This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. (November 2013) |
A myokine is one of several hundred cytokines or other small proteins (~5–20 kDa) and proteoglycan peptides that are produced and released by skeletal muscle cells (muscle fibers) in response to muscular contractions.[1] They have autocrine, paracrine and/or endocrine effects;[2] their systemic effects occur at picomolar concentrations.[3][4]
Receptors for myokines are found on muscle, fat, liver, pancreas, bone, heart, immune, and brain cells.[2] The location of these receptors reflects the fact that myokines have multiple functions. Foremost, they are involved in exercise-associated metabolic changes, as well as in the metabolic changes following training adaptation.[1] They also participate in tissue regeneration and repair, maintenance of healthy bodily functioning, immunomodulation; and cell signaling, expression and differentiation.[1]