Exercise Reshapes Gene Activity Across Mouse Tissues

Salk Institute researchers mapped how eight weeks of wheel running changed molecular activity in mice.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Running

A small running wheel on a stainless steel laboratory bench in soft morning light, with pale concrete and distant green hills visible through a window. — Salk Institute researchers found that eight weeks of voluntary wheel running altered nearly half of expressed genes in at least one mouse tissue, with female mice showing wider shifts. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Researchers at the Salk Institute built a multiomics atlas of endurance exercise using young male and female mice that completed eight weeks of voluntary wheel running. Exercise altered nearly half of all expressed genes in at least one tissue.

Why it matters

The atlas maps how physical activity changes the body at the molecular level, which may help explain why exercise reduces risk of several major causes of death. The authors hope the findings will support personalized fitness routines and targeted treatments for metabolic dysfunction.

The study combined bulk RNA sequencing across twenty-two tissues, untargeted metabolomics across eight tissues and plasma, and proteomics across four leg muscles, compared against sedentary controls. Researchers have not yet determined how long the training-induced molecular changes last.

The players

Salk Institute

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a research institution in La Jolla, California, known for work in genetics, neuroscience, and molecular biology.

The details

Young male and female mice ran on wheels voluntarily for eight weeks while sedentary control groups were kept alongside them. Tissue and plasma samples were collected during active and inactive phases, and machine learning identified a conserved exercise signature across multiple datasets and mammalian species. Female mice showed wider genetic shifts and a downregulation of protein-building genes, while the hypothalamus, kidney, and lung responded more intensely during the inactive phase.

Eight weeks of voluntary wheel running were completed by the mice before sampling.
The article describing the atlas was published on November 6, 2026.

Big Picture

The atlas extends the Salk Institute's multiomics approach to a whole-body map of how endurance exercise alters gene activity across many tissues at once. It offers a broader view than studies limited to a single muscle or organ.

The findings point toward future exercise prescriptions tailored to an individual's molecular response rather than a single generic routine. Any practical application remains years away, pending follow-up work on how long training effects persist.

The takeaway

Regular endurance activity changes gene activity throughout the body, not just in the muscles used during exercise. The research suggests that movement benefits extend to organs far from the working limbs.