Study finds genetic link to muscle endurance

Are some people simply predisposed to be endurance runners? A new study has found a gene that seems to negatively impact endurance in mice, which could have implications for improving muscle performance.

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified this gene for endurance, or, more precisely, a negative regulator of it. In the study, mice that did not have the gene showed greater endurance than mice that did. The investigators also showed that the gene is linked to Olympic-level athletes in endurance sports compared to athletes in sprint sports such as the 100-meter dash.

“We have shown that mice lacking the gene run six times longer than control mice and that the fatigable muscles of the mouse – the fast muscle in the front of the leg – have been reprogrammed and are now fatigue-resistant,” says senior author Tejvir S. Khurana, MD, PhD, professor of Physiology and member of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute. “This has wide ramifications for various aspects of muscle biology ranging from athletics to treating muscle and metabolic diseases.”

The study also found significant associations between the gene and elite endurance athletes and hence supports the possibility that these athletes had a genetic predisposition or advantage.

The study appears online this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.