The effects of cutting or of stretching skeletal muscle in vitro on the rates of protein synthesis and degradation

The effect of denervation on protein synthesis and degradation in adult rat diaphragm muscle

Previous studies showed that unilateral denervation (DNV) of the rat diaphragm muscle (DIAm) results in loss of myosin heavy chain protein by 1 day after DNV. We hypothesize that DNV decreases net protein balance as a result of activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In DIAm strips, protein synthesis was measured by incorporation of 3H-Tyr, and protein degradation was measured by Tyr release at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14 days after DNV. Total protein ubiquitination, caspase-3 expression/activity, and actin fragmentation were analyzed by Western analysis. We found that, at 3 days after DNV, protein synthesis increased by 77% relative to sham controls. Protein synthesis remained elevated at 5 (85%), 7 (53%), and 14 days (123%) after DNV. At 5 days after DNV, protein degradation increased by 43% relative to sham controls and remained elevated at 7 (49%) and 14 days (74%) after DNV. Thus, by 5 days after DNV, net protein balance decreased by 43% compared with sham controls and was decreased compared with sham at 7 (49%) and 14 days (72%) after DNV. Protein ubiquitination increased at 5 days after DNV and remained elevated. DNV had no effect on caspase-3 activity or actin fragmentation, suggesting that the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway rather than caspase-3 activation is important in the DIAm response to DNV. Early loss of contractile proteins, such as myosin heavy chain, is likely the result of selective protein degradation rather than generalized protein breakdown. Future studies should evaluate this selective effect of DNV.

Spirulina enhanced the skeletal muscle protein in growing rats

BACKGROUND/AIM OF THE STUDY: This study evaluates the effects of the blue green alga spirulina as the sole dietary source of protein on muscle protein in weaning rats.

METHODS

Young (30 days) Wistar rats were fed, during 60 days, with 17% protein spirulina (S) and compared to rats fed 17% protein casein (C). We evaluated the muscle total protein and DNA contents and the in vitro protein synthesis and degradation rates as well the myosin protein expression.

RESULTS

The groups presented similar body weight (C = 427.3 +/- 8.6; S = 434.6 +/- 7.7 g) and length (C = 25.4 +/- 0.2; S = 25.6 +/- 0.2 cm). Soleus muscle total protein (C = 2.9 +/- 0.1; S = 2.7 +/- 0.1 mg/100 mg) and DNA (C = 0.084 +/- 0.005; S = 0.074 +/- 0.005 mg/100 mg) contents were also similar in both groups. Protein degradation (C = 427.5 +/- 40.6; S = 476.7 +/- 50.5 pmol/mg(-1) h(-1)) did not differ between the groups but protein synthesis (C = 17.5 +/- 1.0; S = 25.2 +/- 1.9 pmol/mg(-1) h(-1)) and myosin content (western blot analyses) were higher (P < 0.05, t test) in spirulina group.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the spirulina proved adequate protein quality to maintain body growth, the muscle protein synthesis rates were increased by the ingestion of the experimental diet in young rats.

The temporal responses of protein synthesis, gene expression and cell signalling in human quadriceps muscle and patellar tendon to disuse

We hypothesized that rates of myofibrillar and patellar tendon collagen synthesis would fall over time during disuse, the changes being accompanied in muscle by decreases in focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation and in gene expression for proteolytic enzymes. We studied nine men (22 +/- 4 years, BMI 24 +/- 3 kg m(-2) (means +/- s.d.) who underwent unilateral lower leg suspension for 23 days; five were studied between 0 and 10 days and four between 10 and 21 days. Muscle and tendon biopsies were taken in the postabsorptive state at days 0, 10 and 21 for measurement of protein synthesis, gene expression and protein phosphorylation. Muscle cross-sectional area decreased by 5.2% at 14 days and 10.0% (both P < 0.001), at 23 days, i.e. 0.5% day(-1), whereas tendon dimensions were constant. Rates of myofibrillar protein synthesis fell (P < 0.01) from 0.047% h(-1) at day 0 to 0.022% h(-1) at 10 days without further changes. Tendon collagen synthetic rates also fell (P < 0.01), from 0.052 to 0.023% h(-1) at 10 days and then to 0.010% h(-1) at 21 days. FAK phosphorylation decreased 30% (P < 0.01) at 10 days. No changes occurred in the amounts/phosphorylation of PKB-P70s6k-mTOR pathway components. Expression of mRNA for MuRF-1 increased approximately 3-fold at 10 days without changes in MAFbx or tripeptidyl peptidase II mRNA, but all decreased between 10 and 21 days. Thus, both myofibrillar and tendon protein synthetic rates show progressive decreases during 21 days of disuse; in muscle, this is accompanied by decreased phosphorylation of FAK, with no marked increases in genes for proteolytic enzymes.

