bims-moremu Biomed News
on Molecular regulators of muscle mass
Issue of 2021‒08‒01
forty-one papers selected by
Anna Vainshtein
Craft Science Inc.
  1. MyD88-mediated signaling intercedes in neurogenic muscle atrophy through multiple mechanisms.
  2. Passive repetitive stretching is associated with greater muscle mass and cross-sectional area in the sarcopenic muscle.
  3. Circadian Genes as Exploratory Biomarkers in DMD: Results From Both the mdx Mouse Model and Patients.
  4. Murine muscle stem cell response to perturbations of the neuromuscular junction are attenuated with aging.
  5. The effects of glucagon and the target of rapamycin (TOR) on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and age-dependent sarcopenia in humans.
  6. Knockdown of CNN3 Impairs Myoblast Proliferation, Differentiation, and Protein Synthesis via the mTOR Pathway.
  7. PGC-1α regulates myonuclear accretion after moderate endurance training.
  8. A glimpse into the early window of muscle unloading.
  9. CRISPR gene editing in pluripotent stem cells reveals the function of MBNL proteins during human in vitro myogenesis.
  10. A semi-automated measurement of muscle fiber size using the Imaris software.
  11. The ESCRT-0 subcomplex component Hrs/Hgs is a master regulator of myogenesis via modulation of signaling and degradation pathways.
  12. Skeletal Muscle O-GlcNAc Transferase Action on Global Metabolism Is Partially Mediated Through Interleukin-15.
  13. Basal and resistance exercise-induced increase in protein synthesis is impaired in skeletal muscle of iron-deficient rats.
  14. Fasting increases 18:2-containing phosphatidylcholines to complement the decrease in 22:6-containing phosphatidylcholines in mouse skeletal muscle.
  15. Evaluating the Leucine Trigger Hypothesis to Explain the Post-prandial Regulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis in Young and Older Adults: A Systematic Review.
  16. Early resistance training-mediated stimulation of daily muscle protein synthetic responses to higher habitual protein intake in middle-aged adults.
  17. Transcriptome features of striated muscle aging and predictability of protein level changes.
  18. Indices of Defective Autophagy in Whole Muscle and Lysosome Enriched Fractions From Aged D2-mdx Mice.
  19. The impact of hindlimb disuse on sepsis-induced myopathy in mice.
  20. PROKR1 delivery by cell-derived vesicles restores the myogenic potential of Prokr1-deficient C2C12 myoblasts.
  21. Higher strength gain after hypoxic vs normoxic resistance training despite no changes in muscle thickness and fractional protein synthetic rate.
  22. Intrafamilial phenotypic heterogeneity related to a new DMD splice site variant.
  23. The Effect of Low-Load Resistance Training on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Trained Men: A Critically Appraised Topic.
  24. Analysis of long intergenic non-coding RNAs transcriptomic profiling in skeletal muscle growth during porcine embryonic development.
  25. Antimycin A-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is consistent with impaired insulin signalling in cultured skeletal muscle cells.
  26. The Expression Profiles of mRNAs and lncRNAs in Buffalo Muscle Stem Cells Driving Myogenic Differentiation.
  27. Stretch-induced satellite cell deformation incontracturedmuscles in children with cerebral palsy.
  28. Dynamic changes of miRNAs in skeletal muscle development at New Zealand rabbits.
  29. Transcriptome analysis using patient iPSC-derived skeletal myocytes: Bet1L as a new molecule possibly linked to neuromuscular degeneration in ALS.
  30. Sensitivity of subcellular components of neuromuscular junctions to decreased neuromuscular activity.
  31. Age-related susceptibility to insulin resistance arises from a combination of CPT1B decline and lipid overload.
  32. Sarcopenia versus cancer cachexia: the muscle wasting continuum in healthy and diseased aging.
  33. Downhill running exercise increases circulating level of myokine meteorin-like hormone in humans.
  34. miR-1 coordinately regulates lysosomal v-ATPase and biogenesis to impact proteotoxicity and muscle function during aging.
  35. Biglycan reduces body weight by regulating food intake in mice and improves glucose metabolism through AMPK/AKT dual pathways in skeletal muscle.
  36. Integration of segmented regression analysis with weighted gene correlation network analysis identifies genes whose expression is remodeled throughout physiological aging in mouse tissues.
  37. Muscle-tendon Crosstalk During Muscle Wasting.
  38. Optimized Molecular Interaction Networks for the Study of Skeletal Muscle.
  39. Branchiomeric Muscle Development Requires Proper Retinoic Acid Signaling.
  40. Individual physiological and mitochondrial responses during 12 weeks of intensified exercise.
  41. Elucidating the interaction between maternal physical activity and circulating myokines throughout gestation: A scoping review.
  1. FASEB J. 2021 Aug;35(8): e21821
    MyD88-mediated signaling intercedes in neurogenic muscle atrophy through multiple mechanisms.
    Arshiya Parveen, Kyle R Bohnert, Meiricris Tomaz da Silva, Yefei Wen, Raksha Bhat, Anirban Roy, Ashok Kumar.
      Skeletal muscle atrophy is a debilitating complication of many chronic disease states and disuse conditions including denervation. However, molecular and signaling mechanisms of muscle wasting remain less understood. Here, we demonstrate that the levels of several toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their downstream signaling adaptor, myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), are induced in skeletal muscle of mice in response to sciatic nerve denervation. Muscle-specific ablation of MyD88 mitigates denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy in mice. Targeted ablation of MyD88 suppresses the components of ubiquitin-proteasome system, autophagy, and FOXO transcription factors in skeletal muscle during denervation. We also found that specific inhibition of MyD88 reduces the activation of canonical nuclear factor-kappa (NF-κB) pathway and expression of receptors for inflammatory cytokines in denervated muscle. In contrast, inhibition of MyD88 stimulates the activation of non-canonical NF-κB signaling in denervated skeletal muscle. Ablation of MyD88 also inhibits the denervation-induced increase in phosphorylation of AMPK without having any effect on the phosphorylation of mTOR. Moreover, targeted ablation of MyD88 inhibits the activation of a few components of the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways, especially X-box protein 1 (XBP1). Importantly, myofiber-specific ablation of XBP1 mitigates denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy in mice. Collectively, our experiments suggest that TLR-MyD88 signaling mediates skeletal muscle wasting during denervation potentially through the activation of canonical NF-κB signaling, AMPK and UPR pathways.
    Keywords:  ER stress; NF-kappa B; XBP1; denervation; inflammation; skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202100777RR
  2. Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 27. 11(1): 15302
    Passive repetitive stretching is associated with greater muscle mass and cross-sectional area in the sarcopenic muscle.
    Yumin Wang, Satoshi Ikeda, Katsunori Ikoma.
      Mechanical stimulation has benefits for muscle mass and function. Passive stretching is widely performed in clinical rehabilitation medicine. However, the hypertrophic effects of passive repetitive stretching on senescent skeletal muscles against muscle atrophy remain unknown. We used senescence-accelerated model SAM-P8 mice. The gastrocnemius muscle was passively repetitive stretched by manual ankle dorsiflexion for 15 min, 5 days a week for 2 weeks under deep anesthesia. We examined the effects of passive stretching on muscle mass, myofiber cross-sectional area, muscle fiber type composition, satellite cell and myonuclei content, signaling pathways involved in muscle protein synthesis, and myogenic regulatory factors. The gastrocnemius muscle weight and fiber cross-sectional area of the stretched side was found greater compared with that of the unstretched side. Passive repetitive stretching increased the mRNA expression level of Akt, p70S6K, 4E-BP1, Myf5, myogenin, MuRF1.The phosphorylation level of p70S6K significantly increased in the stretched muscles, whereas of Akt and 4E-BP1 remained unchanged, compared to the unstretched side. The Pax7+ cells and myonuclei content did not differ between the stretched and unstretched muscles. These findings suggest that the hypertrophic or suppressed atrophic observation in the stretched muscles are mainly attributable to the protein turnover provoked by stretching. These findings are applicable to clinical muscle strengthening and sarcopenia prevention.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94709-0
  3. Front Physiol. 2021 ;12 678974
    Circadian Genes as Exploratory Biomarkers in DMD: Results From Both the mdx Mouse Model and Patients.
    Rachele Rossi, Maria Sofia Falzarano, Hana Osman, Annarita Armaroli, Chiara Scotton, Paola Mantuano, Brigida Boccanegra, Ornella Cappellari, Elena Schwartz, Anton Yuryev, Eugenio Mercuri, Enrico Bertini, Adele D'Amico, Marina Mora, Camilla Johansson, Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto, Annamaria De Luca, Alessandra Ferlini.
      Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare genetic disease due to dystrophin gene mutations which cause progressive weakness and muscle wasting. Circadian rhythm coordinates biological processes with the 24-h cycle and it plays a key role in maintaining muscle functions, both in animal models and in humans. We explored expression profiles of circadian circuit master genes both in Duchenne muscular dystrophy skeletal muscle and in its animal model, the mdx mouse. We designed a customized, mouse-specific Fluidic-Card-TaqMan-based assay (Fluid-CIRC) containing thirty-two genes related to circadian rhythm and muscle regeneration and analyzed gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles from both unexercised and exercised mdx mice. Based on this first analysis, we prioritized the 7 most deregulated genes in mdx mice and tested their expression in skeletal muscle biopsies from 10 Duchenne patients. We found that CSNK1E, SIRT1, and MYOG are upregulated in DMD patient biopsies, consistent with the mdx data. We also demonstrated that their proteins are detectable and measurable in the DMD patients' plasma. We suggest that CSNK1E, SIRT1, and MYOG might represent exploratory circadian biomarkers in DMD.
