Expression data from motor nerve-stimulated and the contralateral control tabialis anterior muscles in mice. Mus musculus

Exercise induces skeletal muscle adaptation, and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway is thought to play an important role in the adaptive processes. We have obtained new evidence that the gamma isoform of p38 is required for exercise-induced metabolic adaptation in skeletal muscle; however, the neuromuscular activity-dependent target genes of p38gamma remain to be defined. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying the skeletal muscle genetic reprogramming in response to increased contractile activity and identified distinct classes of up-regulated genes during this process that are dependent on the functional activity of the p38gamma isoform. Overall design: Skeletal muscle-specific p38gamma knockout mice and the wild type littermates are subject to motor nerve stimulation of one of the tibialis anterior muscles followed by microarray analysis of both the stimulated and the contralateral control muscles.