Effects of swimming training at the intensity equivalent to aerobic/anaerobic metabolic transition in alloxan diabetic rats

The present study was designed to determine the exercise intensity equivalent to the metabolic aerobic/anaerobic transition of alloxan diabetic rats, through lactate minimum test (LMT), and to evaluate the effects of swimming exercise at this intensity (LM) on the glucose and protein metabolism of these animals. Adult male Wistar rats received alloxan (SD, alloxan-injected rats that remained sedentary) intravenously (30 mg kg(-1) body weight) for diabetes induction. As controls (SC, vehicle-injected rats that remained sedentary), vehicle-injected rats were utilized. Two weeks later, the animals were submitted to oral glucose tolerance test (oGTT) and LMT. After the tests, some of the animals were submitted to swimming exercise training [TC (vehicle-injected rats that performed a 6-week exercise program) and TD (alloxan-injected rats that performed a 6-week exercise program)] for 1 h day(-1), 5 days week(-1), with an overload equivalent to LM determined by LMT, for 6 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the animals were submitted to a second LMT and oGTT, and blood and skeletal muscle assessments (protein synthesis and degradation in the isolated soleus muscle) were made. The overload equivalent to LM at the beginning of the experiment was lower in the SD group than in the SC group. After training, the overload equivalent to LM was higher in the TC and TD groups than in the SC and SD groups. The blood glucose of TD rats during oGTT was lower than that of SD rats. Protein degradation was higher in the SD group than in other groups. We conclude that LMT was sensitive to metabolic and physiologic alterations caused by uncontrolled diabetes. Training at LM intensity improved aerobic condition and the glucose and protein metabolism of alloxan diabetic rats.

Mammalian skeletal muscle fiber type transitions

Mammalian skeletal muscle is an extremely heterogeneous tissue, composed of a large variety of fiber types. These fibers, however, are not fixed units but represent highly versatile entities capable of responding to altered functional demands and a variety of signals by changing their phenotypic profiles. This adaptive responsiveness is the basis of fiber type transitions. The fiber population of a given muscle is in a dynamic state, constantly adjusting to the current conditions. The full range of adaptive ability spans fast to slow characteristics. However, it is now clear that fiber type transitions do not proceed in immediate jumps from one extreme to the other, but occur in a graded and orderly sequential manner. At the molecular level, the best examples of these stepwise transitions are myofibrillar protein isoform exchanges. For the myosin heavy chain, this entails a sequence going from the fastest (MHCIIb) to the slowest (MHCI) isoform, and vice-versa. Depending on the basal protein isoform profile and hence the position within the fast-slow spectrum, the adaptive ranges of different fibers vary. A simple transition scheme has emerged from the multitude of data collected on fiber type conversions under a variety of conditions.

Regulation of total and myofibrillar protein breakdown in rat extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscle incubated flaccid or at resting length

The present study characterized total and myofibrillar protein breakdown rates in a muscle preparation frequently used in vitro, i.e. incubated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus (SOL) muscles of young rats. Total and myofibrillar protein breakdown rates were assessed by determining net production by the incubated muscles of tyrosine and 3-methylhistidine (3-MH) respectively. Both amino acids were determined by h.p.l.c. Both total and myofibrillar protein breakdown rates were higher in SOL than in EDL muscles and were decreased by incubating the muscles maintained at resting length, rather than flaccid. After fasting for 72 h, total protein breakdown (i.e. tyrosine release) was increased by 73% and 138% in EDL muscles incubated flaccid and at resting length respectively. Net production of tyrosine by SOL muscle was not significantly altered by fasting. In contrast, myofibrillar protein degradation (i.e. 3-MH release) was markedly increased by fasting in both muscles. When tissue was incubated in the presence of 1 munit of insulin/ml, total protein breakdown rate was inhibited by 17-20%, and the response to the hormone was similar in muscles incubated flaccid or at resting length. In contrast, myofibrillar protein breakdown rate was not altered by insulin in any of the muscle preparations. The results support the concepts of individual regulation of myofibrillar and non-myofibrillar proteins and of different effects of various conditions on protein breakdown in different types of skeletal muscle. Thus determination of both tyrosine and 3-MH production in red and white muscle is important for a more complete understanding of protein regulation in skeletal muscle.

