostatin entirely depend on the presence of BMP signaling. Denervation of muscle in myostatin mutant mice causes a strong muscle atrophy, which is aggravated by the inhibition of BMP signaling. Therefore, the BMP pathway is a fundamental hypertrophic signal in adult muscle and is dominant over myostatin signaling.

A disponibilidade de beta-alanina é o fator limitante para a síntese intramuscular de carnosina. Dessa maneira, aumentar a disponibilidade de beta-alanina para o músculo esquelético é a estratégia mais eficaz para aumentar o conteúdo de carnosina muscular. Postula-se que o transportador de beta-alanina (TauT) possa ser estimulado pela insulina. Para testar essa hipótese, examinamos se a captação de beta-alanina pelo músculo esquelético de humanos é influenciada pela hiperinsulinemia, controlando as concentrações de insulina e beta-alanina no plasma através de infusão intravenosa aguda de beta-alanina. Realizamos um estudo crossover e contrabalanceado em 12 homens jovens e saudáveis (27,5±5,1 anos). Os participantes compareceram ao laboratório em duas ocasiões separadas por 10 semanas de whashout. A beta-alanina foi infundida por via intravenosa em ambos os ensaios por 150 min a uma taxa de 0,11 g.kg.min-1. Em um ensaio, a técnica de clamp euglicêmico hiperinsulinêmico foi usada para obtermos concentrações elevadas de insulina (AI), enquanto que no outro ensaio, foram mantidas concentrações de insulina em jejum (BI). Antes e 30 minutos após a infusão de beta-alanina, amostras de músculo (biópsias percutâneas) foram coletadas para determinar o conteúdo de beta-alanina e carnosina. Coletas sanguíneas foram realizadas antes (0), 10, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 e 30 min (180) após a infusão para análise de insulina e beta-alanina plasmáticas. Urina 24 h foi coletada após o período de infusão para análise de beta-alanina. Não houve diferenças significantes entre os ensaios na concentração de beta-alanina plasmática (p=0,20), de beta-alanina muscular (p=0,72), de carnosina muscular (p=0,82) e de beta-alanina urinária (p= 0,92). A hiperinsulinemia não aumentou a captação de beta-alanina para o músculo esquelético, nem aumentou a retenção de beta-alanina corporal, pelo menos quando as concentrações de beta-alanina excederam a Vmax do TauT. Nossas descobertas sugerem que as estratégias de suplementação de beta-alanina que manipulam as concentrações de insulina provavelmente apresentam relevância clínica limitada / Beta-alanine availability is limiting for the intramuscular synthesis of carnosine. Thus, increasing beta-alanine availability to skeletal muscle is the most effective strategy to increase muscle carnosine content. It has been postulated that the transmembrane transporter of beta-alanine (TauT) could be stimulated by insulin. To test this hypothesis, we examined whether the beta-alanine uptake by human muscle is influenced by hyperinsulinemia by controlling both insulin and beta-alanine concentrations in plasma via intravenous infusion of beta-alanine. We conducted a counterbalanced crossover study in 12 young men (27.5 ± 5.1 yr). Participants attended to the laboratory on two separated occasions, 10 weeks apart. beta-alanine was intravenously infused on both trials for 150 min at a rate of 0.11 g.kg.min-1. In one trial, a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp was used to main high insulin concentrations (HI) whereas fasting insulin concentrations (LI) was maintained in the other trial. Before and 30 min after infusion, muscle samples (percutaneous biopsies) were taken to determine beta-alanine and carnosine content. Blood samples were taken before (0), 10, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 e 30 min (180) after the infusion for plasma insulin and beta-alanine analysis. 24 h urine was colleted after infusion for beta-alanine analysis. No significant differences in plasma beta-alanine (p=0.20), muscle beta-alanine (p=0.72), muscle carnosine (p=0.82) and urinary beta-alanine (p=0.92) were shown between conditions. Hyperinsulinemia did not increase beta-alanine uptake to muscle tissue and bodily tissues, nor did it increase whole-body beta-alanine retention, at least when beta-alanine concentrations exceed the Vmax of TauT. Our findings suggest that beta-alanine supplementation strategies that maniupulate insulin concentrations are probably of limited clinical relevance

Hormônios como a testosterona, a desidroepiandrosterona (DHEA), o cortisol e o hormônio do crescimento (GH) e fatores de crescimento, como o fator de crescimento semelhante à insulina (IGF-1), são agudamente liberados no sangue logo após sessões de exercício de força (EF). Esses hormônios e fatores de crescimento estão relacionados com a modulação de processos fisiológicos na célula muscular esquelética. Mais recentemente, pesquisadores evidenciaram a presença de enzimas esteroidogênicas, responsáveis por metabolizar o colesterol em diferentes hormônios esteroides, no interior da célula muscular. Isso possibilitaria às células musculares regularem a concentração hormonal intramuscular. Essa modulação intramuscular pode ser capaz de afetar diferentes processos fisiológicos nessas células, como a atividade das células satélites (CS). Contudo, o papel da modulação da concentração hormonal sérica induzida pelo EF em regular as concentrações intracelular