Molecular insight and pharmacological approaches targeting mitochondrial dynamics in skeletal muscle during obesity.

Obesity-associated insulin resistance is the major characteristic of the early stage of metabolic syndrome. A decline in mitochondrial function plays a role in the development of insulin resistance in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Accumulating data reveal that mitochondrial dynamics, the balance between mitochondrial fusion and fission, are an important factor in the maintenance of mitochondrial function.