Hypertrophy

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/hypertrophy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key signaling pathways?Involves mTOR, PI3K/Akt, and downstream protein synthesis machinery
2. What is the hormonal regulation?Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and growth hormone are significant modulators
3. How do muscles get bigger during exercise?Muscles add sarcomeres in parallel and series inside existing fibers. This is triggered by the mechanical stress of resistance training and signals like mTOR and PI3K/Akt.
4. Why does the heart sometimes grow bigger?The heart grows bigger to pump more blood when it works harder, like during intense exercise or when a valve is narrowed. This is called physiological hypertrophy.

Sarcomere: The fundamental contractile unit of striated muscle, composed of actin and myosin filaments.
Hyperplasia: An increase in the size of a tissue or organ due to an increase in the number of its constituent cells.
mTOR Pathway: A central regulator of cell growth, proliferation, and metabolism, crucial for protein synthesis.
Cardiac Cardiomyopathy: A disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body.