Understanding the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Physical Activity-Induced Health Benefits

Understanding the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Physical Activity-Induced Health Benefits Review

International Collaboration

Neufer, P. Darrell, Bamman, Marcas M., Muoio, Deborah M., Bouchard, Claude, Cooper, Dan M., Goodpaster, Bret H., Booth, Frank W., Kohrt, Wendy M., Gerszten, Robert E., Mattson, Mark P., Hepple, Russell T., Kraus, William E., Reid, Michael B., Bodine, Sue C., Jakicic, John M., Fleg, Jerome L., Williams, John P., Joseph, Lyndon, Evans, Mary, Maruvada, Padma, Rodgers, Mary, Roary, Mary, Boyce, Amanda T., Drugan, Jonelle K., Koenig, James I., Ingraham, Richard H., Krotoski, Danuta, Garcia-Cazarin, Mary, McGowan, Joan A., Laughlin, Maren R.

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the NIH Common Fund and the following individuals that participated in webinars and conference calls leading up to the workshop: Shannon Bailey, Robert Balaban, Charles Burant, Richard Casaburi, Shulin Cheng, Charlene Chu, Roger Fielding, Monika Fleshner, Jacob Friedman, Paige Geiger, John Holloszy, Lee Jones, Gabrielle Kardon, Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Gregory Lewis, Wendy Lynch, Paul MacLean, Sreekumaran Nair, Robert O'Doherty, Charlotte Peterson, Orian Shirihai, Kathleen Sluka, Bruce Spiegelman, Russel Swerdlow, John Thyfault, James Tidball, Rick Vega, Eric Verdin, Douglas Wallace, Zhen Yan, Juleen Zierath, and Michael Zigmond. We also gratefully acknowledge additional members of the NIH Working Group: D. Lee Alekel, Catherine Alfano, Josephine E. Boyington, Rosalind A. Breslow, Carole Christian, Wilson Compton, Lawton Cooper, Augusto Diana, Luigi Ferrucci, Katrina Gwinn, Lynda Hardy, Tamara B. Harris, Lynne Haverkos, Mary Kautz, Partap Khalsa, Delvin Knight, Frank Perna, Barry Portnoy, Xenia Tigno, Richard Troiano, Elizabeth Wilder, Lois Winsky, Pamela Wolters, and Steve Zullo. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIH or the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States.

The beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) are well documented, yet the mechanisms by which PA prevents disease and improves health outcomes are poorly understood. To identify major gaps in knowledge and potential strategies for catalyzing progress in the field, the NIH convened a workshop in late October 2014 entitled "Understanding the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Physical Activity-Induced Health Benefits.'' Presentations and discussions emphasized the challenges imposed by the integrative and intermittent nature of PA, the tremendous discovery potential of applying "-omics'' technologies to understand interorgan crosstalk and biological networking systems during PA, and the need to establish an infrastructure of clinical trial sites with sufficient expertise to incorporate mechanistic outcome measures into adequately sized human PA trials. Identification of the mechanisms that underlie the link between PA and improved health holds extraordinary promise for discovery of novel therapeutic targets and development of personalized exercise medicine.