    Keywords:  Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD); RNA analysis; biomarker; circadian rhythm; mdx mice; skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.678974
  4. Elife. 2021 Jul 29. pii: e66749. [Epub ahead of print]10
    Murine muscle stem cell response to perturbations of the neuromuscular junction are attenuated with aging.
    Jacqueline Larouche, Mahir Mohiuddin, Jeongmoon J Choi, Peter J Ulintz, Paula M Fraczek, Kaitlyn Sabin, Sethuramasundaram Pitchiaya, Sarah J Kurpiers, Jesus Castor-Macias, Wenxuan Liu, Robert Louis Hastings, Lemuel A Brown, James F Markworth, Kanishka De Silva, Benjamin D Levi, Sofia D Merajver, Gregorio Valdez, Joe V Chakkalakal, Young Jang, Susan Brooks, Carlos A Aguilar.
      During aging and neuromuscular diseases, there is a progressive loss of skeletal muscle volume and function impacting mobility and quality of life. Muscle loss is often associated with denervation and a loss of resident muscle stem cells (satellite cells or MuSCs), however, the relationship between MuSCs and innervation has not been established. Herein, we administered severe neuromuscular trauma to a transgenic murine model that permits MuSC lineage tracing. We show that a subset of MuSCs specifically engraft in a position proximal to the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), the synapse between myofibers and motor neurons, in healthy young adult muscles. In aging and in a mouse model of neuromuscular degeneration (Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase knockout - Sod1-/-), this localized engraftment behavior was reduced. Genetic rescue of motor neurons in Sod1-/- mice reestablished integrity of the NMJ in a manner akin to young muscle and partially restored MuSC ability to engraft into positions proximal to the NMJ. Using single cell RNA-sequencing of MuSCs isolated from aged muscle, we demonstrate that a subset of MuSCs are molecularly distinguishable from MuSCs responding to myofiber injury and share similarity to synaptic myonuclei. Collectively, these data reveal unique features of MuSCs that respond to synaptic perturbations caused by aging and other stressors.
    Keywords:  mouse; regenerative medicine; stem cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66749
  5. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2021 Aug;pii: S2405-4577(21)00236-9. [Epub ahead of print]44 15-25
    The effects of glucagon and the target of rapamycin (TOR) on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and age-dependent sarcopenia in humans.
    María M Adeva-Andany, Carlos Fernández-Fernández, Yosua López-Pereiro, Isabel Castro-Calvo, Natalia Carneiro-Freire.
      BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Human target of rapamycin (TOR) is a kinase that stimulates protein synthesis in the skeletal muscle in response to amino acids and physical activity.METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on the PubMed database from its inception up to May 2021 to retrieve information on the effects of TOR and glucagon on muscle function. Articles written in English regarding human subjects were included.
    RESULTS: l-leucine activates TOR to initiate protein synthesis in the skeletal muscle. Glucagon has a crucial role suppressing skeletal muscle protein synthesis by increasing l-leucine oxidation and the irreversible loss of this amino acid. Glucagon-induced l-leucine oxidation suppresses TOR and attenuates the ability of skeletal muscle to synthesize proteins. Conditions associated with increased glucagon secretion typically feature reduced ability to synthesize proteins in the skeletal muscle that may evolve into sarcopenia. Animal protein ingestion, unlike vegetable protein, stimulates glucagon secretion. High intake of animal protein increases l-leucine oxidation and promotes the use of amino acids as fuel. Sarcopenia and arterial stiffness characteristically occur together in conditions featuring insulin resistance, such as aging. Insulin resistance mediates the relationship between aging and sarcopenia and arterial stiffness. The loss of skeletal muscle fibers that characterizes sarcopenia is followed by collagen and lipid accumulation. Likewise, insulin resistance is associated with arterial stiffness and intima-media thickening due to adaptive accretion of collagen and lipids in the arterial wall.
    CONCLUSIONS: Human TOR participates in the pathogenesis of sarcopenia and arterial stiffness, although its effects remain to be fully elucidated.
    Keywords:  Aging; Amino acids; Cardiovascular risk; Exercise; Glucagon; Insulin resistance; Protein synthesis; Sarcopenia; Sirolimus; Skeletal muscle; l-leucine
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2021.06.025
  6. Front Physiol. 2021 ;12 659272
    Knockdown of CNN3 Impairs Myoblast Proliferation, Differentiation, and Protein Synthesis via the mTOR Pathway.
    Yanling She, Cheng Li, Ting Jiang, Si Lei, Shanyao Zhou, Huacai Shi, Rui Chen.
      Background: Myogenesis is a complex process that requires optimal outside-in substrate-cell signaling. Calponin 3 (CNN3) plays an important role in regulating myogenic differentiation and muscle regeneration; however, the precise function of CNN3 in myogenesis regulation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of CNN3 in a knockdown model in the mouse muscle cell line C2C12.Methods: Myoblast proliferation, migration, differentiation, fusion, and protein synthesis were examined in CNN3 knockdown C2C12 mouse muscle cells. Involvement of the mTOR pathway in CNN3 signaling was explored by treating cells with the mTOR activator MHY1485. The regulatory mechanisms of CNN3 in myogenesis were further examined by RNA sequencing and subsequent gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA).
    Results: During proliferation, CNN3 knockdown caused a decrease in cell proliferation and migration. During differentiation, CNN3 knockdown inhibited myogenic differentiation, fusion, and protein synthesis in C2C12 cells via the AKT/mTOR and AMPK/mTOR pathways; this effect was reversed by MHY1485 treatment. Finally, KEGG and GSEA indicated that the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway is affected in CNN3 knockdown cell lines.
    Conclusion: CNN3 may promote C2C12 cell growth by regulating AKT/mTOR and AMPK/mTOR signaling. The KEGG and GSEA indicated that inhibiting CNN3 may activate several pathways, including the NOD-like receptor pathway and pathways involved in necroptosis, apoptosis, and inflammation.
    Keywords:  C2C12 myoblasts; CNN3; differentiation; mTOR pathway; proliferation; protein synthesis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.659272
  7. J Cell Physiol. 2021 Jul 28.
    PGC-1α regulates myonuclear accretion after moderate endurance training.
    Edmund Battey, Regula Furrer, Jacob Ross, Christoph Handschin, Julien Ochala, Matthew J Stroud.
      The transcriptional demands of skeletal muscle fibres are high and require hundreds of nuclei (myonuclei) to produce specialised contractile machinery and multiple mitochondria along their length. Each myonucleus spatially regulates gene expression in a finite volume of cytoplasm, termed the myonuclear domain (MND), which positively correlates with fibre cross-sectional area (CSA). Endurance training triggers adaptive responses in skeletal muscle, including myonuclear accretion, decreased MND sizes and increased expression of the transcription co-activator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α). Previous work has shown that overexpression of PGC-1α in skeletal muscle regulates mitochondrial biogenesis, myonuclear accretion and MND volume. However, whether PGC-1α is critical for these processes in adaptation to endurance training remained unclear. To test this, we evaluated myonuclear distribution and organisation in endurance-trained wild-type mice and mice lacking PGC-1α in skeletal muscle (PGC-1α mKO). Here, we show a differential myonuclear accretion response to endurance training that is governed by PGC-1α and is dependent on muscle fibre size. The positive relationship of MND size and muscle fibre CSA trended towards a stronger correlation in PGC-1a mKO versus control after endurance training, suggesting that myonuclear accretion was slightly affected with increasing fibre CSA in PGC-1α mKO. However, in larger fibres, the relationship between MND and CSA was significantly altered in trained versus sedentary PGC-1α mKO, suggesting that PGC-1α is critical for myonuclear accretion in these fibres. Accordingly, there was a negative correlation between the nuclear number and CSA, suggesting that in larger fibres myonuclear numbers fail to scale with CSA. Our findings suggest that PGC-1α is an important contributor to myonuclear accretion following moderate-intensity endurance training. This may contribute to the adaptive response to endurance training by enabling a sufficient rate of transcription of genes required for mitochondrial biogenesis.
    Keywords:  PGC-1 α; endurance exercise; mitochondria; myonuclei; skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.30539
  8. J Physiol. 2021 Jul 27.
    A glimpse into the early window of muscle unloading.
    Matthew H Brisendine, Jacob M Bond.
      
    Keywords:  atrophy; bedrest; calcium; disuse; neuromuscular junction; sarcopenia; skeletal muscle; unloading
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1113/JP282019
  9. Hum Mol Genet. 2021 Jul 26. pii: ddab218. [Epub ahead of print]
    CRISPR gene editing in pluripotent stem cells reveals the function of MBNL proteins during human in vitro myogenesis.
    Antoine Mérien, Julie Tahraoui-Bories, Michel Cailleret, Jean-Baptiste Dupont, Céline Leteur, Jérôme Polentes, Alexandre Carteron, Hélène Polvèche, Jean-Paul Concordet, Christian Pinset, Margot Jarrige, Denis Furling, Cécile Martinat.
      Alternative splicing has emerged as a fundamental mechanism for the spatiotemporal control of development. A better understanding of how this mechanism is regulated has the potential not only to elucidate fundamental biological principles, but also to decipher pathological mechanisms implicated in diseases where normal splicing networks are mis-regulated. Here, we took advantage of human pluripotent stem cells to decipher during human myogenesis the role of MBNL proteins, a family of tissue-specific splicing regulators whose loss of function is associated with Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1), an inherited neuromuscular disease. Thanks to the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) depleted in MBNL proteins and evaluated the consequences of their losses on the generation of skeletal muscle cells. Our results suggested that MBNL proteins are required for the late myogenic maturation. In addition, loss of MBNL1 and MBNL2 recapitulated the main features of DM1 observed in hiPSC-derived skeletal muscle cells. Comparative transcriptomic analyses also revealed the muscle-related processes regulated by these proteins that are commonly mis-regulated in DM1. Together, our study reveals the temporal requirement of MBNL proteins in human myogenesis and should facilitate the identification of new therapeutic strategies capable to cope with the loss of function of these MBNL proteins.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddab218
  10. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2021 Jul 28.
