Research

Hormonal

Mechanical stretch and overload induce the expression of Mechano Growth Factor (MGF), a splice variant of IGF-1, which mediates local muscle repair, satellite cell activation, and hypertrophy.

To maximize muscle repair and growth, you must apply mechanical strain (stretch or overload) to the muscle. This mechanical stimulus triggers the local production of MGF, a specific growth factor variant essential for local tissue repair and hypertrophy. Without this mechanical trigger, local repair mechanisms (mediated by MGF) may not activate, even if systemic growth factors are present.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
our group have cloned the cDNA of a splice variant of IGF-1 that is produced by active muscle that appears to be the factor that controls local tissue repair, maintenance and remodelling... This new growth factor has been called mechano growth factor (MGF)... The discovery of the locally produced IGF-1 appears to provide the link between the mechanical stimulus and the activation of gene expression.
Geoffrey Goldspink · Journal of Anatomy · 1999

Why this rating

The paper is a review summarizing the author's group's cloning and expression studies, supported by animal models (rabbit, mouse) and limited human data (RT-PCR on forearm flexors), but lacks large-scale clinical trial data.

Source

Changes in muscle mass and phenotype and the expression of autocrine and systemic growth factors by muscle in response to stretch and overload

Geoffrey Goldspink · Journal of Anatomy · 1999

DOI 10.1046/j.1469-7580.1999.19430323.x

narrative_reviewCited 431×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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