Considering the expansion of human life-span over the past few decades; sarcopenia, a physiological consequence of aging process characterized with a diminution in mass and strength of skeletal muscle, has become more frequent. Thus, there is a growing need for expanding our knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of muscle atrophy in sarcopenia which are complex and involve many signaling pathways associated with protein degradation and synthesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as evolutionary conserved small RNAs, could complementarily bind to their target mRNAs and post-transcriptionally inhibit their translation. Aberrant expression of miRNAs contributes to the development of sarcopenia by regulating the expression of critical genes involved in age-related skeletal muscle mass loss. Here we have a review on the signaling pathways along with the miRNAs controlling their components expression and subsequently we provide a brief overview on the effects of exercise on expression pattern of miRNAs in sarcopenia.

考虑到过去几十年人类寿命的延长；肌肉减少症是衰老过程的一种生理后果，其特征是骨骼肌的质量和强度下降，现在变得更加频繁。因此，越来越需要扩大我们对肌肉减少症肌肉萎缩分子机制的了解，这些机制很复杂，涉及许多与蛋白质降解和合成相关的信号通路。MicroRNA (miRNA) 作为进化上保守的小 RNA，可以与其目标 mRNA 互补结合并在转录后抑制其翻译。miRNA 的异常表达通过调节与年龄相关的骨骼肌质量损失相关的关键基因的表达，促进了肌肉减少症的发展。