    A semi-automated measurement of muscle fiber size using the Imaris software.
    Jennifer E Gilda, Joon-Hyuk Ko, Aviv-Yvonne Elfassy, Nadav Tropp, Anna Parnis, Bar Ayalon, Wonho Jhe, Shenhav Cohen.
      The size and shape of skeletal muscle fibers are affected by various physiological and pathological conditions, such as muscle atrophy, hypertrophy, regeneration, and dystrophies. Hence, muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) is an important determinant of muscle health and plasticity. We adapted the Imaris software to automatically segment muscle fibers based on fluorescent labeling of the plasma membrane, and measure muscle fiber CSA. Analysis of muscle cross sections by the Imaris semi-automated and manual approaches demonstrated a similar decrease in CSA of atrophying muscles from fasted mice compared with fed controls. In addition, we previously demonstrated that downregulation of the Ca2+-specific protease calpain-1 attenuates muscle atrophy. Accordingly, both the Imaris semi-automated and manual approaches showed a similar increase in CSA of fibers expressing calpain-1 shRNA compared with adjacent non-transfected fibers in the same muscle cross section. Although both approaches seem valid for measurements of muscle fiber size, the manual marking method is less preferable because it is highly time-consuming, subjective, and limits the number of cells that can be analyzed. The Imaris semi-automated approach is user-friendly, requires little training or optimization, and can be used to efficiently and accurately mark thousands of fibers in a short period of time. As a novel addition to the commonly used statistics, we also describe statistical tests that quantify the strength of an effect on fiber size, enabling detection of significant differences between skewed distributions that would otherwise not be detected using typical methods.
    Keywords:  Imaris software; automated analysis; cell size; cross sectional area; muscle atrophy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00206.2021
  11. BMC Biol. 2021 Jul 30. 19(1): 153
    The ESCRT-0 subcomplex component Hrs/Hgs is a master regulator of myogenesis via modulation of signaling and degradation pathways.
    L Coudert, A Osseni, Y G Gangloff, L Schaeffer, P Leblanc.
      BACKGROUND: Myogenesis is a highly regulated process ending with the formation of myotubes, the precursors of skeletal muscle fibers. Differentiation of myoblasts into myotubes is controlled by myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) that act as terminal effectors of signaling cascades involved in the temporal and spatial regulation of muscle development. Such signaling cascades converge and are controlled at the level of intracellular trafficking, but the mechanisms by which myogenesis is regulated by the endosomal machinery and trafficking is largely unexplored. The Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) machinery composed of four complexes ESCRT-0 to ESCRT-III regulates the biogenesis and trafficking of endosomes as well as the associated signaling and degradation pathways. Here, we investigate its role in regulating myogenesis.RESULTS: We uncovered a new function of the ESCRT-0 hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate Hrs/Hgs component in the regulation of myogenesis. Hrs depletion strongly impairs the differentiation of murine and human myoblasts. In the C2C12 murine myogenic cell line, inhibition of differentiation was attributed to impaired MRF in the early steps of differentiation. This alteration is associated with an upregulation of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway and a downregulation of the Akt2 signaling both leading to the inhibition of differentiation. The myogenic repressors FOXO1 as well as GSK3β were also found to be both activated when Hrs was absent. Inhibition of the MEK/ERK pathway or of GSK3β by the U0126 or azakenpaullone compounds respectively significantly restores the impaired differentiation observed in Hrs-depleted cells. In addition, functional autophagy that is required for myogenesis was also found to be strongly inhibited.
    CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time that Hrs/Hgs is a master regulator that modulates myogenesis at different levels through the control of trafficking, signaling, and degradation pathways.
    Keywords:  Autophagy; Differentiation; ESCRT; Endosomes; Hrs/Hgs; Myoblast/Myotube; Myogenesis; Signaling; Skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01091-4
  12. Front Physiol. 2021 ;12 682052
    Skeletal Muscle O-GlcNAc Transferase Action on Global Metabolism Is Partially Mediated Through Interleukin-15.
    Morgan D Zumbaugh, Con-Ning Yen, Jocelyn S Bodmer, Hao Shi, David E Gerrard.
      Besides its roles in locomotion and thermogenesis, skeletal muscle plays a significant role in global glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity through complex nutrient sensing networks. Our previous work showed that the muscle-specific ablation of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) led to a lean phenotype through enhanced interleukin-15 (IL-15) expression. We also showed OGT epigenetically modified and repressed the Il15 promoter. However, whether there is a causal relationship between OGT ablation-induced IL-15 secretion and the lean phenotype remains unknown. To address this question, we generated muscle specific OGT and interleukin-15 receptor alpha subunit (IL-15rα) double knockout mice (mDKO). Deletion of IL-15rα in skeletal muscle impaired IL-15 secretion. When fed with a high-fat diet, mDKO mice were no longer protected against HFD-induced obesity compared to wild-type mice. After 22 weeks of HFD feeding, mDKO mice had an intermediate body weight and glucose sensitivity compared to wild-type and OGT knockout mice. Taken together, these data suggest that OGT action is partially mediated by muscle IL-15 production and provides some clarity into how disrupting the O-GlcNAc nutrient signaling pathway leads to a lean phenotype. Further, our work suggests that interfering with the OGT-IL15 nutrient sensing axis may provide a new avenue for combating obesity and metabolic disorders.
    Keywords:  O-GlcNAc signaling; insulin sensitivity; interleukin-15; myokines; tissue cross-talk
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.682052
  13. Nutrition. 2021 Jun 12. pii: S0899-9007(21)00251-3. [Epub ahead of print]91-92 111389
    Basal and resistance exercise-induced increase in protein synthesis is impaired in skeletal muscle of iron-deficient rats.
    Kazuhiko Higashida, Sachika Inoue, Nodoka Takeuchi, Satoru Ato, Riki Ogasawara, Naoya Nakai.
      OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the effect of iron deficiency on basal- and contraction-induced increases in muscle protein synthesis.METHODS: Four-wk-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. The rats in two of the three groups had free access to a control diet (AD) or iron-deficient diet (ID) for 4 wk. The rats in the third group (CON) were pair-fed the control diet to the mean intake of the ID group.
    RESULTS: In comparison with the CON group, the ID group showed significantly lower hematocrit and hemoglobin concentrations, iron-containing protein levels, and total iron content in skeletal muscle, but non-iron-containing protein levels did not show any differences between the groups. Protein synthesis, measured by puromycin-labeled peptides, was lower in the ID group compared with the CON group in both basal- and contraction-stimulated states. The ID diet impaired the activation levels of signaling pathways involved in protein synthesis, such as ribosomal protein S6 and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1. Furthermore, dietary iron deficiency decreased autophagy capacity, but did not affect the ubiquitinated protein content.
    CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that severe iron deficiency decreases not only basal but also muscle contraction-induced increases in protein synthesis due to, at least in part, downregulation of the protein synthesis signaling pathway in the skeletal muscle.
    Keywords:  Anemia; Autophagy; Eccentric contraction; Protein breakdown; mTOR
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2021.111389
  14. PLoS One. 2021 ;16(7): e0255178
    Fasting increases 18:2-containing phosphatidylcholines to complement the decrease in 22:6-containing phosphatidylcholines in mouse skeletal muscle.
    Nanami Senoo, Takumi Akahori, Hiyori Ichida, Noriyuki Miyoshi, Akihito Morita, Takao Shimizu, Hideo Shindou, Shinji Miura.
      Fasting stimulates catabolic reactions in skeletal muscle to survive nutrient deprivation. Cellular phospholipids have large structural diversity due to various polar-heads and acyl-chains that affect many cellular functions. Skeletal muscle phospholipid profiles have been suggested to be associated with muscle adaptations to nutritional and environmental status. However, the effect of fasting on skeletal muscle phospholipid profiles remains unknown. Here, we analyzed phospholipids using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. We determined that fasting resulted in a decrease in 22:6-containing phosphatidylcholines (PCs) (22:6-PCs) and an increase in 18:2-containing PCs (18:2-PCs). The fasting-induced increase in 18:2-PCs was sufficient to complement 22:6-PCs loss, resulting in the maintenance of the total amount of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-containing PCs. Similar phospholipid alterations occurred in insulin-deficient mice, which indicate that these observed phospholipid perturbations were characteristic of catabolic skeletal muscle. In lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase 3-knockout muscles that mostly lack 22:6-PCs, other PUFA-containing PCs, mainly 18:2-PCs, accumulated. This suggests a compensatory mechanism for skeletal muscles to maintain PUFA-containing PCs.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255178
  15. Front Nutr. 2021 ;8 685165
    Evaluating the Leucine Trigger Hypothesis to Explain the Post-prandial Regulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis in Young and Older Adults: A Systematic Review.
    Gabriele Zaromskyte, Konstantinos Prokopidis, Theofilos Ioannidis, Kevin D Tipton, Oliver C Witard.
