Abstract
Physical activity is a strong stimulus influencing the overall physiology of the human body. Exercises lead to biochemical changes in various tissues and exert an impact on gene expression. Exercise-induced changes in gene expression may be mediated by epigenetic modifications, which rearrange the chromatin structure and therefore modulate its accessibility for transcription factors. One of such epigenetic mark is DNA methylation that involves an attachment of a methyl group to the fifth carbon of cytosine residue present in CG dinucleotides (CpG). DNA methylation is catalyzed by a family of DNA methyltransferases. This reversible DNA modification results in the recruitment of proteins containing methyl binding domain and further transcriptional co-repressors leading to the silencing of gene expression. The accumulation of CpG dinucleotides, referred as CpG islands, occurs at the promoter regions in a great majority of human genes. Therefore, changes in DNA methylation profile affect the transcription of multiple genes. A growing body of evidence indicates that exercise training modulates DNA methylation in muscles and adipose tissue. Some of these epigenetic markers were associated with a reduced risk of chronic diseases. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the influence of physical activity on the DNA methylation status in humans.
Highlights
The effect of exercise on the human body is a widely studied topic
Exercise influences the expression of genes related to muscle work, such as PPARGC1A encoding peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α)—a transcriptional coactivator that regulates genes involved in energy metabolism or MYOD1 encoding a nuclear protein that belongs to the myogenic differentiation family of transcription factors [6]
This review focuses on issues related to variations in DNA methylation patterns induced by physical activity
Summary
The effect of exercise on the human body is a widely studied topic. Exercise usually exerts a positive impact on the functioning and physiology of human body, improves endurance, the efficiency of the respiratory and cardiovascular system, and affects the immune system and neurophysiology [1,2]. DNA methylation patterns and influences the expression of many genes in muscle tissue. Epigenetic changes in response to exercise and their physiological consequences have been extensively studied. This review focuses on issues related to variations in DNA methylation patterns induced by physical activity. Methylated gene promoters have a limited ability to bi human gene promoters, which shows that they are essential elements in the regulation of transcription factors and this modification recruits methyl binding proteins, leading gene expression [13]. DNA methylation is responsib tion factors and this modification recruits methyl binding proteins, leading to chromatin for such processes as silencing the X chromosome and parental imprinting [14,15]. DNA methylation is responsible for such processes as silencing the X chromosome and parental imprinting [14,15]
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