scholarly journals Skeletal-muscle growth and protein turnover

1975 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Millward ◽  
P J Garlick ◽  
R J C Stewart ◽  
D O Nnanyelugo ◽  
J C Waterlow

Because of turnover, protein synthesis and breakdown can each be involved in the regulation of the growth of tissue protein. To investigate the regulation of skeletal-muscle-protein growth we measured rates of protein synthesis and breakdown in growing rats during development on a good diet, during development on a marginally low-protein diet and during rehabilitation on a good diet after a period of severe protein deficiency. Rates of protein synthesis were measured in vivo with a constant intravenous infusion of [14C]tyrosine. The growth rate of muscle protein was measured and the rate of breakdown calculated as breakdown rate=synthesis rate-growth rate. These measurements showed that during development on a good diet there was a fall with age in the rate of protein synthesis resulting from a fall in capacity (RNA concentration) and activity (synthesis rate per unit of RNA). There was a fall with age in the breakdown rate so that the rate was highest in the weaning rats, with a half-life of 3 days. There was a direct correlation between the fractional growth and breakdown rates. During rehabilitation on the good diet, rapid growth was also accompanied by high rates of protein breakdown. During growth on the inadequate diet protein synthesis rates were lesss than in controls, but growth occurred because of decreased rates of protein breakdown. This compression was not complete, however, since ultimate muscle size was only one-half that of controls. It is suggested that increased rates of protein breakdown are a necessary accompaniment to muscle growth and may result from the way in which myofibrils proliferate.

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (4) ◽  
pp. R1091-R1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Hui Fang ◽  
Bing-Guo Li ◽  
Jing Jing Wang ◽  
Josef E. Fischer ◽  
Per-Olof Hasselgren

Thermal injury is associated with a pronounced catabolic response in skeletal muscle, reflecting inhibited protein synthesis and increased protein breakdown, in particular myofibrillar protein breakdown. Administration of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has a nitrogen-sparing effect after burn injury, but the influence of this treatment on protein turnover rates in skeletal muscle is not known. In the present study, we examined the effect of IGF-I on muscle protein synthesis and breakdown rates following burn injury in rats. After a 30% total body surface area burn injury or sham procedure, rats were treated with a continuous infusion of IGF-I (3.5 or 7 mg ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ 24 h−1) for 24 h. Protein synthesis and breakdown rates were determined in incubated extensor digitorum longus muscles. Burn injury resulted in increased total and myofibrillar protein breakdown rates and reduced protein synthesis in muscle. The increase in protein breakdown rates was blocked by both doses of IGF-I and the burn-induced inhibition of muscle protein synthesis was partially reversed by the higher dose of the hormone. IGF-I did not influence muscle protein turnover rates in nonburned rats. The results suggest that the catabolic response to burn injury in skeletal muscle can be inhibited by IGF-I.


1982 ◽  
Vol 204 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
W J Carter ◽  
W S V W Benjamin ◽  
F H Faas

The effect of T3 (3,3′,5-tri-iodothyronine) on protein turnover in skeletal and cardiac muscle was measured in intact rats by means of a 6 h [14C]tyrosine-infusion technique. Treatment with 25-30 micrograms of T3/100 g body wt. daily for 4-7 days increased the fractional rate of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. Since the fractional growth rate of the muscle was decreased or unchanged, T3 treatment increased the rate of muscle protein breakdown. These findings suggest that increased protein degradation is an important factor in decreasing skeletal-muscle mass in hyperthyroidism. In contrast with skeletal muscle, T3 treatment for 7 days caused an equivalent increase in the rate of cardiac muscle growth and protein synthesis. This suggests that hyperthyroidism does not increase protein breakdown in heart muscle as it does in skeletal muscle. The failure of T3 to increase proteolysis in heart muscle may be due to a different action on the cardiac myocyte or to systemic effects of T3 which increase cardiac work.


2013 ◽  
Vol 304 (3) ◽  
pp. E282-E293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Harris ◽  
Donald J. Roohk ◽  
Mark Fitch ◽  
Benjamin M. Boudignon ◽  
Bernard P. Halloran ◽  
...  

Glucocorticoids are extremely effective anti-inflammatory therapies, but their clinical use is limited due to severe side effects, including osteoporosis, muscle wasting, fat redistribution, and skin thinning. Here we use heavy water labeling and mass spectrometry to measure fluxes through metabolic pathways impacted by glucocorticoids. We combine these methods with measurements of body composition in corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-transgenic (Tg)+ mice that have chronically elevated, endogenously produced corticosterone and a phenotype that closely mimics Cushing's disease in humans. CRH-Tg+ mice had increased adipose mass, adipose triglyceride synthesis, and greatly increased triglyceride/fatty acid cycling in subcutaneous and abdominal fat depots and increased de novo lipogenesis in the abdominal depot. In bone, CRH-Tg+ mice had decreased bone mass, absolute collagen synthesis rates, and collagen breakdown rate. In skin, CRH-Tg+ mice had decreased skin thickness and absolute collagen synthesis rates but no decrease in the collagen breakdown rate. In muscle, CRH-Tg+ mice had decreased muscle mass and absolute protein synthesis but no decrease in the protein breakdown rate. We conclude that chronic exposure to endogenous glucocorticoid excess in mice is associated with ongoing decreases in bone collagen, skin collagen, and muscle protein synthesis without compensatory reduction (coupling) of breakdown rates in skin and muscle. Both of these actions contribute to reduced protein pool sizes. We also conclude that increased cycling between triglycerides and free fatty acids occurs in both abdominal and subcutaneous fat depots in CRH-Tg+ mice. CRH-Tg mice have both increased lipolysis and increased triglyceride synthesis in adipose tissue.


