scholarly journals Age-related responses to a bout of mechanotherapy in skeletal muscle of rats

2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 1782-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Van Pelt ◽  
Amy L. Confides ◽  
Sarah M. Abshire ◽  
Emily R. Hunt ◽  
Esther E. Dupont-Versteegden ◽  
...  

Cyclic compressive loading (CCL) is a massage mimetic that improves muscle regrowth from atrophy in adult rats. Therefore, we tested if a single bout of CCL increases anabolic signaling and protein synthesis in muscle during normal, weight-bearing conditions in gastrocnemius muscle from adult and aged rats. Male Brown Norway/F344 rats at 10 (adult) and 30 (aged) months of age were assigned control or CCL (receiving a single bout of CCL). Twenty-four hours following a single bout of CCL there was no change in protein synthesis, Akt, or GSK3β signaling at either age, despite adult rats having higher abundance and activation of mechanosensitive pathways (integrins and integrin-linked kinase). Murf1 was elevated in response to CCL in both age groups, potentially indicating muscle remodeling. Muscle from aged rats exhibited an increase in heat shock protein (HSP) 25 and HSP70 and in the cold shock protein RNA-binding motif 3 (RBM3), demonstrating a unique stress response to CCL in aged muscle only. Finally, muscle from aged rats exhibited higher basal protein synthesis that was corroborated by elevated eIF2Bε and rpS6 signaling, without an additional effect of CCL. In summary, a single bout of CCL does not have anabolic effects on skeletal muscle during normal, weight-bearing conditions, even though it has previously been shown to improve regrowth from atrophy. These data demonstrate that interventions that may help recover from atrophy do not necessarily induce muscle hypertrophy in unperturbed conditions. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Massage has been demonstrated to be an effective mechanotherapy to improve recovery from atrophy in adult skeletal muscle; however, this study shows that a single bout of massage fails to increase protein synthesis or anabolic signaling in adult or aged skeletal muscle during normal, weight-bearing conditions. Altogether, our data suggest massage is a useful mechanotherapy for preserving skeletal muscle when combined with other interventions but is not an anabolic stimulus on its own.

2006 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 1158-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhua Li ◽  
Lawrence I. Sinoway ◽  
Yuk-Chow Ng

Skeletal muscle performance declines with advancing age, and the underlying mechanism is not completely understood. A large body of convincing evidence has demonstrated a crucial role for interstitial K+ concentration ([K+]o) in modulating contractile function of skeletal muscle. The present study tested the hypothesis that during muscle contraction there is a greater accumulation of [K+]o in aged compared with adult skeletal muscle. Twitch muscle contraction was induced by electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerves of 8- and 32-mo-old Fischer 344 × Brown Norway rats. Levels of [K+]o were measured continuously by a microdialysis technique with the probes inserted into the gastrocnemius muscle. Stimulation at 1, 3, and 5 Hz elevated muscle [K+]o by 52, 64, and 88% in adult rats, and by 78, 98, and 104% in aged rats, respectively, and the increase was significantly higher in aged than in adult rats. Recovery for [K+]o, as measured by the time for [K+]o to recover by 20 and 50% from peak response after stimulation, was slower in aged rats. Ouabain (5 mM), a specific inhibitor of the Na+-K+ pump, was added in the perfusate to inhibit the reuptake of K+ into the cells to assess the role of the pump in the overall K+ balance. Ouabain elevated muscle [K+]o at rest, and the effect was significantly attenuated in aged animals. The present data demonstrated an augmented [K+]o in aged skeletal muscle compared with adult skeletal muscle, and the data suggested that an alteration in the function of the Na+-K+ pump may contribute, in part, to the deficiency in K+ balance in skeletal muscle of aged rats.


1997 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Widrick ◽  
Robert H. Fitts