de hormônios nas células musculares, regulando a atividade das CS ainda não é bem conhecido em humanos. Para investigar esse fenômeno, indivíduos treinados em força foram submetidos a duas diferentes sessões de EF com o objetivo de modular diferentemente as respostas hormonais séricas entre elas. Uma sessão (HH) que elevaria expressivamente as concentrações agudas séricas da testosterona total e livre, do DHEA, do cortisol, do GH, e do IGF-1, enquanto outra sessão não induziria elevações expressivas desses hormônios (LH). Indivíduos treinados foram escolhidos por apresentarem menor impacto de sessões de exercício de força na modulação de processos fisiológicos nas células musculares por serem mais acostumados às mesmas. Isso favorece relacionar os processos da modulação hormonal sistêmica e local com a possível regulação da atividade das CSs. As sessões de EF foram efetivas em modular agudamente as concentrações séricas da testosterona total, DHEA, GH e cortisol. Contudo, apenas o Cortisol foi elevado mais para sessão HH comparado com a sessão LH. Consequentemente, apenas o cortisol teve sua concentração diferentemente alterada nas células musculares, estando mais aumentado também após a sessão HH. A ausência de elevação na célula muscular de hormônios androgênicos foi suportada pela ausência de mudança na expressão gênica das enzimas esteroidogênicas como a 5&#945; redutase e a 17&#946; Hidroxiesteróide Desidrogenase. Interessantemente, a expressão gênica da miostatina e da miogenina aumentaram aproximadamente nove e quatro vezes, respectivamente, 72 horas após as sessões de EF. Por fim, possivelmente afetados pelos níveis de cortisol elevado na célula muscular, que pode ter favorecido um expressivo aumento de expressão gênica da miostatina, a quantidade de CS e consequentemente de mionúcleos não sofreram nenhum efeito das sessões de EF. Essa ausência de modulação da quantidade de CS ocorreu mesmo com o aumento da expressão da miogenina que poderia ter favorecido um processo de diferenciação das CS. Assim, é possível sugerir que quando o hormônio é elevado agudamente no sangue de forma expressiva como o cortisol, o mesmo afetará sua concentração na célula muscular. Esse aumento da concentração hormonal no músculo pode regular a atividade das CS, já que não foi observada a esperada mudança na quantidade de CS nas células musculares após as sessões de EF / Hormones such as testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cortisol and growth hormone (GH), as well as growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) are acutely released into the blood after resistance exercise (RE). These hormones are related to the regulation of physiological processes in skeletal muscle cells. Recently, researchers have shown the presence of steroidogenic enzymes, responsible for metabolizing cholesterol in different steroid hormones, inside the muscle cell. This metabolization would enable muscle cells to regulate intramuscular hormone concentration. This intramuscular modulation may affect different physiological processes in these cells, such as satellite cell activity (SC). However, the role of acute RT-induced changes in serum hormone concentrations in regulating intracellular hormonal concentrations in muscle cells and, consequently, activity of SC is yet unknown in humans. To investigate this phenomenon, resistance-trained individuals underwent two different RE sessions to differently modulate serum hormonal responses. One session (HH) should significantly elevate serum concentrations of total and free testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, GH, and IGF-1, while the other session should not induce expressive elevations in these hormones (LH). Trained individuals were chosen because muscle cells are less impacted by RE as these individuals are more accustomed to RE. This design allows relating systemic and local hormonal modulation with possible modulations on SC activity. RE sessions were effective in acutely modulating the serum concentration of total testosterone, DHEA, GH, and cortisol. However, only cortisol was significantly raised for HH compared to LH. Consequently, only cortisol had its concentration differently modulated in muscle cells, being higher also after the HH session. The lack of elevations in muscle cell androgenic hormones was supported by the absence of changes in the steroidogenic enzymes gene expression such as 5&#945; reductase and 17&#946; Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase. Interestingly, myostatin and myogenin gene expression increased approximately nine and four times, respectively, 72 hours after the RE sessions. Finally, high cortisol levels in the muscle cell may have favored an expressive increase in myostatin gene expression, did not induce the expected changes in SC activity. This lack of modulation in the amount of SC and myionuclear content occurred regardless of the increase in myogenin expression, which could have favored the SC differentiation. Therefore, it is possible to suggest that when systemic hormones are expressively elevated like cortisol, there is a parallel increase in hormonal concentration in the muscle cell. The increase in muscle cell hormone concentration may have regulated the SC activity based as we did not observe the expected changes in the SC content after the RE sessions