      Background: The "leucine trigger" hypothesis was originally conceived to explain the post-prandial regulation of muscle protein synthesis (MPS). This hypothesis implicates the magnitude (amplitude and rate) of post-prandial increase in blood leucine concentrations for regulation of the magnitude of MPS response to an ingested protein source. Recent evidence from experimental studies has challenged this theory, with reports of a disconnect between blood leucine concentration profiles and post-prandial rates of MPS in response to protein ingestion. Aim: The primary aim of this systematic review was to qualitatively evaluate the leucine trigger hypothesis to explain the post-prandial regulation of MPS in response to ingested protein at rest and post-exercise in young and older adults. We hypothesized that experimental support for the leucine trigger hypothesis will depend on age, exercise status (rest vs. post-exercise), and type of ingested protein (i.e., isolated proteins vs. protein-rich whole food sources). Methods: This qualitative systematic review extracted data from studies that combined measurements of post-prandial blood leucine concentrations and rates of MPS following ingested protein at rest and following exercise in young and older adults. Data relating to blood leucine concentration profiles and post-prandial MPS rates were extracted from all studies, and reported as providing sufficient or insufficient evidence for the leucine trigger hypothesis. Results: Overall, 16 of the 29 eligible studies provided sufficient evidence to support the leucine trigger hypothesis for explaining divergent post-prandial rates of MPS in response to different ingested protein sources. Of these 16 studies, 13 were conducted in older adults (eight of which conducted measurements post-exercise) and 14 studies included the administration of isolated proteins. Conclusion: This systematic review underscores the merits of the leucine trigger hypothesis for the explanation of the regulation of MPS. However, our data indicate that the leucine trigger hypothesis confers most application in regulating the post-prandial response of MPS to ingested proteins in older adults. Consistent with our hypothesis, we provide data to support the idea that the leucine trigger hypothesis is more relevant within the context of ingesting isolated protein sources rather than protein-rich whole foods. Future mechanistic studies are warranted to understand the complex series of modulatory factors beyond blood leucine concentration profiles within a food matrix that regulate post-prandial rates of MPS.
    Keywords:  aging; blood leucine kinetics; exercise; intact proteins; leucine threshold; muscle hypertrophy; protein-rich whole foods; skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.685165
  16. J Physiol. 2021 Jul 28.
    Early resistance training-mediated stimulation of daily muscle protein synthetic responses to higher habitual protein intake in middle-aged adults.
    Amadeo F Salvador, Colleen F McKenna, Kevin J M Paulussen, Alexander R Keeble, Andrew T Askow, Hsin-Yu Fang, Zhong Li, Alexander V Ulanov, Scott A Paluska, Daniel R Moore, Nicholas A Burd.
      KEY POINTS: The ingestion of protein potentiates the stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis rates after an acute bout of resistance exercise. Protein supplementation (eating above the protein Recommended Dietary Allowance) during resistance training has been shown to maximize lean mass and strength gains in healthy young and older adults. Here, we assessed contractile, oxidative, and structural protein synthesis in skeletal muscle in response to a moderate or higher protein diet during the early adaptive phase of resistance training in middle-aged adults. We report that the stimulation of myofibrillar, mitochondrial, or collagen protein synthesis rates during 0-3 weeks of resistance training is not further enhanced by a higher protein diet. These results show that moderate protein diets are sufficient to support the skeletal muscle adaptive response during the early phase of a resistance training program.ABSTRACT: Protein ingestion augments muscle protein synthesis (MPS) rates acutely after resistance exercise and can offset age-related loss in muscle mass. Skeletal muscle contains a variety of protein pools, such as myofibrillar (contractile), mitochondrial (substrate oxidation), and collagen (structural support) proteins, and the sensitivity to nutrition and exercise seems to be dependent on the major protein fraction studied. However, it is unknown how free-living conditions of dietary protein density with habitual resistance exercise mediates muscle protein subfraction synthesis. Therefore, we investigated the effect of moderate (MOD: 1.06 ± 0.22 g·kg-1 ·d-1 ) or high (HIGH: 1.55 ± 0.25 g·kg-1 ·d-1 ) protein intake on daily MPS rates within the myofibrillar (MyoPS), mitochondrial (MitoPS), and collagen (CPS) protein fractions in middle-aged men and women (n = 20, 47 ± 1 y, BMI 28 ± 1 kg·m-2 ) during the early phase (0-3 wks) of a dietary counseling-controlled resistance training program. Participants were loaded with deuterated water, followed by daily maintenance doses throughout the intervention. Muscle biopsies were collected at baseline and after weeks 1, 2, and 3. MyoPS in the HIGH condition remained constant (P = 1.000), but MOD decreased over time (P = 0.023). MitoPS decreased after 0-3 wks when compared to 0-1 wks (P = 0.010) with no effects of protein intake (P = 0.827). A similar decline with no difference between groups (P = 0.323) was also observed for CPS (P = 0.007). Our results demonstrated that additional protein intake above moderate amounts does not potentiate the stimulation of longer-term MPS responses during the early stage of resistance training adaptations in middle-aged adults. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  YAP; aging; deuterium oxide; mTORC1
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1113/JP281907
  17. Mol Omics. 2021 Jul 30.
    Transcriptome features of striated muscle aging and predictability of protein level changes.
    Yu Han, Lauren Z Li, Nikhitha L Kastury, Cody T Thomas, Maggie P Y Lam, Edward Lau.
      We performed total RNA sequencing and multi-omics analysis comparing skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle in young adult (4 months) vs. early aging (20 months) mice to examine the molecular mechanisms of striated muscle aging. We observed that aging cardiac and skeletal muscles both invoke transcriptomic changes in innate immune system and mitochondria pathways but diverge in extracellular matrix processes. On an individual gene level, we identified 611 age-associated signatures in skeletal and cardiac muscles, including a number of myokine and cardiokine encoding genes. Because RNA and protein levels correlate only partially, we reason that differentially expressed transcripts that accurately reflect their protein counterparts will be more valuable proxies for proteomic changes and by extension physiological states. We applied a computational data analysis workflow to estimate which transcriptomic changes are more likely relevant to protein-level regulation using large proteogenomics data sets. We estimate about 48% of the aging-associated transcripts predict protein levels well (r ≥ 0.5). In parallel, a comparison of the identified aging-regulated genes with public human transcriptomics data showed that only 35-45% of the identified genes show an age-dependent expression in corresponding human tissues. Thus, integrating both RNA-protein correlation and human conservation across data sources, we nominate 134 prioritized aging striated muscle signatures that are predicted to correlate strongly with protein levels and that show age-dependent expression in humans. The results here reveal new details into how aging reshapes gene expression in striated muscles at the transcript and protein levels.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1039/d1mo00178g
  18. Front Physiol. 2021 ;12 691245
    Indices of Defective Autophagy in Whole Muscle and Lysosome Enriched Fractions From Aged D2-mdx Mice.
    Swathy Krishna, Hannah R Spaulding, Tiffany S Quindry, Matthew B Hudson, John C Quindry, Joshua T Selsby.
      Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal, progressive muscle disease caused by the absence of functional dystrophin protein. Previous studies in mdx mice, a common DMD model, identified impaired autophagy with lysosomal insufficiency and impaired autophagosomal degradation as consequences of dystrophin deficiency. Thus, we hypothesized that lysosomal abundance would be decreased and degradation of autophagosomes would be impaired in muscles of D2-mdx mice. To test this hypothesis, diaphragm and gastrocnemius muscles from 11 month-old D2-mdx and DBA/2J (healthy) mice were collected. Whole muscle protein from diaphragm and gastrocnemius muscles, and protein from a cytosolic fraction (CF) and a lysosome-enriched fraction (LEF) from gastrocnemius muscles, were isolated and used for western blotting. Initiation of autophagy was not robustly activated in whole muscle protein from diaphragm and gastrocnemius, however, autophagosome formation markers were elevated in dystrophic muscles. Autophagosome degradation was impaired in D2-mdx diaphragms but appeared to be maintained in gastrocnemius muscles. To better understand this muscle-specific distinction, we investigated autophagic signaling in CFs and LEFs from gastrocnemius muscles. Within the LEF we discovered that the degradation of autophagosomes was similar between groups. Further, our data suggest an expanded, though impaired, lysosomal pool in dystrophic muscle. Notably, these data indicate a degree of muscle specificity as well as model specificity with regard to autophagic dysfunction in dystrophic muscles. Stimulation of autophagy in dystrophic muscles may hold promise for DMD patients as a potential therapeutic, however, it will be critical to choose the appropriate model and muscles that most closely recapitulate findings from human patients to further develop these therapeutics.
    Keywords:  D2-mdx; Duchenne muscular dystrophy; diaphragm; dystrophin; gastrocnemius; mouse model
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.691245
  19. Physiol Rep. 2021 Jul;9(14): e14979
    The impact of hindlimb disuse on sepsis-induced myopathy in mice.
    Orlando Laitano, Jose Pindado, Isela Valera, Ray A Spradlin, Kevin O Murray, Katelyn R Villani, Jamal M Alzahrani, Terence E Ryan, Philip A Efron, Leonardo F Ferreira, Elisabeth R Barton, Thomas L Clanton.
      Sepsis induces a myopathy characterized by loss of muscle mass and weakness. Septic patients undergo prolonged periods of limb muscle disuse due to bed rest. The contribution of limb muscle disuse to the myopathy phenotype remains poorly described. To characterize sepsis-induced myopathy with hindlimb disuse, we combined the classic sepsis model via cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) with the disuse model of hindlimb suspension (HLS) in mice. Male C57bl/6j mice underwent CLP or SHAM surgeries. Four days after surgeries, mice underwent HLS or normal ambulation (NA) for 7 days. Soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) were dissected for in vitro muscle mechanics, morphological, and histological assessments. In SOL muscles, both CLP+NA and SHAM+HLS conditions elicited ~20% reduction in specific force (p < 0.05). When combined, CLP+HLS elicited ~35% decrease in specific force (p < 0.05). Loss of maximal specific force (~8%) was evident in EDL muscles only in CLP+HLS mice (p < 0.05). CLP+HLS reduced muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) and mass in SOL (p < 0.05). In EDL muscles, CLP+HLS decreased absolute mass to a smaller extent (p < 0.05) with no changes in CSA. Immunohistochemistry revealed substantial myeloid cell infiltration (CD68+) in SOL, but not in EDL muscles, of CLP+HLS mice (p < 0.05). Combining CLP with HLS is a feasible model to study sepsis-induced myopathy in mice. Hindlimb disuse combined with sepsis induced muscle dysfunction and immune cell infiltration in a muscle dependent manner. These findings highlight the importance of rehabilitative interventions in septic hosts to prevent muscle disuse and help attenuate the myopathy.