Widrick, Jeffrey J., and Robert H. Fitts. Peak force and maximal shortening velocity of soleus fibers after non-weight-bearing and resistance exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(1): 189–195, 1997.—This study examined the effectiveness of resistance exercise as a countermeasure to non-weight-bearing-induced alterations in the absolute peak force, normalized peak force (force/fiber cross-sectional area), peak stiffness, and maximal shortening velocity ( V o) of single permeabilized type I soleus muscle fibers. Adult rats were subjected to one of the following treatments: normal weight bearing (WB), non-weight bearing (NWB), or NWB with exercise treatments (NWB+Ex). The hindlimbs of the NWB and NWB+Ex rats were suspended for 14 days via tail harnesses. Four times each day, the NWB+Ex rats were removed from suspension and performed 10 climbs (∼15 cm each) up a steep grid with a 500-g mass (∼1.5 times body mass) attached to their tail harness. NWB was associated with significant reductions in type I fiber diameter, absolute force, normalized force, and stiffness. Exercise treatments during NWB attenuated the decline in fiber diameter and absolute force by almost 60% while maintaining normalized force and stiffness at WB levels. Type I fiber V oincreased by 33% with NWB and remained at this elevated level despite the exercise treatments. We conclude that in comparison to intermittent weight bearing only (J. J. Widrick, J. J. Bangart, M. Karhanek, and R. H. Fitts. J. Appl. Physiol. 80: 981–987, 1996), resistance exercise was more effective in attenuating alterations in type I soleus fiber absolute force, normalized force, and stiffness but was less effective in restoring type I fiber V oto WB levels.


1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (6) ◽  
pp. E1061-E1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Meynial-Denis ◽  
M. Mignon ◽  
A. Miri ◽  
J. Imbert ◽  
E. Aurousseau ◽  
...  

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is a glucocorticoid-inducible enzyme that has a key role for glutamine synthesis in muscle. We hypothesized that the glucocorticoid induction of GS could be altered in aged rats, because alterations in the responsiveness of some genes to glucocorticoids were reported in aging. We compared the glucocorticoid-induced GS in fast-twitch and slow-twitch skeletal muscles (tibialis anterior and soleus, respectively) and heart from adult (age 6-8 mo) and aged (age 22 mo) female rats. All animals received dexamethasone (Dex) in their drinking water (0.77 +/- 0.10 and 0.80 +/- 0.08 mg/day per adult and aged rat, respectively) for 5 days. Dex caused an increase in both GS activity and GS mRNA in fast-twitch and slow-twitch skeletal muscles from adult and aged rats. In contrast, Dex increased GS activity in heart of adult rats, without any concomitant change in GS mRNA levels. Furthermore, Dex did not affect GS activity in aged heart. Thus the responsiveness of GS to an excess of glucocorticoids is preserved in skeletal muscle but not in heart from aged animals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 1074-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall A. Naimo ◽  
Erik P. Rader ◽  
James Ensey ◽  
Michael L. Kashon ◽  
Brent A. Baker

The purpose of this study was to characterize the growth and remodeling molecular signaling response in aged skeletal muscle following 1 mo of “resistance-type exercise” training. Male Fischer 344 × Brown Norway hybrid rats aged 3 (young) and 30 mo (old) underwent stretch-shortening contraction (SSC) loading 2 or 3 days/wk; muscles were removed 72 h posttraining. Young rats SSC loaded 3 (Y3x) or 2 days/wk (Y2x) adapted via increased work performance. Old rats SSC loaded 3 days/wk (O3x) maladapted via decreased negative work; however, old rats SSC loaded 2 days/wk (O2x) adapted through improved negative and positive work. Y3x, Y2x, and O2x, but not O3x, displayed hypertrophy via larger fiber area and myonuclear domains. Y3x, Y2x, and O2x differentially expressed 19, 30, and 8 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt genes, respectively, whereas O3x only expressed 2. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that rats in the adapting groups presented growth and remodeling processes (i.e., increased protein synthesis), whereas O3x demonstrated inflammatory signaling. In conclusion, reducing SSC-loading frequency in aged rodents positively influences the molecular signaling microenvironment, promoting muscle adaptation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Decreasing resistance-type exercise training frequency in old rodents led to adaptation through enhancements in performance, fiber areas, and myonuclear domains. Modifying frequency influenced the molecular environment through improvements in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt pathway-specific expression and bioinformatics indicating increased protein synthesis. Reducing training frequency may be appropriate in older individuals who respond unfavorably to higher frequencies (i.e., maladaptation); overall, modifying the parameters of the exercise prescription can affect the cellular environment, ultimately leading to adaptive or maladaptive outcomes.


