Assembly of the cellular powerhouse: current issues in muscle mitochondrial biogenesis.

Mitochondrial biogenesis occurs in muscle in response to chronic exercise, resulting in fatigue resistance. The assembly of the organelle is initiated by contraction-induced signals, which lead to the transcriptional activation of nuclear genes. This is accompanied by alterations in mRNA stability, as well as increases in protein import and mitochondrial DNA copy number, leading to a greater muscle mitochondrial content.