    Keywords:  atrophy; infection; inflammation; muscle; septic shock; weakness
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14979
  20. Nanomedicine. 2021 Jul 24. pii: S1549-9634(21)00091-5. [Epub ahead of print] 102448
    PROKR1 delivery by cell-derived vesicles restores the myogenic potential of Prokr1-deficient C2C12 myoblasts.
    Chunjuan Zhang, Jongsoo Mok, Yeonwoo Seong, Hui-Chong Lau, Dayeon Kim, Junsik Yoon, Seung Wook Oh, Tae Sub Park, Joonghoon Park.
      Cell-derived vesicles (CDVs) have been investigated as an alternative to exosomes. Here, we generated CDVs from Prokineticin receptor 1 (PROKR1) overexpressing HEK293T cells using micro-extrusion. More than 60 billion PROKR1-enriched CDV (PROKR1Tg CDVs) particles were with canonical exosome properties were recovered from 107 cells. With 25μg/mL of PROKR1Tg CDVs, we observed delivery of PROKR1, significant reduction of apoptosis, and myotube formation in C2C12Prokr1-/- myoblasts that have lost their myogenic potential but underwent apoptosis following myogenic commitment. Expression levels of early and late myogenic marker genes and glucose uptake capacity were restored to equivalent levels with wild-type control. Furthermore, PROKR1Tg CDVs were accumulated in soleus muscle comparable to the liver without significant differences. Therefore, CDVs obtained from genetically engineered cells appear to be an effective method of PROKR1 protein delivery and offer promise as an alternative therapy for muscular dystrophy.
    Keywords:  C2C12; Cell-derived vesicles; Muscular dystrophy; Myogenesis; PROKR1
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nano.2021.102448
  21. FASEB J. 2021 Aug;35(8): e21773
    Higher strength gain after hypoxic vs normoxic resistance training despite no changes in muscle thickness and fractional protein synthetic rate.
    Sophie van Doorslaer de Ten Ryen, Geoffrey Warnier, Olouyomi Gnimassou, Mehdi R Belhaj, Nicolas Benoit, Damien Naslain, Matthew S Brook, Kenneth Smith, Daniel J Wilkinson, Henri Nielens, Philip J Atherton, Marc Francaux, Louise Deldicque.
      Acute hypoxia has previously been suggested to potentiate resistance training-induced hypertrophy by activating satellite cell-dependent myogenesis rather than an improvement in protein balance in human. Here, we tested this hypothesis after a 4-week hypoxic vs normoxic resistance training protocol. For that purpose, 19 physically active male subjects were recruited to perform 6 sets of 10 repetitions of a one-leg knee extension exercise at 80% 1-RM 3 times/week for 4 weeks in normoxia (FiO2 : 0.21; n = 9) or in hypoxia (FiO2 : 0.135, n = 10). Blood and skeletal muscle samples were taken before and after the training period. Muscle fractional protein synthetic rate was measured over the whole period by deuterium incorporation into the protein pool and muscle thickness by ultrasound. At the end of the training protocol, the strength gain was higher in the hypoxic vs the normoxic group despite no changes in muscle thickness and in the fractional protein synthetic rate. Only early myogenesis, as assessed by higher MyoD and Myf5 mRNA levels, appeared to be enhanced by hypoxia compared to normoxia. No effects were found on myosin heavy chain expression, markers of oxidative metabolism and lactate transport in the skeletal muscle. Though the present study failed to unravel clearly the mechanisms by which hypoxic resistance training is particularly potent to increase muscle strength, it is important message to keep in mind that this training strategy could be effective for all athletes looking at developing and optimizing their maximal muscle strength.
    Keywords:  deuterium; hypoxia; muscle thickness; myogenesis; protein synthesis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202100654RR
  22. Neuromuscul Disord. 2021 Jun 02. pii: S0960-8966(21)00138-3. [Epub ahead of print]
    Intrafamilial phenotypic heterogeneity related to a new DMD splice site variant.
    Antônio Rodrigues Coimbra Neto, Samara Camaçari de Carvalho, Tauana Bernardes Leoni, Cristina Iwabe, Thiago Quinaglia Araújo Costa Silva, Otavio Rizzi Coelho-Filho, Maria Julia Marques, Anamarli Nucci, Marcondes Cavalcante França.
      Dystrophinopathies are a group of X-linked neuromuscular disorders that result from pathogenic variants in the DMD gene. Their pathophysiological substrate is the defective expression of dystrophin in many tissues. While patients from the same pedigree usually present similar dystrophin expression and clinical course, the extent of cardiac and skeletal muscle involvement may not correlate in the same individual. We identified a new splice site variant c.2803+5G>C (NM_004006) ClinVar VCV000803902, located in intron 22 of DMD in a Brazilian family that present a broad phenotypic and histological heterogeneity. One of the subjects had a typical Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) phenotype, whereas the others had Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Cardiac involvement was remarkable in some of the BMD patients, but not in the DMD patient. Western blot analysis of skeletal muscle revealed much lower levels of calsequestrin in the most severely affected patient compared to his brother, whose phenotype is BMD, highlighting the potential role of proteins involved in skeletal muscle calcium homeostasis in differential degrees of dystrophinopathies.
    Keywords:  Becker muscular dystrophy; Cardiac MRI; Duchenne muscular dystrophy; Genetics; Phenotype
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.2021.05.013
  23. J Sport Rehabil. 2021 Jul 24. pii: jsr.2020-0504. [Epub ahead of print] 1-6
    The Effect of Low-Load Resistance Training on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Trained Men: A Critically Appraised Topic.
    Nick Dobson.
      Clinical Scenario: Resistance training (RT) programs promote skeletal muscle hypertrophy through the progressive physiological stress applied to an individual. Currently, the vast majority of studies regarding the hypertrophic response to RT have focused on either sedentary or untrained individuals. This critically appraised topic focuses on the hypertrophic response to high- and low-load RT in resistance-trained men. Clinical Question: In experienced male weightlifters, does high-load RT lead to greater increases in muscle mass than low-load RT? Summary of Key Findings: Six studies met the inclusion criteria, while 4 studies were included in the analysis. Each of the 4 studies showed that low-load RT elicited hypertrophic gains similar to high-load RT when sets were taken to failure. Three of the studies were not volume equated, indicating a dose-response relationship between training volume-load and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. One of the studies was volume equated, indicating that skeletal muscle hypertrophy could be achieved at levels comparable to those observed in high-load protocols as a result of high levels of metabolic stress and the concomitant recruitment of high-threshold motor units that can occur during fatiguing contractions. Clinical Bottom Line: Evidence suggests that low-load training produces hypertrophic gains similar to those observed in high-load RT protocols when sets are taken to failure in resistance-trained men. Strength of Recommendation: There is moderate to strong evidence to suggest that low-load RT elicits hypertrophic gains similar to those observed in high-load RT protocols when sets are taken to failure in resistance-trained men.
    Keywords:  exercise; fitness; low-intensity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1123/jsr.2020-0504
  24. Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 27. 11(1): 15240
    Analysis of long intergenic non-coding RNAs transcriptomic profiling in skeletal muscle growth during porcine embryonic development.
    Wenjuan Zhao, Zijing Li, Quan Liu, Su Xie, Mengxun Li, Yuan Wang, Changchun Li.
      Skeletal muscle growth plays a critical role during porcine muscle development stages. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis reveals that long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) are implicated as crucial regulator involving in epigenetic regulation. However, comprehensive analysis of lincRNAs in embryonic muscle development stages remain still elusive. Here, we investigated the transcriptome profiles of Duroc embryonic muscle tissues from days 33, 65, and 90 of gestation using RNA-seq, and 228 putative lincRNAs were identified. Moreover, these lincRNAs exhibit the characteristics of shorter transcripts length, longer exons, less exon numbers and lower expression level compared with protein-coding transcripts. Expression profile analysis showed that a total of 120 lincRNAs and 2638 mRNAs were differentially expressed. In addition, we also performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping analysis for differentially expressed lincRNAs (DE lincRNAs), 113 of 120 DE lincRNAs were localized on 2200 QTLs, we observed many QTLs involved in growth and meat quality traits. Furthermore, we predicted potential target genes of DE lincRNAs in cis or trans regulation. Gene ontology and pathway analysis reveals that potential targets of DE lincRNAs mostly were enriched in the processes and pathways related to tissue development, MAPK signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, TGF-beta signaling pathway and insulin signaling pathway, which involved in skeletal muscle physiological functions. Based on cluster analysis, co-expression network analysis of DE lincRNAs and their potential target genes indicated that DE lincRNAs highly regulated protein-coding genes associated with skeletal muscle development. In this study, many of the DE lincRNAs may play essential roles in pig muscle growth and muscle mass. Our study provides crucial information for further exploring the molecular mechanisms of lincRNAs during skeletal muscle development.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94014-w
  25. Toxicol In Vitro. 2021 Jul 21. pii: S0887-2333(21)00149-1. [Epub ahead of print] 105224
    Antimycin A-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is consistent with impaired insulin signalling in cultured skeletal muscle cells.