1998 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 1903-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald R. Gomes ◽  
Frank W. Booth

We examined the age-related association in skeletal muscle between atrophy and expression of mRNAs encoding both the γ-subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR), and myogenin, a transcription factor that upregulates expression of the γ-subunit promoter. Gastrocnemius and biceps brachii muscles were collected from young (2-mo-old), adult (18-mo-old), and old (31-mo-old) Fischer 344/Brown Norway F1 generation cross male rats. In the gastrocnemius muscles of old vs. young and adult rats, lower muscle mass was accompanied by significantly elevated AChR γ-subunit and myogenin mRNA levels. In contrast, the biceps brachii muscle exhibited neither atrophy nor as drastic a change in AChR γ-subunit and myogenin mRNA levels with age. Expression of the AChR ε-subunit mRNA did not change with age in either gastrocnemius or biceps brachii muscles. Thus changes in skeletal muscle AChR γ-subunit and myogenin mRNA levels may be more related to atrophy than to chronological age in old rats.


2020 ◽  
Vol 319 (2) ◽  
pp. C419-C431
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Van Pelt ◽  
Ivan J. Vechetti ◽  
Marcus M. Lawrence ◽  
Kathryn L. Van Pelt ◽  
Parth Patel ◽  
...  

Small noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of skeletal muscle size, and circulating miRNAs within extracellular vesicles (EVs) may contribute to atrophy and its associated systemic effects. The purpose of this study was to understand how muscle atrophy and regrowth alter in vivo serum EV miRNA content. We also associated changes in serum EV miRNA with protein synthesis, protein degradation, and miRNA within muscle, kidney, and liver. We subjected adult (10 mo) F344/BN rats to three conditions: weight bearing (WB), hindlimb suspension (HS) for 7 days to induce muscle atrophy, and HS for 7 days followed by 7 days of reloading (HSR). Microarray analysis of EV miRNA content showed that the overall changes in serum EV miRNA were predicted to target major anabolic, catabolic, and mechanosensitive pathways. MiR-203a-3p was the only miRNA demonstrating substantial differences in HS EVs compared with WB. There was a limited association of EV miRNA content to the corresponding miRNA content within the muscle, kidney, or liver. Stepwise linear regression demonstrated that EV miR-203a-3p was correlated with muscle mass and muscle protein synthesis and degradation across all conditions. Finally, EV miR-203a-3p expression was significantly decreased in human subjects who underwent unilateral lower limb suspension (ULLS) to induce muscle atrophy. Altogether, we show that serum EV miR-203a-3p expression is related to skeletal muscle protein turnover and atrophy. We suggest that serum EV miR-203a-3p content may be a useful biomarker and future work should investigate whether serum EV miR-203a-3p content is mechanistically linked to protein synthesis and degradation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (2) ◽  
pp. R411-R422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Alway ◽  
Hans Degens ◽  
Dawn A. Lowe ◽  
Gururaj Krishnamurthy

The objective of this study was to determine if levels of repressors to myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) differ between muscles from young adult and aged animals. Total RNA from plantaris, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles of Fischer 344 × Brown Norway rats aged 9 mo (young adult, n = 10) and 37 mo (aged, n = 10) was reverse transcribed and then amplified by PCR. To obtain a semiquantitative measure of the mRNA levels, PCR signals were normalized to cyclophilin or 18S signals from the corresponding reverse transcription product. Normalization to cyclophilin and 18S gave similar results. The mRNA levels of MyoD and myogenin were ∼275–650% ( P < 0.001) and ∼500–1,100% ( P < 0.001) greater, respectively, in muscles from aged compared with young adults. In contrast, the protein levels were lower in plantaris and gastrocnemius muscles and similar in the soleus muscle of aged vs. young adult rats. Id repressor mRNA levels were ∼300–900% greater in fast and slow muscles of aged animals ( P ≤ 0.02), and Mist 1 mRNA was ∼50% greater in the plantaris and gastrocnemius muscles ( P< 0.01). The mRNA level of Twist mRNA was not significantly affected by aging. Id-1, Id-2, and Id-3 protein levels were ∼17–740% greater ( P < 0.05) in hindlimb muscles of aged rats compared with young adult rats. The elevated levels of Id mRNA and protein suggest that MRF repressors may play a role in gene regulation of fast and slow muscles in aged rats.


