scholarly journals Down-Regulation of Akt/Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Signaling Pathway in Response to Myostatin Overexpression in Skeletal Muscle

Endocrinology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 150 (1) ◽  
pp. 286-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adel Amirouche ◽  
Anne-Cécile Durieux ◽  
Sébastien Banzet ◽  
Nathalie Koulmann ◽  
Régis Bonnefoy ◽  
...  

Myostatin, a member of the TGF-β family, has been identified as a master regulator of embryonic myogenesis and early postnatal skeletal muscle growth. However, cumulative evidence also suggests that alterations in skeletal muscle mass are associated with dysregulation in myostatin expression and that myostatin may contribute to muscle mass loss in adulthood. Two major branches of the Akt pathway are relevant for the regulation of skeletal muscle mass, the Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, which controls protein synthesis, and the Akt/forkhead box O (FOXO) pathway, which controls protein degradation. Here, we provide further insights into the mechanisms by which myostatin regulates skeletal muscle mass by showing that myostatin negatively regulates Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Electrotransfer of a myostatin expression vector into the tibialis anterior muscle of Sprague Dawley male rats increased myostatin protein level and decreased skeletal muscle mass 7 d after gene electrotransfer. Using RT-PCR and immunoblot analyses, we showed that myostatin overexpression was ineffective to alter the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. By contrast, myostatin acted as a negative regulator of Akt/mTOR pathway. This was supported by data showing that the phosphorylation of Akt on Thr308, tuberous sclerosis complex 2 on Thr1462, ribosomal protein S6 on Ser235/236, and 4E-BP1 on Thr37/46 was attenuated 7 d after myostatin gene electrotransfer. The data support the conclusion that Akt/mTOR signaling is a key target that accounts for myostatin function during muscle atrophy, uncovering a novel role for myostatin in protein metabolism and more specifically in the regulation of translation in skeletal muscle. Myostatin down-regulates Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway uncovering a novel role for myostatin in protein metabolism and more specifically in the regulation of translation in skeletal muscle.

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Espen E. Spangenburg

Understanding the mechanisms that regulate skeletal muscle mass has remained a focus of numerous researchers for many years. Recent investigations have begun to elucidate cellular signaling mechanisms that regulate skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with significant effort being focused on the Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. The Akt/mTOR pathway plays a major role in regulating the initiation of protein synthesis after the onset of mechanical loading of skeletal muscle. Although a number of downstream substrates for Akt/mTOR have been elucidated, very little is known about the upstream mechanisms that mechanical load employs to activate the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Thus, the purpose of this review is to discuss potential mechanisms that may contribute to the activation of the Akt/mTOR signaling mechanism in mechanically loaded skeletal muscle.


2013 ◽  
Vol 289 (3) ◽  
pp. 1551-1563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae-Sung You ◽  
Hannah C. Lincoln ◽  
Chan-Ran Kim ◽  
John W. Frey ◽  
Craig A. Goodman ◽  
...  

The activation of mTOR signaling is essential for mechanically induced changes in skeletal muscle mass, and previous studies have suggested that mechanical stimuli activate mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) signaling through a phospholipase D (PLD)-dependent increase in the concentration of phosphatidic acid (PA). Consistent with this conclusion, we obtained evidence which further suggests that mechanical stimuli utilize PA as a direct upstream activator of mTOR signaling. Unexpectedly though, we found that the activation of PLD is not necessary for the mechanically induced increases in PA or mTOR signaling. Motivated by this observation, we performed experiments that were aimed at identifying the enzyme(s) that promotes the increase in PA. These experiments revealed that mechanical stimulation increases the concentration of diacylglycerol (DAG) and the activity of DAG kinases (DGKs) in membranous structures. Furthermore, using knock-out mice, we determined that the ζ isoform of DGK (DGKζ) is necessary for the mechanically induced increase in PA. We also determined that DGKζ significantly contributes to the mechanical activation of mTOR signaling, and this is likely driven by an enhanced binding of PA to mTOR. Last, we found that the overexpression of DGKζ is sufficient to induce muscle fiber hypertrophy through an mTOR-dependent mechanism, and this event requires DGKζ kinase activity (i.e. the synthesis of PA). Combined, these results indicate that DGKζ, but not PLD, plays an important role in mechanically induced increases in PA and mTOR signaling. Furthermore, this study suggests that DGKζ could be a fundamental component of the mechanism(s) through which mechanical stimuli regulate skeletal muscle mass.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naser-Aldin Lashgari ◽  
Nazanin Momeni Roudsari ◽  
Saeideh Momtaz ◽  
Negar Ghanaatian ◽  
Parichehr Kohansal ◽  
...  

: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a general term for a group of chronic and progressive disorders. Several cellular and biomolecular pathways are implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD, yet the etiology is unclear. Activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in the intestinal epithelial cells was also shown to induce inflammation. This review focuses on the inhibition of the mTOR signaling pathway and its potential application in treating IBD. We also provide an overview on plant-derived compounds that are beneficial for the IBD management through modulation of the mTOR pathway. Data were extracted from clinical, in vitro and in vivo studies published in English between 1995 and May 2019, which were collected from PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus and Cochrane library databases. Results of various studies implied that inhibition of the mTOR signaling pathway downregulates the inflammatory processes and cytokines involved in IBD. In this context, a number of natural products might reverse the pathological features of the disease. Furthermore, mTOR provides a novel drug target for IBD. Comprehensive clinical studies are required to confirm the efficacy of mTOR inhibitors in treating IBD.


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