Chaperone Proteins: The Rising Players in Muscle Atrophy.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing preclinical and mechanistic literature without human trial data
PubMed 39707668 · doi:10.1002/jcsm.13659
What was done
This narrative review synthesized published mechanistic and experimental evidence regarding the role, modulation, and therapeutic potential of chaperone proteins across different forms of skeletal muscle atrophy.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data or numerical findings. It outlines qualitative evidence indicating that specific chaperones, such as alphaB-crystallin and Hsp25, participate in compensatory responses against protein aggregation during sarcopenia, while Hsp70 and Hsp90 regulate catabolic signaling cascades including the AKT and NF-kB pathways. It also notes that experimental downregulation of certain chaperones triggers muscle wasting, whereas preventing this loss mitigates or reverses atrophy in laboratory models.
Why it matters
It highlights chaperone-mediated proteostasis as an overlooked regulatory axis in muscle wasting, framing chaperone modulation as a prospective target for counteracting sarcopenia and atrophy.
Limits
The paper is a non-systematic narrative review providing no quantitative synthesis, effect estimates, or systematic search protocol. Most discussed mechanisms rely on preclinical animal or in vitro models rather than direct human clinical trial evidence.
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