1994 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 2814-2819 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Henriksen ◽  
K. A. Munoz ◽  
A. T. Aannestad ◽  
M. E. Tischler

The adaptive responses of myocardial protein metabolism to chronic increases in work load were evaluated in juvenile female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were studied under four conditions: normal weight bearing (N), voluntary wheel running (WR) for < or = 4 wk, head-down-tilt suspension for 7 days (HS), or wheel running (2 or 3 wk) followed by 7 days of suspension (WR-HS). WR activity plateaued after 2 wk at 16 km/day and was maintained through week 4. WR did not affect normal whole body growth. Protein metabolism was studied by measuring heart protein content and in vivo fractional rate of protein synthesis with the [3H]phenylalanine “flooding dose” method. Two weeks of WR increased (P < 0.05) absolute heart protein content (22%) and protein synthesis (21%) relative to age-matched N group values. These differences in protein content and synthesis were maintained for > or = 4 wk. Rats failed to gain significant body weight during suspension. Heart protein content increased (P < 0.05) by 12% to 26% as did protein synthesis (14% to 22%) in HS compared with N group. In WR-HS group, cardiac protein content and protein synthesis were maintained at significantly elevated levels. These findings indicate that 1) high-volume WR by young rats provides a convenient noninvasive method for producing rapid and substantial cardiac hypertrophy, which results, at least in part, from enhanced cardiac protein synthesis; and 2) head-down suspension of sedentary juvenile rats leads to increased cardiac protein synthesis, which helps to increase cardiac protein content despite a lack of whole body growth.


2013 ◽  
Vol 304 (10) ◽  
pp. R887-R898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna H. Korzick ◽  
Daniel R. Sharda ◽  
Anne M. Pruznak ◽  
Charles H. Lang

The present study sought to determine whether the protein catabolic response in skeletal muscle produced by chronic alcohol feeding was exaggerated in aged rats. Adult (3 mo) and aged (18 mo) female F344 rats were fed a nutritionally complete liquid diet containing alcohol (36% of total calories) or an isocaloric isonitrogenous control diet for 20 wk. Muscle (gastrocnemius) protein synthesis, as well as mTOR and proteasome activity did not differ between control-fed adult and aged rats, despite the increased TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA and decreased IGF-I mRNA in muscle of aged rats. Compared with alcohol-fed adult rats, aged rats demonstrated an exaggerated alcohol-induced reduction in lean body mass and protein synthesis (both sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar) in gastrocnemius. Alcohol-fed aged rats had enhanced dephosphorylation of 4E-BP1, as well as enhanced binding of raptor with both mTOR and Deptor, and a decreased binding of raptor with 4E-BP1. Alcohol feeding of both adult and aged rats reduced RagA binding to raptor. The LKB1-AMPK-REDD1 pathway was upregulated in gastrocnemius from alcohol-fed aged rats. These exaggerated alcohol-induced effects in aged rats were associated with a greater decrease in muscle but not circulating IGF-I, but no further increase in inflammatory mediators. In contrast, alcohol did not exaggerate the age-induced increase in atrogin-1 and MuRF1 mRNA or the increased proteasome activity. Our results demonstrate that, compared with adult rats, the gastrocnemius from aged rats is more sensitive to the catabolic effects of alcohol on protein synthesis, but not protein degradation, and this exaggerated response may be AMPK-dependent.


1984 ◽  
Vol 222 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
W E Mitch ◽  
A S Clark

The effects of leucine, its metabolites, and the 2-oxo acids of valine and isoleucine on protein synthesis and degradation in incubated limb muscles of immature and adult rats were tested. Leucine stimulated protein synthesis but did not reduce proteolysis when leucine transamination was inhibited. 4-Methyl-2-oxopentanoate at concentrations as low as 0.25 mM inhibited protein degradation but did not change protein synthesis. The 2-oxo acids of valine and isoleucine did not change protein synthesis or degradation even at concentrations as high as 5 mM. 3-Methylvalerate, the irreversibly decarboxylated product of 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, decreased protein degradation at concentrations greater than or equal to 1 mM. This was not due to inhibition of 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate catabolism, because 0.5 mM-3-methylvalerate did not suppress proteolysis, even though it inhibited leucine decarboxylation by 30%; higher concentrations of 3-methylvalerate decreased proteolysis progressively without inhibiting leucine decarboxylation further. During incubation with [1-14C]- and [U-14C]-leucine, it was found that products of leucine catabolism formed subsequent to the decarboxylation of 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate accumulated intracellularly. This pattern was not seen during incubation with radiolabelled valine. Thus, the effect of leucine on muscle proteolysis requires transamination to 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate. The inhibition of muscle protein degradation by leucine is most sensitive to, but not specific for, its 2-oxo acid, 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate.


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