Methods for studying protein synthesis and degradation in liver and skeletal muscle

Different methods used for measuring protein turnover in liver and skeletal muscle are described, with special emphasis on technical and practical aspects and the advantages and limitations of different techniques. In the first part of the review, the concept of precursor specific radioactivity and its importance for accurate determination of protein synthesis rate is discussed. In the second part, different in vivo techniques for protein turnover measurements are reviewed, including continuous administration of tracer amino acid, flooding dose technique, indirect measurement of protein synthesis, and estimation of protein degradation in vivo. In the third part of the report, in vitro techniques are described, including measurement of protein turnover in incubated liver slices, perfused liver, isolated hepatocytes, incubated isolated muscles or muscle biopsies, and perfused rat hemicorpus. In vivo techniques are preferred when accurate absolute values of protein turnover rates are desired. In vitro techniques offer the advantage of standardized conditions, maintaining strict control of substrate and hormone concentrations, and eliminating complicating interactions with other tissues. For several in vitro techniques, a good correlation has been demonstrated between relative changes in protein turnover in vitro and in vivo in different conditions.

Effects of immobilization on rat hind limb muscles under non-weight-bearing conditions

Dorsiflexion of one unloaded hind limb caused hypertrophy of the soleus relative to weight-bearing controls and faster growth of the plantaris and gastrocnemius muscles relative to the contralateral freely moving muscles. Unloading of the soleus muscle diminished primarily myofibrillar proteins whereas stretching increased all proteins. Stretching the soleus increased RNA, accelerated, especially, in vitro synthesis of sarcoplasmic proteins, and diminished in vitro proteolysis. Both in vivo and in vitro results showed slower synthesis and faster degradation in the freely moving than in the weight-bearing soleus muscle, faster synthesis and slower degradation in the stretched than in the freely moving soleus muscle, and faster degradation in the stretched than in the weight-bearing soleus muscle. Hence, stretching of the soleus muscle prevented changes in mass and protein metabolism produced by unloading. Shortening of the extensor digitorum longus muscle produced less muscle growth, slowed in vitro protein synthesis, and lowered RNA relative to the contralateral, freely moving muscle.

Skeletal muscle RNA synthesis following endurance and sprint exercise

Two groups of male Wistar endurance- and sprint-acclimatized rats were used to study the time course of uridine uptake into skeletal muscle RNA following acute exercise. Endurance and sprint animals were killed at 0, 2, 18, 24, and 48 hr following 1 hr of either endurance (30 m X min-1) or sprint running (90 m X min-1). Red vastus (RV) and white vastus (WV) muscle samples were incubated for 30 min in a medium containing 1 microCi 5-[14C]uridine. Uridine uptake was determined in the myofibrillar-nuclear, mitochondrial, microsomal, and soluble fractions of skeletal muscle via liquid scintillation counting. A significant decrease in whole muscle uridine uptake into RNA was observed in RV muscles following endurance exercise as well as in WV of sprint-exercised rats. Sprint-exercised RV had significantly greater uridine uptake into RNA in the homogenate and myofibrillar-nuclear fraction 2-18 hr post exercise. Increased mitochondrial uridine incorporation into RNA was observed in endurance- and sprint-exercised muscles between 18 and 48 hr post exercise. A very large increment in microsomal uridine uptake was observed in sprint-exercised WV at 24 hr. These data suggest that while whole muscle RNA synthesis may decline immediately following acute exercise overload, increases are observed in specific muscle fractions. These changes appear to coincide with protein-specific adaptations to sprint and endurance exercise.

