Research

Hormonal

Overexpression of microRNA-29b (miR-29b) promotes skeletal muscle atrophy by directly targeting and suppressing IGF-1 and PI3K(p85a), thereby inhibiting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway and increasing the expression of atrogenes Atrogin-1 and Murf-1.

This research identifies miR-29b as a key molecular driver of muscle wasting in various conditions (aging, disease, inactivity). While this paper does not provide a direct lifestyle intervention, it highlights that suppressing miR-29b could theoretically protect against muscle loss. Current lifestyle interventions (resistance training, adequate protein) likely work, in part, by modulating these molecular pathways, though direct manipulation of miR-29b is not yet a standard practice.

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Targeting of IGF-1 and PI3K(p85a) by miR-29b is required for induction of muscle atrophy. In vivo, miR-29b overexpression is sufficient to promote muscle atrophy while inhibition of miR-29b attenuates atrophy induced by denervation and immobilization.
Jin Li et al. · Nature Communications · 2017

Why this rating

High-quality evidence using multiple in vitro and in vivo models with genetic manipulation (mimics/inhibitors/agomirs/sponges) and validation of direct targets.

Source

miR-29b contributes to multiple types of muscle atrophy

Jin Li et al. · Nature Communications · 2017

DOI 10.1038/ncomms15201

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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