    Sithandiwe E Mazibuko-Mbeje, Sinenhlanhla X H Mthembu, Phiwayinkosi V Dludla, Evelyn Madoroba, Nireshni Chellan, Abidemi P Kappo, Christo J F Muller.
      Insulin resistance (IR) and mitochondrial dysfunction are characteristic features of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, a causal relationship between insulin resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction has not been fully established in the skeletal muscle. Accordingly, we have evaluated the effect of Antimycin A (AA), a mitochondrial electron transport chain complex III inhibitor, on mitochondrial bioenergetics and insulin signalling by exposing C2C12 skeletal muscle cells to its concentrations of 3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 μM for 12 h. Thereafter, metabolic activity, ROS production, glucose uptake, Seahorse XF Real-time ATP and Mito Stress assays were performed. Followed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis. This study confirmed that AA induces mitochondrial dysfunction and promote ROS production in C2C12 myotubes, culminating in a significant decrease in mitochondrial respiration and downregulation of genes involved in mitochondrial bioenergetics (TFAM, UCP2, PGC1α). Increased pAMPK and extracellular acidification rates (ECAR) confirmed a compensatory enhancement in glycolysis. Additionally, AA impaired insulin signalling (protein kinase B/AKT) and decreased insulin stimulated glucose uptake. This study confirmed that an adaptive relationship exists between mitochondrial functionality and insulin responsiveness in skeletal muscle, and that therapeutics or interventions that improve mitochondrial function could ameliorate insulin resistance as well.
    Keywords:  Antimycin A; Bioenergetics; Diabetes; Insulin resistance; Mitochondria; Skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tiv.2021.105224
  26. Front Genet. 2021 ;12 643497
    The Expression Profiles of mRNAs and lncRNAs in Buffalo Muscle Stem Cells Driving Myogenic Differentiation.
    Ruimen Zhang, Jinling Wang, Zhengzhong Xiao, Chaoxia Zou, Qiang An, Hui Li, Xiaoqing Zhou, Zhuyue Wu, Deshun Shi, Yanfei Deng, Sufang Yang, Yingming Wei.
      Buffalo breeding has become an important branch of the beef cattle industry. Hence, it is of great significance to study buffalo meat production and meat quality. However, the expression profiles of mRNA and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) molecules in muscle stem cells (MuSCs) development in buffalo have not been explored fully. We, therefore, performed mRNA and lncRNA expression profiling analysis during the proliferation and differentiation phases of MuSCs in buffalo. The results showed that there were 4,820 differentially expressed genes as well as 12,227 mRNAs and 1,352 lncRNAs. These genes were shown to be enriched in essential biological processes such as cell cycle, p53 signaling pathway, RNA transport and calcium signaling pathway. We also identified a number of functionally important genes, such as MCMC4, SERDINE1, ISLR, LOC102394806, and LOC102403551, and found that interference with MYLPF expression significantly inhibited the differentiation of MuSCs. In conclusion, our research revealed the characteristics of mRNA and lncRNA expression during the differentiation of buffalo MuSCs. This study can be used as an important reference for the study of RNA regulation during muscle development in buffalo.
    Keywords:  buffalo; mRNAs; muscle stem cells; myogenesis; non-coding RNAs
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.643497
  27. J Biomech. 2021 Jul 14. pii: S0021-9290(21)00406-1. [Epub ahead of print]126 110635
    Stretch-induced satellite cell deformation incontracturedmuscles in children with cerebral palsy.
    Peter B Dykstra, Sudarshan Dayanidhi, Henry G Chambers, Richard L Lieber.
      Satellite cells (SCs) are quiescent, adult skeletal muscle stem cells responsible for postnatal muscle growth and repair. Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have muscle contractures with reduced SC abundance, extracellular matrix abnormalities and reduced serial sarcomere number resulting in greatly increased in vivo sarcomere length, perhaps due to impaired sarcomere addition, compared to children with typical development (TD). Stretch is a strong activator of SCs that leads to addition of sarcomeres during bone-muscle growth. Mechanical loading and subsequent deformation of intracellular structures can lead to activation and proliferation, perhaps by cytoskeletal transmissions of extracellular mechanical signals to the nuclei. The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of ex vivo stretch-induced sarcomere length change on SC deformation in children with CP and TD. Muscle biopsies were obtained from twelve children (7 CP, 5 TD) during surgery. Fiber bundles were labeled with fluorescent antibodies for Pax7 (SC), DRAQ5 (nuclei), and alpha-actinin (sarcomere protein). Fibers were stretched using a custom jig and imaged using confocal microscopy. SC nuclear length, height and aspect ratio underwent increased deformation with increasing sarcomere length (p < 0.05) in both groups. Slopes of association for SC nuclear length, aspect ratio and sarcomere lengths were similar between CP and TD. Our results indicate that SC in children with CP undergo similar deformation as TD across sarcomere lengths.
    Keywords:  Cerebral palsy; Deformation; Mechanotransduction; Muscle; Satellite cell; Spastic
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110635
  28. BMC Genomics. 2021 Jul 27. 22(1): 577
    Dynamic changes of miRNAs in skeletal muscle development at New Zealand rabbits.
    Jing Jing, Xichun Jiang, Cuiyun Zhu, Qi Zheng, Qianyun Ji, Huiqun Yin, Jingtong Huang, Yixiao Zhu, Jiao Wang, Shuaiqi Qin, Yinghui Ling.
      BACKGROUND: miRNA is one of the crucial roles in the complex and dynamic network that regulates the development of skeletal muscle. The landscape of skeletal muscle miRNAs from fetus to adult in New Zealand rabbits has not been revealed yet.RESULTS: In this study, nine RNA-seq libraries of fetus, child and adult rabbits' leg muscles were constructed. A total of 278 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were identified. In the fetus vs. child group, the main functional enrichments were involved in membrane and transport. Pathway enriched terms of up-regulated DEmiRNAs were connected with the differentiation and hypertrophy of skeletal muscle, and down-regulated ones were related to muscle structure and metabolic capacity. In the child vs. adult group, functions were associated to positioning and transportation, and pathways were relevant to ECM, muscle structure and hypertrophy. Finally, ocu-miR-185-3p and ocu-miR-370-3p, which had the most target genes, were identified as hub-miRNAs in these two groups.
    CONCLUSIONS: In short, we summarized the highly expressed and uniquely expressed DEmiRNAs of fetus, child and adult rabbits' leg muscles. Besides, the potential functional changes of miRNAs in two consecutive stages have been explored. Among them, the ocu-miR-185-3p and ocu-miR-370-3p with the most target genes were selected as hub-miRNAs. These data improved the understanding of the regulatory molecules of meat rabbit development, and provided a novel perspective for molecular breeding of meat rabbits.
    Keywords:  Development; Rabbit; Skeletal muscle; miRNA; sRNA-seq
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-021-07896-5
  29. Exp Neurol. 2021 Jul 23. pii: S0014-4886(21)00223-5. [Epub ahead of print] 113815
    Transcriptome analysis using patient iPSC-derived skeletal myocytes: Bet1L as a new molecule possibly linked to neuromuscular degeneration in ALS.
    Eileen M Lynch, Samantha Robertson, Claire FitzGibbons, Megan Reilly, Colton Switalski, Adam Eckardt, Sin-Ruow Tey, Koji Hayakawa, Masatoshi Suzuki.
      Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neuromuscular disease in which patients gradually become paralyzed due to loss of motor function. Many genetically inheritable mutations have been linked to ALS; however, the majority of ALS patients are considered sporadic. Therefore, there is a need for a common therapy that is effective for all ALS patients. Although there is evidence of the disease beginning in the periphery at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), the specific processes involved in skeletal muscle and at the NMJ are still largely unknown. To study common disease mechanisms in ALS skeletal muscle, we performed RNA sequencing of skeletal myocytes differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from familial ALS (with C9ORF72, SOD1, or TARDBP mutations) and sporadic ALS patients. Compared to healthy control lines, the myocytes from all ALS lines showed downregulation of four genes: BET1L, DCX, GPC3, and HNRNPK. We next measured the expression levels of these four genes in hind limb muscle samples from a rat model of familial ALS (SOD1G93A transgenic) and found that only the Bet1L gene, which encodes Bet1 Golgi Vesicular Membrane Trafficking Protein Like, was commonly downregulated. Bet1L protein appeared to be localized to the basal lamina of the NMJ, with decreased expression over time in SOD1G93A transgenic rats. Importantly, the expression levels began to decrease early in the disease process. Our results indicate that loss of Bet1L at the NMJ could be of interest for better understanding ALS disease progression.
    Keywords:  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); Bet1L; Familial; Induced pluripotent stem cells; Neuromuscular junction; SOD1(G93A) transgenic rat; Sporadic
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113815
  30. Synapse. 2021 Jul 28.
    Sensitivity of subcellular components of neuromuscular junctions to decreased neuromuscular activity.
    Michael R Deschenes, Audrey M Trebelhorn, Madeline C High, Hannah L Tufts, Jeongeun Oh.
      INTRODUCTION/AIMS: Muscle unloading imparts subtotal disuse on the neuromuscular system resulting in reduced performance capacity. This loss of function, at least in part, can be attributed to disruptions at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). However, research has failed to document morphological remodeling of the NMJ with short term muscle unloading. Here, rather than quantifying cellular components of the NMJ, we examined subcellular active zone responses to 2 weeks of unloading in male Wistar rats.METHODS: The hindlimb suspension model was used to impart unloading. Following this intervention, animals were euthanized, and immunofluorescent procedures were used to visualize, and quantify active zones and endplates of the NMJ.
