Journal News

MCP: How exercise works its biomolecular wonders

John Arnst
Dec. 1, 2017

Exercise has long been known to benefit the entire body, from burning fat and strengthening muscles to boosting the immune system and reducing the risk of some cancers. To understand how some of these effects are controlled on a cellular level, researchers at the University of Sydney did a proteomic analysis of the swarm of peptides and small-protein hormones that circulate throughout the body in blood plasma.

Benjamin Parker, the first author on the paper published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, said, “There’s a big push in the field to identify secreted factors that allow organs to communicate with each other, and this might enable them to adapt to certain environmental stresses … like exercise.” The researchers ultimately hope that their novel combination of techniques for proteomic analysis might be used to pinpoint the factors behind certain health benefits for potential drug development.

Parker and colleagues used a combination of tagging and fragmentation techniques, multidimensional liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry to identify 5,548 peptides in the peptidome, the aggregate of peptide molecules that circulate in the plasma with blood cells. They found that the levels of the circulating small molecules were modulated rapidly during and after exercise through a network of post-translational modifications and proteases.

“We know that when we exercise, there will be certain factors and hormones that get released into our body, into our bloodstream, that then enable different tissues to adapt to that increased workload,” Parker said. While the researchers noted expected elevated levels of hormones, including insulin and the vasodilator bradykinin, they also found that antimicrobial and immune-related peptides were upregulated.

“We don’t know exactly why the body is doing that, but you could maybe (make the) link that exercise is improving our immune system,” Parker said.

Parker and colleagues analyzed blood samples collected before, during and after exercise from volunteers at a facility at the University of Copenhagen operated by co-authors Erik Richter, Bente Kiens and Jørgen Wojtaszewski, who have been exploring the effects of exercise on various signaling molecules for more than two decades.

The researchers also noted the presence of new, uncharacterized peptides that were found to affect cells’ ability to grow and proliferate, which may play a role in the noted anticancer effects of exercise, Parker said.

Examining the levels of certain peptides in blood plasma also allowed the researchers to characterize the activity of the numerous proteases that cleaved the peptides into their smaller, functional selves. By monitoring these protease levels, Parker and his colleagues were able to infer whether exercise is responsible for an increase or a decrease in specific proteases, some of which have been associated with an increased risk of heart attacks during strenuous exercise for people with higher rates of arterial plaques.

“There’s sort of a controversy in the field about how good it is to activate certain proteases with exercise,” Parker said. “It could be related to how we activate proteases that cause plaques to rupture in our hearts, in our coronary circulation.” In that case, he said, strenuous exercise “may not be always a beneficial thing.”

Parker and colleagues are continuing their proteomic analyses by examining the functional surfaces of exosomes, which are small membrane-bound vesicles used to send proteins, DNA and RNA between distant cells and organs, and they hope to publish their follow-up results soon.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
John Arnst

John Arnst was a science writer for ASBMB Today.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Science

Science highlights or most popular articles

Computational tool helps scientists create novel bug sprays
Journal News

Computational tool helps scientists create novel bug sprays

May 20, 2025

Rapid discovery of mosquito repellent compounds is enabled through a novel screening platform that combines both computational modeling and functional screening.

Meet Lan Huang
Interview

Meet Lan Huang

May 19, 2025

Molecular & Cellular Proteomics associate editor uses crosslinking mass spec to study protein–protein interactions to find novel therapeutics.

Influenza gets help from gum disease bacteria
Journal News

Influenza gets help from gum disease bacteria

May 15, 2025

Scientists discover that a protease from Porphyromonas gingivalis enhances viral spread. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

How bacteria fight back against promising antimicrobial peptide
Journal News

How bacteria fight back against promising antimicrobial peptide

May 15, 2025

Researchers find a mutation in E. coli that reduces its susceptibility to a potential novel antibiotic. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

New clues reveal how cells respond to stress
Journal News

New clues reveal how cells respond to stress

May 15, 2025

Redox signaling protein may help regulate inflammasome and innate immune activation. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

Innovative platform empowers scientists to transform venoms into therapeutics
Journal News

Innovative platform empowers scientists to transform venoms into therapeutics

May 13, 2025

Scientists combine phage display and a “metavenome” library to discover new drugs that bind clinically relevant human cell receptors. Read about this recent Molecular & Cellular Proteomics paper.