AMP in particular triggers the activation of a protein with the unwieldy name of 5’-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, or AMPK. In turn, AMPK activates a protein called—bear with me here, because it, too, is a mouthful—peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha, which most physiologists refer to by its short form, PGC-1α—that last symbol is pronounced “alpha.”