    RESULTS: It was revealed that in the plantaris, but not the soleus muscles, unloading elicited significant (P ≤ 0.05) decrements in active zone staining as measured by Bassoon, and calcium channel expression. Also it was discovered that unloading decreased the area of calcium channel staining relative to active zone areas of staining suggesting potential interference in the ability of calcium influx to trigger the release of vesicles docked at the active zone. Post-synaptic adaptations of the motor endplate were not evident. This presynaptic subcellular size reduction was not associated with atrophy of the underlying plantaris muscle fibers, although atrophy of weight-bearing soleus fibers, where no subcellular remodeling was evident, was noted.
    DISCUSSION: These results suggest that the active zone is highly sensitive to alterations in neuromuscular activity, and that morphological adaptation of excitatory and contractile components of the NMJ can occur independently of each other. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  acetylcholine; plantaris; soleus; synapse; unweighting
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/syn.22220
  31. BMC Biol. 2021 Jul 30. 19(1): 154
    Age-related susceptibility to insulin resistance arises from a combination of CPT1B decline and lipid overload.
    Marcel A Vieira-Lara, Marleen B Dommerholt, Wenxuan Zhang, Maaike Blankestijn, Justina C Wolters, Fentaw Abegaz, Albert Gerding, Ydwine T van der Veen, Rachel Thomas, Ronald P van Os, Dirk-Jan Reijngoud, Johan W Jonker, Janine K Kruit, Barbara M Bakker.
      BACKGROUND: The skeletal muscle plays a central role in glucose homeostasis through the uptake of glucose from the extracellular medium in response to insulin. A number of factors are known to disrupt the normal response to insulin leading to the emergence of insulin resistance (IR). Advanced age and a high-fat diet are factors that increase the susceptibility to IR, with lipid accumulation in the skeletal muscle being a key driver of this phenomenon. It is debated, however, whether lipid accumulation arises due to dietary lipid overload or from a decline of mitochondrial function. To gain insights into the interplay of diet and age in the flexibility of muscle lipid and glucose handling, we combined lipidomics, proteomics, mitochondrial function analysis and computational modelling to investigate young and aged mice on a low- or high-fat diet (HFD).RESULTS: As expected, aged mice were more susceptible to IR when given a HFD than young mice. The HFD induced intramuscular lipid accumulation specifically in aged mice, including C18:0-containing ceramides and diacylglycerols. This was reflected by the mitochondrial β-oxidation capacity, which was upregulated by the HFD in young, but not in old mice. Conspicuously, most β-oxidation proteins were upregulated by the HFD in both groups, but carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1B (CPT1B) declined in aged animals. Computational modelling traced the flux control mostly to CPT1B, suggesting a CPT1B-driven loss of flexibility to the HFD with age. Finally, in old animals, glycolytic protein levels were reduced and less flexible to the diet.
    CONCLUSION: We conclude that intramuscular lipid accumulation and decreased insulin sensitivity are not due to age-related mitochondrial dysfunction or nutritional overload alone, but rather to their combined effects. Moreover, we identify CPT1B as a potential target to counteract age-dependent intramuscular lipid accumulation and thereby IR.
    Keywords:  Ageing; Insulin resistance; Mitochondrial β-oxidation; Skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01082-5
  32. Biogerontology. 2021 Jul 29.
    Sarcopenia versus cancer cachexia: the muscle wasting continuum in healthy and diseased aging.
    Alexandra Moreira-Pais, Rita Ferreira, Paula A Oliveira, José A Duarte.
      Muscle wasting is one of the major health problems in older adults and is traditionally associated to sarcopenia. Nonetheless, muscle loss may also occur in older adults in the presence of cancer, and in this case, it is associated to cancer cachexia. The clinical management of these conditions is a challenge due to, at least in part, the difficulties in their differential diagnosis. Thus, efforts have been made to better comprehend the pathogenesis of sarcopenia and cancer cachexia, envisioning the improvement of their clinical discrimination and treatment. To add insights on this topic, this review discusses the current knowledge on key molecular players underlying sarcopenia and cancer cachexia in a comparative perspective. Data retrieved from this analysis highlight that while sarcopenia is characterized by the atrophy of fast-twitch muscle fibers, in cancer cachexia an increase in the proportion of fast-twitch fibers appears to happen. The molecular drivers for these specificmuscle remodeling patterns are still unknown; however, among the predominant contributors to sarcopenia is the age-induced neuromuscular denervation, and in cancer cachexia, the muscle disuse experienced by cancer patients seems to play an important role. Moreover, inflammation appears to be more severe in cancer cachexia. Impairment of nutrition-related mediators may also contribute to sarcopenia and cancer cachexia, being distinctly modulated in each condition.
    Keywords:  Aging; Circulating players; Disuse; Inflammation; Neuromuscular; Nutrition
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-021-09932-z
  33. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2021 Jul 27.
    Downhill running exercise increases circulating level of myokine meteorin-like hormone in humans.
    Aliakbar Alizadeh, Hamid Alizadeh.
      BACKGROUND: Meteorin-like hormone (Metrnl) is a myokine with immunoregulatory traits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of plasma Metrnl level to a downhill running exercise (DHRE) in humans.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty active male college students (aged: 22±1.5 years, BMI: 23.50±2.91kg/m2) completed this study. They performed a skeletal muscle damaging exercise protocol e.g., downhill running exercise (DHRE) on treadmill. Blood samples were drawn before and after the exercise protocol to measure plasmatic values of Metrnl, eosinophil count, creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).
    RESULTS: Plasma Metrnl level showed a significantly-increased level in response to the DHRE (P=0.007). CK (P=0.004), LDH (P=0.001) and the number of plasma eosinophils (P=0.002) also showed significantly-increased values following DHRE. Additionally, we found a significant and positive correlation between changes of plasma Metrnl level with those of the number of eosinophils (p<0.05).
    CONCLUSIONS: Downhill running exercise associated with noticeable skeletal muscle damage is accompanied by significantly-increased plasma Metrnl level as well as eosinophils in sedentary humans.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.21.12246-7
  34. Elife. 2021 Jul 27. pii: e66768. [Epub ahead of print]10
    miR-1 coordinately regulates lysosomal v-ATPase and biogenesis to impact proteotoxicity and muscle function during aging.
    Isabelle Schiffer, Birgit Gerisch, Kazuto Kawamura, Raymond Laboy, Jennifer Hewitt, Martin Sebastian Denzel, Marcelo A Mori, Siva Vanapalli, Yidong Shen, Orsolya Symmons, Adam Antebi.
      Muscle function relies on the precise architecture of dynamic contractile elements, which must be fine-tuned to maintain motility throughout life. Muscle is also plastic, and remodeled in response to stress, growth, neural and metabolic inputs. The conserved muscle-enriched microRNA, miR-1, regulates distinct aspects of muscle development, but whether it plays a role during aging is unknown. Here we investigated Caenorhabditis elegans miR-1 in muscle function in response to proteostatic stress. mir-1 deletion improved mid-life muscle motility, pharyngeal pumping, and organismal longevity upon polyQ35 proteotoxic challenge. We identified multiple vacuolar ATPase subunits as subject to miR-1 control, and the regulatory subunit vha-13/ATP6V1A as a direct target downregulated via its 3'UTR to mediate miR-1 physiology. miR-1 further regulates nuclear localization of lysosomal biogenesis factor HLH-30/TFEB and lysosomal acidification. Our studies reveal that miR-1 coordinately regulates lysosomal v-ATPase and biogenesis to impact muscle function and health during aging.
    Keywords:  C. elegans; genetics; genomics; lysosomal v-ATPase; miR-1; polyglutamine; proteostasis; vha-13
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66768
  35. FASEB J. 2021 08;35(8): e21794
    Biglycan reduces body weight by regulating food intake in mice and improves glucose metabolism through AMPK/AKT dual pathways in skeletal muscle.
    InHyeok Chung, Shin Ae Kim, Seolsong Kim, Jung Ok Lee, Clara Yongjoo Park, Juhee Lee, Jun Kang, Jin Young Lee, Ilhyeok Seo, Hye Jeong Lee, Jeong Ah Han, Min Ju Kang, Eunice Lim, Su Jin Kim, Sang Woo Wu, Joo Yeon Oh, Ji Hyung Chung, Eun-Kyoung Kim, Hyeon Soo Kim, Min-Jeong Shin.
      While biglycan (BGN) is suggested to direct diverse signaling cascades, the effects of soluble BGN as a ligand on metabolic traits have not been studied. Herein, we tested the effects of BGN on obesity in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese animals and glucose metabolism, with the underlying mechanism responsible for observed effects in vitro. Our results showed that BGN administration (1 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) significantly prevented HFD-induced obesity, and this was mainly attributed to reduced food intake. Also, intracerebroventricular injection of BGN reduced food intake and body weight. The underlying mechanism includes modulation of neuropeptides gene expression involved in appetite in the hypothalamus in vitro and in vivo. In addition, BGN regulates glucose metabolism as shown by improved glucose tolerance in mice as well as AMPK/AKT dual pathway-driven enhanced glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation in L6 myoblast cells. In conclusion, our results suggest BGN as a potential therapeutic target to treat risk factors for metabolic diseases.
    Keywords:  AKT; AMPK; biglycan; food intake; glucose uptake; obesity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202002039RR
  36. Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Jul 29. 13(undefined):
    Integration of segmented regression analysis with weighted gene correlation network analysis identifies genes whose expression is remodeled throughout physiological aging in mouse tissues.
    Margarida Ferreira, Stephany Francisco, Ana R Soares, Ana Nobre, Miguel Pinheiro, Andreia Reis, Sonya Neto, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa, Gabriela Moura, Manuel A S Santos.
