Muscle as a paracrine and endocrine organ

Skeletal muscle cells are highly abundant and metabolically active and are known to ‘communicate’ their energy demands to other organs through active secretion. Muscle-derived secretory proteins include a variety of cytokines and peptides collectively referred to as ‘myokines’ that exert autocrine, paracrine or endocrine effects. Analyses of the skeletal muscle secretome revealed that numerous myokines are secreted in response to contraction or...