Endurance training induces muscle-specific changes in mitochondrial function in skinned muscle fibers

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the potential role of changes in the apparent K m for ADP and in the functional coupling of the creatine (Cr) kinase (CK) system (CK efficiency) in explaining the tighter integration of ATP supply and demand after exercise training. Mitochondrial function was assessed in saponin-skinned fibers from the soleus and the deep red portion of the medial gastrocnemius isolated from trained (T; treadmill running, 5 days/wk, 4 wk) and control (C) female Sprague-Dawley rats. In the soleus, V˙max in the presence of 1 mM ADP was increased by 21% after training (5.9 ± 0.2 vs. 4.7 ± 0.4 nmol O2 · min−1 · mg dry wt−1, P < 0.05). This was accompanied by no change in the K m for ADP measured in the absence of Cr (146 ± 9 vs. 149 ± 13 μM in T and C, respectively) and in its presence (50 ± 4 vs. 48 ± 6 μM in T and C, respectively) and in CK efficiency [ K m (+Cr)/ K m (−Cr)]. In contrast, in the red gastrocnemius, training decreased, by 35%, the apparent K m for ADP in the absence (83 ± 5 vs. 129 ± 9 μM, P < 0.01) of Cr, without affecting V˙max (6.2 ± 0.4 vs. 6.7 ± 0.3 nmol O2 · min−1 · mg dry wt−1 in T and C, respectively) and CK efficiency. These results thus suggest that training induces muscle-specific adaptations of mitochondrial function and that a change in the intrinsic sensitivity of mitochondria to ADP could at least partly explain the tighter integration of ATP and demand commonly observed after training.