Abstract
Purpose
Autophagy and heat shock protein (HSP) response are proteostatic systems involved in the acute and adaptive responses to exercise. These systems may upregulate sequentially following cellular stress including acute exercise, however, currently few data exist in humans. This study investigated the autophagic and HSP responses to acute intense lower body resistance exercise in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with and without branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) supplementation.
Methods
Twenty resistance-trained males (22.3 ± 1.5 yr; 175.4 ± .7 cm; 86.4 ± 15.6 kg) performed a bout of intense lower body resistance exercise and markers of autophagy and HSP70 were measured immediately post- (IPE) and 2, 4, 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. Prior to resistance exercise, 10 subjects were randomly assigned to BCAA supplementation of 0.22 g/kg/d for 5 days pre-exercise and up to 72 h following exercise while the other 10 subjects consumed a placebo (PLCB).
Results
There were no difference in autophagy markers or HSP70 expression between BCAA and PLCB groups. LC3II protein expression was significantly lower 2 and 4 h post-exercise compared to pre-exercise. LC3II: I ratio was not different at any time point compared to pre-exercise. Protein expression of p62 was lower IPE, 2, and 4 h post-exercise and elevated 24 h post-exercise. HSP70 expression was elevated 48 and 72 h post-exercise.
Conclusions
Autophagy and HSP70 are upregulated in PBMCs following intense resistance exercise with autophagy increasing initially post-exercise and HSP response in the latter period. Moreover, BCAA supplementation did not affect this response.
Graphical Abstract
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Change history
15 June 2024
The word "a bout" was incorrectly written as "about" in the method section of the abstract and it has been corrected as "a bout"
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge MusclePharm® for donating the BCAA supplements and placebo.
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This research was funded in part by the University of New Mexico Research Allocations Committee.
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Conceptualization, T.A.V., C.M.M., K.A.E., C.M.K., R.A.V., K.D., L.K.; Methodology, T.A.V., K.A.E., C.M.K., R.A.V., K.D., L.K., C.M.M., J.J.M., T.M., M.T.S., K.E.J.; Formal Analysis, T.A.V., J.J.M., C.M.M., M.T.S.; Investigation, T.A.V., K.A.E., K.E.J., M.T.S., T.M.; Resources, T.A.V., C.M.K., K.D., C.M.M.; Data Curation, T.A.V., M.T.S., K.A.E., K.E.J.; Writing-Original Draft Preparation, K.A.E; Writing-Review & Editing, K.A.E, T.A.V., C.M.K., R.A.V., K.D., L.K., C.M.M., J.J.M., T.M., M.T.S., K.E.J.; Project Administration, T.A.V., C.M.M.; Funding Acquisition, T.A.V., C.M.M.
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Escobar, K.A., VanDusseldorp, T.A., Johnson, K.E. et al. The biphasic activity of autophagy and heat shock protein response in peripheral blood mononuclear cells following acute resistance exercise in resistance-trained males. Eur J Appl Physiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-024-05503-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-024-05503-5