      Gene expression alterations occurring with aging have been described for a multitude of species, organs, and cell types. However, most of the underlying studies rely on static comparisons of mean gene expression levels between age groups and do not account for the dynamics of gene expression throughout the lifespan. These studies also tend to disregard the pairwise relationships between gene expression profiles, which may underlie commonly altered pathways and regulatory mechanisms with age. To overcome these limitations, we have combined segmented regression analysis with weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) to identify high-confidence signatures of aging in the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscle, and pancreas of C57BL/6 mice in a publicly available RNA-Seq dataset (GSE132040). Functional enrichment analysis of the overlap of genes identified in both approaches showed that immune- and inflammation-related responses are prominently altered in the brain and the liver, while in the heart and the muscle, aging affects amino and fatty acid metabolism, and tissue regeneration, respectively, which reflects an age-related global loss of tissue function. We also explored sexual dimorphism in the aging mouse transcriptome and found the liver and the muscle to have the most pronounced gender differences in gene expression throughout the lifespan, particularly in proteostasis-related pathways. While the data showed little overlap among the age-dysregulated genes between tissues, aging triggered common biological processes in distinct tissues, which we highlight as important features of murine tissue physiological aging.
    Keywords:  WGCNA; aging; mus musculus; transcriptome; trendy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203379
  37. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2021 07 28.
    Muscle-tendon Crosstalk During Muscle Wasting.
    Alec M Avey, Keith Baar.
      In organisms from flies to mammals, the initial formation of a functional tendon is completely dependent on chemical signals from muscle (myokines). However, how myokines affect the maturation, maintenance, and regeneration of tendons as a function of age is completely unstudied. Here we discuss the role of four myokines - fibroblast growth factors (FGF), myostatin, the secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), and miR-29 - in tendon development and hypothesize a role for these factors in the progressive changes in tendon structure and function as a result of muscle wasting (disuse, aging and disease). Because of the close relationship between mechanical loading and muscle and tendon regulation, disentangling muscle-tendon crosstalk from simple mechanical loading is experimentally quite difficult. Therefore, we propose an experimental framework that hopefully will be useful in demonstrating muscle-tendon crosstalk in vivo. Though understudied, the promise of a better understanding of muscle-tendon crosstalk is the development of new interventions that will improve tendon development, regeneration, and function throughout the lifespan.
    Keywords:  Exercise; FGF; Myostatin; SPARC; Sarcopenia
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00260.2021
  38. J Neuromuscul Dis. 2021 Jul 19.
    Optimized Molecular Interaction Networks for the Study of Skeletal Muscle.
    Stephen Morgan, Apostolos Malatras, Stephanie Duguez, William Duddy.
      BACKGROUND: Molecular interaction networks (MINs) aim to capture the complex relationships between interacting molecules within a biological system. MINs can be constructed from existing knowledge of molecular functional associations, such as protein-protein binding interactions (PPI) or gene co-expression, and these different sources may be combined into a single MIN. A given MIN may be more or less optimal in its representation of the important functional relationships of molecules in a tissue.OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to establish whether a combined MIN derived from different types of functional association could better capture muscle-relevant biology compared to its constituent single-source MINs.
    METHODS: MINs were constructed from functional association databases for both protein-binding and gene co-expression. The networks were then compared based on the capture of muscle-relevant genes and gene ontology (GO) terms, tested in two different ways using established biological network clustering algorithms. The top performing MINs were combined to test whether an optimal MIN for skeletal muscle could be constructed.
    RESULTS: The STRING PPI network was the best performing single-source MIN among those tested. Combining STRING with interactions from either the MyoMiner or CoXPRESSdb gene co-expression sources resulted in a combined network with improved performance relative to its constituent networks.
    CONCLUSION: MINs constructed from multiple types of functional association can better represent the functional relationships of molecules in a given tissue. Such networks may be used to improve the analysis and interpretation of functional genomics data in the study of skeletal muscle and neuromuscular diseases. Networks and clusters described by this study, including the combinations of STRING with MyoMiner or with CoXPRESSdb, are available for download from https://www.sys-myo.com/myominer/download.php.
    Keywords:  Skeletal muscle; functional genomics; gene co-expression; molecular interaction networks; network medicine; neuromuscular disease; protein-protein interactions
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/JND-210680
  39. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 ;9 596838
    Branchiomeric Muscle Development Requires Proper Retinoic Acid Signaling.
    Qi Wang, Lin Xu, Jiro Miura, Mithun Kumar Saha, Yume Uemura, Lisa L Sandell, Paul A Trainor, Takashi Yamashiro, Hiroshi Kurosaka.
      The first and second branchiomeric (branchial arch) muscles are craniofacial muscles that derive from branchial arch mesoderm. In mammals, this set of muscles is indispensable for jaw movement and facial expression. Defects during embryonic development that result in congenital partial absence of these muscles can have significant impact on patients' quality of life. However, the detailed molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate branchiomeric muscle development remains poorly understood. Herein we investigated the role of retinoic acid (RA) signaling in developing branchiomeric muscles using mice as a model. We administered all-trans RA (25 mg/kg body weight) to Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) pregnant mice by gastric intubation from E8.5 to E10.5. In their embryos at E13.5, we found that muscles derived from the first branchial arch (temporalis, masseter) and second branchial arch (frontalis, orbicularis oculi) were severely affected or undetectable, while other craniofacial muscles were hypoplastic. We detected elevated cell death in the branchial arch mesoderm cells in RA-treated embryos, suggesting that excessive RA signaling reduces the survival of precursor cells of branchiomeric muscles, resulting in the development of hypoplastic craniofacial muscles. In order to uncover the signaling pathway(s) underlying this etiology, we focused on Pitx2, Tbx1, and MyoD1, which are critical for cranial muscle development. Noticeably reduced expression of all these genes was detected in the first and second branchial arch of RA-treated embryos. Moreover, elevated RA signaling resulted in a reduction in Dlx5 and Dlx6 expression in cranial neural crest cells (CNCCs), which disturbed their interactions with branchiomeric mesoderm cells. Altogether, we discovered that embryonic craniofacial muscle defects caused by excessive RA signaling were associated with the downregulation of Pitx2, Tbx1, MyoD1, and Dlx5/6, and reduced survival of cranial myogenic precursor cells.
    Keywords:  cranial muscle development; craniofacial abnormalities; muscle differentiation; muscle progenitor cell; retinoic acid signaling
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.596838
  40. Physiol Rep. 2021 Aug;9(15): e14962
    Individual physiological and mitochondrial responses during 12 weeks of intensified exercise.
    Macsue Jacques, Shanie Landen, Javier Alvarez Romero, Xu Yan, Andrew Garnham, Danielle Hiam, Mélina Siegwald, Emma Mercier, Anne Hecksteden, Nir Eynon, Sarah Voisin.
      AIM: Observed effects of exercise are highly variable between individuals, and subject-by-training interaction (i.e., individual response variability) is often not estimated. Here, we measured mitochondrial (citrate synthetase, cytochrome-c oxidase, succinate dehydrogenase, and mitochondrial copy-number), performance markers (Wpeak , lactate threshold [LT], and VO2peak ), and fiber type proportions/expression (type I, type IIa, and type IIx) in multiple time points during 12-week of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to investigate effects of exercise at the individual level.METHODS: Sixteen young (age: 33.1 ± 9.0 years), healthy men (VO2peak 35-60 ml/min/kg and BMI: 26.4 ± 4.2) from the Gene SMART study completed 12-week of progressive HIIT. Performance markers and muscle biopsies were collected every 4 weeks. We used mixed-models and bivariate growth models to quantify individual response and to estimate correlations between variables.
    RESULTS: All performance markers exhibited significant (Wpeak 0.56 ± 0.33 p = 0.003, LT 0.37 ± 0.35 p = 0.007, VO2peak 3.81 ± 6.13 p = 0.02) increases overtime, with subject-by-training interaction being present (95% CI: Wpeak 0.09-0.24, LT 0.06-0.18, VO2peak 0.27-2.32). All other measurements did not exhibit significant changes. Fiber type IIa proportions at baseline was significantly associated with all physiological variables (p < 0.05), and citrate synthetase and cytochrome-c oxidase levels at baseline and overtime (i.e., intercept and slope) presented significant covariance (p < 0.05). Finally, low correlations between performance and mitochondrial markers were observed.
    CONCLUSION: We identified a significant subject-by-training interaction for the performance markers. While for all other measures within-subject variability was too large and interindividual differences in training efficacy could not be verified. Changes in measurements in response to exercise were not correlated, and such disconnection should be further investigated by future studies.
    Keywords:  VO2peak; exercise; mitochondria; training variability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14962
  41. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2021 Jul 31. e13488
    Elucidating the interaction between maternal physical activity and circulating myokines throughout gestation: A scoping review.
    Alexandra D Goudreau, Catherine Everest, Taniya S Nagpal, Jessica L Puranda, Jayonta Bhattacharjee, Tarushika Vasanthan, Kristi B Adamo.
      Physical activity (PA) during pregnancy provides both maternal and fetal health benefits. It has been theorized that myokines, peptides secreted by contracting skeletal muscle, may play an important mechanistic role in facilitating the health benefits obtained from prenatal exercise. The objective of this review was to synthesize the current literature on the relationship between maternal PA and myokine response. A search strategy was developed using the terms pregnancy, physical activity, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, and TNF-α. A systematic search was completed in July 2020, in Medline, SPORTDiscus, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and in November 2020 for unpublished dissertations (grey literature; Proquest). Both human and animal-based studies of any design were included, while commentaries and editorial articles were excluded. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers and summarized narratively. Data were thematically summarized based on the myokine and whether findings were from human or animal studies. Ten studies were included in this review. Findings from studies that examined IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α suggest a trimester-specific interaction between PA and myokine levels; no studies evaluated IL-13. Future research should investigate the PA-myokine relationship throughout all stages of gestation.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/aji.13488
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