Role of Transcription Factor EB in Exercise Adaptation to Skeletal Muscle Phenotype Changes

Transcription factor EB (TFEB) is a protein which acts on the glucose and lipid metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. It has received much attention in the research area of biological sciences because of its important role in phenotypic changes of metabolism and biogenesis. Under normal physiological conditions, TFEB is inactive and mainly exists in the cytoplasm. It will be transferred from cytoplasm to the nucleus under acute or endurance exercise stress, this transformation induces mitochondrial biogenesis and participates in a series of signaling pathways to regulate glucose metabolism such as glucose transporter gene expression, glucose uptake and utilization, glycogen synthesis. Moreover, the genes referring to fatty acid oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation will be regulated as well and resulting in an improvement in exercise capacity. This paper discussed the molecular mechanisms of TFEB in exercise adaptation to skeletal muscle phenotype changes, in order to find new targets for the prevention and treatment of insulin resistance-related diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Meanwhile, it also provides a new perspective of the researches related to the molecular mechanism of exercise induced adaptation in skeletal muscle.