Mechanical Signal Transduction: Divergent Communication and the Potential Consequences for Masticatory Muscle

Skeletal muscle can readily respond to physiological demands, causing changes in muscle mass and the fiber properties to meet the functional needs. Muscle adaptation is a coordination of endocrine, metabolic, and mechanical signals resulting in changes at the transcriptional and translational levels. New evidence suggests that the signal transduction pathways that are responsive to mechanical changes diverge in the craniofacial and axial muscles. Two regions where sensors for load exist, the sarcolemma and the contractile apparatus, have many proteins that are poised to convert mechanical perturbations into molecular signals and ultimately into changes in gene expression. Changes in the mechanical signal transduction system might contribute to unique physiological and pathologic features of masticatory muscle. This review will define the molecular components that form a new set of intrinsic factors that could lead to myogenic temporomandibular joint disorders.