The activation of protein degradation in muscle by Ca2+ or muscle injury does not involve a lysosomal mechanism

By use of different inhibitors, we distinguished three proteolytic processes in rat skeletal muscle. When soleus muscles maintained under tension were exposed to the calcium ionophore A23187 or were incubated under no tension in the presence of Ca2+, net protein breakdown increased by 50-80%. Although leupeptin and E-64 inhibit this acceleration of protein breakdown almost completely, other agents that prevent lysosomal function, such as methylamine or leucine methyl ester, did not inhibit this effect. A similar increase in net proteolysis occurred in muscle fibres injured by cutting, and this response was also inhibited by leupeptin, but not by methylamine. In contrast, all these inhibitors markedly decreased the 2-fold increase in protein breakdown induced by incubating muscles without insulin and leucine, isoleucine and valine. In addition, the low rate of proteolysis seen in muscles under passive tension in complete medium was not affected by any of these inhibitors. Thus the basal degradative process in muscle does not involve lysosomes or thiol proteinases, and muscle can enhance protein breakdown by two mechanisms: lack of insulin and nutrients enhances a lysosomal process in muscle, as in other cells, whereas Ca2+ and muscle injury activate a distinct pathway involving cytosolic thiol proteinase(s).

Protein synthesis and degradation in biopsies of rat skeletal muscle

The use of 20- to 40-mg biopsies of rat skeletal muscle to measure protein synthesis and degradation rates in vitro was investigated and compared to that of the intact extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscles. During incubations in oxygenated Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer with glucose, insulin, 23 amino acids at 10 times rat plasma levels, and [14C]tyrosine, the specific activity of intracellular tyrosine approximated that of the incubation medium and was constant in the biopsy, the EDL, and the soleus. The rate of incorporation of tyrosine into the protein of the biopsy was constant for 3 hr and was 39 and 32% of the rates of the EDL and soleus, respectively. The rate of release of tyrosine from protein in the biopsy during incubations in buffer with glucose and cycloheximide was constant for 3 hr and was intermediate between the rates of the EDL and soleus. The effects of starvation on the in vitro protein metabolism of the biopsy were the same as on the intact muscles. The 42% decrease in synthesis and the 53% increase in degradation in the biopsy were intermediate between the changes measured in the EDL and soleus muscles. The ability of this technique to identify proportional changes in the in vitro protein synthesis and degradation rates makes this a valid technique suitable for the measurement of changes of in vitro protein metabolism using serial biopsies from larger animals, including man.

A comparison of rates of protein turnover in rat diaphragm in vivo and in vitro

Protein synthesis and degradation rates in diaphragms from fed or starved rats were compared in vivo and in vitro. For fed rats, synthesis rates in vivo were approximately twice those in vitro, but for starved rats rates were similar. Degradation rates were less in vivo than in vitro in diaphragms from either fed or starved rats.

Morphological observations and rates of protein synthesis in rat muscles incubated in vitro

Isolated soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles from small (40 or 70 g) rats developed a central and substantial (13-57%) loss of glycogen and alpha-glucan phosphorylase activity after incubation for up to 2 h in vitro. The central 'core' of the muscles showed a marked decrease in the rate of protein synthesis. It is suggested that during brief periods of incubation the central core of isolated rat muscles becomes hypoxic, and that consequently the viability of such muscles must be in question.

Skeletal muscle protein synthesis and degradation in vitro: effects of temperature

We compared the structure, function, protein synthesis, and degradation of 70- to 95-mg rat soleus muscles during 120 min of incubation at 20 and 37 degrees C. At 37 degrees C, muscles were characterized by a damaged central core region and a decline of isometric tension development during incubation. Protein synthesis in the core region at 37 degrees C was depressed relative to the peripheral region. At 20 degrees C, developed tension remained constant during incubation, and synthesis rates in the core region were not different from the peripheral region. Compared with fresh muscle, ATP concentration after incubation was not affected by temperature. After equilibration of phenylalanine specific activity between extracellular and intracellular spaces (60 min at 20 degrees C; 30 min at 37 degrees C), rates of protein synthesis at 20 [0.048 nmol tyrosine (Tyr) X mg wet mass-1 X 2 h-1] and 37 degrees C (0.160 nmol Tyr X mg wet mass-1 X 2 h-1) were linear up to 180 and 120 min, respectively. Rates of protein degradation at 20 (0.076 nmol Tyr X mg wet mass-1 X 2 h-1) and 37 degrees C (0.248 nmol Tyr X mg wet mass-1 X 2 h-1) measured after 60 min were linear up to 180 and 120 min, respectively. Incubation at 20 degrees C offers an approach to study 70- to 95-mg muscles in vitro without compromising structure and function.