Key Points
Changes in satellite cell number and ribosome content after 10 weeks of resistance training, along with acute myofibrillar protein synthesis in response to a single exercise bout, were assessed in 34 untrained young women to determine the extent to which these outcomes were predictive of muscle hypertrophy in higher and lower responders.
There was no significant association between the change in vastus lateralis cross-sectional area and myofibrillar protein synthesis (r = 0.095; p = 0.602) or changes in muscle ribosome content (r = 0.014; p = 0.937). Satellite cell number increased significantly in higher responders (p = 0.026), but not lower responders (p = 0.118), and the percent change in satellite cells per fiber was correlated with the mean change in fiber cross-sectional area (r = 0.471; p = 0.007).
Although the authors report that satellite cell abundance was more reflective of the resistance training response than muscle ribosome content, they acknowledge that this is inconsistent with previous data, and that several methodological limitations preclude their ability to discount a role for ribosome biogenesis in the hypertrophic response.