Table 2.

List of proposed reference substances to validate neuromuscular in vitro models.

Target	Substance	Expected Effect/Readout	Ref.
Neuromuscular junction	Curare (tubocurarine, non-depolarizing muscle relaxants)	Ceasing of contraction	[168,230]
	Cholinesterase inhibitors (e.g., neostigmine)	Faster recovery of contractile activity in presence of curare	[231]
	L-Glutamate	Selective stimulation of neurons	[113]
Myocyte size/ structure	Statins	Myocyte death Force reduction Induction of atrophy	[135,210,212,213,232]
	Corticosteroids (e.g., dexamethasone)	Short term exposure: Increased myogenesis and force production Long term exposure: atrophy and degeneration	[233]
	IGF-1	Hypertrophy Increase in tetanic force	[69,234]
	TNF-α	Atrophy	[235]
	Androgens/selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs)	Hypertrophy Increase in mTOR/Akt signaling	[236]
	Clenbuterol	Concentration-dependent hypertrophy Increase in protein content	[230,237]
	Creatine	Increase in tetanic force production	[234]
	Myostatin inhibition (e.g., follistatin)	Hypertrophy	[238]
Myocyte function	Acetylcholine	Muscle contraction	[113,230]
	Caffeine	Ryanodine receptor activation	[230]
	Dantrolene	Ryanodine receptor inhibition	[239]
Metabolism	Insulin	Stimulated glucose uptake	[240]
	Metformin	AMPK activation Increased glucose uptake	[240]
	Chloroquine	Induction of autophagy	[230]