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AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology: Team Exercise
Curt D. Sigmund
Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Molecular Physiology
and Biophysics, Center on Functional Genomics of Hypertension, Roy J. and
Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
The title of this editorial would seem to suggest a course of action. No
doubt we all could use more (or some) exercise. What it actually reflects is
a change in the composition of the editorial team based on our experiences
over the past two and a half years. When we assumed the stewardship of
AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology in July 2007,
the journal was publishing, on average, about 80 articles per year on
skeletal muscle and exercise (1998-2006).1
Since 2007, we have seen about a 50% increase in the number of submissions
and articles published in this area (125 published in 2007, 116 in 2008, and
120 projected for 2009). We noticed the trend in the first few months of our
tenure and invited Scott Powers, PhD from the University of Florida to join
the editorial team in mid-2008. Scott's research interest focuses on the
role that redox signaling plays in skeletal muscle remodeling during both
exercise and prolonged periods of inactivity.
It didn't take long for Scott to become one of the busiest of the
editors. As the submissions continued to grow, we recognized the need for
additional expertise in exercise physiology in both humans and animals and
in cellular models. In response to this need, we recruited Darrell Neufer,
PhD from East Carolina University and Anne McArdle, PhD from the University
of Liverpool to be consulting editors. I am now pleased to inform the
readers that starting January 1, 2010, both Anne and Darrell will join the
team as associate editors.
Dr. Neufer is the director of The Metabolic Institute for the Study of
Diabetes and Obesity and professor in the Departments of Exercise and Sport
Science and Physiology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina
University, Greenville, NC. His research interests and activities are
currently focused on mitochondrial bioenergetics and metabolic disease.
Specifically, he is investigating the mechanisms that govern and regulate
mitochondrial function (superoxide production, H2O2 emission, membrane
potential, calcium retention capacity, etc.), how function of the
respiratory system affects mitochondrial as well as cellular redox state,
and how mitochondrial function and cellular redox environment regulate
insulin sensitivity in the context of obesity and diabetes. Dr. Neufer spent
the initial part of his career studying the molecular and cellular
mechanisms regulating metabolic gene expression in skeletal muscle in
response to diet and exercise interventions. He plans to coordinate review
of papers related to the molecular, cellular, biochemical, and physiological
control of metabolism, particularly in skeletal muscle.
Dr. McArdle is a Professor in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at
the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Anne is past Chair of the
British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) and currently represents BSRA
on the British Council for Ageing. She is a member of the American
Physiological Society and the UK Physiological Society. Anne's research
interests include the basic processes by which cells respond and adapt to
stress and damage and, in particular, the role that the age-related failure
in the stress response plays in the development of age-related skeletal
muscle dysfunction. She has demonstrated the importance of rapid induction
of responses to the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by
contractions in maintaining muscle viability and the role that an
attenuation of these ROS signals and responses play in muscle ageing. Anne
has considerable experience in cell and molecular biological studies at the
subcellular level through to physiological analysis of tissue function in a
number of model systems, including cell culture, animal, and humans.
The addition of Drs. McArdle and Neufer to the editorial team, which
already includes Dr. Powers, illustrates our commitment to publishing the
best research in exercise and muscle physiology. We encourage authors to
submit their best research papers on the integrative physiology of exercise
in animals and humans and the molecular, cellular, and genetic basis of
muscle function in health and disease. We have a particular interest in
receiving papers on the topics listed below, and in the near future, readers
should look for a "call for papers" to be issued on some of these.
- Mitochondrial structure, function, and content in health and disease
- Mechanisms regulating exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis
- Skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ
- Signaling mechanisms that mediate skeletal muscle adaptations to
exercise
- Regulation of muscle regeneration
- Exercise and insulin signaling in skeletal muscle
- Regulation of satellite cell activation
As always, we welcome your input. Please send your comments to the
editorial office by e-mail to
ajp-regulatory@uiowa.edu.
[1]Based on a search of AJP: Regulatory, Integrative,
and Comparative Physiology HighWire Press Site (http://ajpregu.physiology.org/)
with the terms "exercise" or "muscle."
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