1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (5) ◽  
pp. E856-E863 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Sjolin ◽  
H. Stjernstrom ◽  
G. Friman ◽  
J. Larsson ◽  
J. Wahren

The present investigation was undertaken to study whether, in human infection of varying severity, peripheral 3-methylhistidine efflux and urinary excretion are associated with net protein degradation and to estimate the protein synthesis rate from the combined effluxes of 3-methylhistidine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. Quadruplicate femoral arteriovenous differences of 3-methylhistidine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine were multiplied by leg plasma flow in 15 infected patients. Leg effluxes for 3-methylhistidine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine were -0.074 +/- 0.011, -2.57 +/- 0.43, and -3.17 +/- 0.44 mumol/min, respectively. There was a significant linear relationship (P less than 0.01) between the effluxes of tyrosine and phenylalanine and the efflux and urinary excretion of 3-methylhistidine. A significant release of tyrosine and phenylalanine was observed in patients studied at the 3-methylhistidine level seen in normal healthy subjects. It is concluded that in infection 1) there is an increased breakdown of skeletal muscle protein and a reduced rate of protein synthesis, with the latter being relatively more important in patients with mild disease; and 2) urinary 3-methylhistidine excretion is associated with net skeletal muscle protein degradation for the patient group studied.


2004 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 601-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga TJÄDER ◽  
Pia ESSEN ◽  
Peter J. GARLICK ◽  
Margaret A. McMNURLAN ◽  
Olav ROOYACKERS ◽  
...  

Muscle protein catabolism is a considerable clinical problem following surgery. However, the impact of surgical trauma on muscle protein synthesis is not well characterized. In this pilot study, we therefore investigated whether the severity of surgical trauma is related to a decrease in muscle protein synthesis rate in humans. Metabolically healthy patients (n=28) were included in the study. Eight of the patients were day-care patients undergoing minor breast surgery (defined as minor surgery). The other 20 patients were subjected to major abdominal surgery and were therefore scheduled to stay overnight in the recovery room during the first postoperative night (defined as major surgery). Protein FSRs (fractional synthesis rates) in skeletal muscle were determined during a measurement period of 90 min before surgery and immediately after termination of surgery. FSR in skeletal muscle of the minor surgery patients was 1.72±0.25%/24 h before surgery and 1.67±0.29%/24 h after surgery (P=0.68). In the major surgery group, FSR was 1.62±0.30%/24 h before surgery and 1.57±0.40%/24 h (P=0.59) immediately following surgery. The observations made in this pilot study could not confirm a size-related decrease in muscle protein synthesis immediately following minor and major surgery. This finding is discussed in relation to confounders, postoperative course and to muscle protein degradation. The shortage of knowledge in this field is emphasized.


1979 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 974-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. W. Booth ◽  
M. J. Seider

The atrophy of skeletal muscle accruing from disuse, or limb immobilization, is caused by a decreased rate of protein synthesis and an increased rate of protein degradation. Currently, little information is available regarding the initial time of the decline in the rate of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. The purpose of the present study was to determine, as precisely as possible, the time at which the protein synthesis rate first begins to decline in skeletal muscle, utilizing immobilized limbs of rats for a model. A constant-infusion technique employing [14C]tyrosine was used to estimate protein synthesis rates. During the first 6 h of immobilization, a significant decline of 37% in the fractional rate of protein synthesis from the control level of 5.7%/day was observed. These results suggest that very early changes are occurring in molecular events that regulate protein synthesis in disused or immobilized skeletal muscle.


1990 ◽  
Vol 267 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
P O Hasselgren ◽  
M Hall-Angerås ◽  
U Angerås ◽  
D Benson ◽  
J H James ◽  
...  

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.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (4) ◽  
pp. E627-E633 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Ferrando ◽  
H. W. Lane ◽  
C. A. Stuart ◽  
J. Davis-Street ◽  
R. R. Wolfe

We sought to determine the extent to which the loss of lean body mass and nitrogen during inactivity was due to alterations in skeletal muscle protein metabolism. Six male subjects were studied during 7 days of diet stabilization and after 14 days of stimulated microgravity (-6 degrees bed rest). Nitrogen balance became more negative (P < 0.03) during the 2nd wk of bed rest. Leg and whole body lean mass decreased after bed rest (P < 0.05). Serum cortisol, insulin, insulin-like growth factor I, and testosterone values did not change. Arteriovenous model calculations based on the infusion of L-[ring-13C6]-phenylalanine in five subjects revealed a 50% decrease in muscle protein synthesis (PS; P < 0.03). Fractional PS by tracer incorporation into muscle protein also decreased by 46% (P < 0.05). The decrease in PS was related to a corresponding decrease in the sum of intracellular amino acid appearance from protein breakdown and inward transport. Whole body protein synthesis determined by [15N]alanine ingestion on six subjects also revealed a 14% decrease (P < 0.01). Neither model-derived nor whole body values for protein breakdown change significantly. These results indicate that the loss of body protein with inactivity is predominantly due to a decrease in muscle PS and that this decrease is reflected in both whole body and skeletal muscle measures.


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