Premium
AMP‐activated protein kinase enhances the expression of muscle‐specific ubiquitin ligases despite its activation of IGF‐1/Akt signaling in C2C12 myotubes
Author(s) -
Tong Jun F.,
Yan Xu,
Zhu Mei J.,
Du Min
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.22272
Subject(s) - ampk , protein kinase b , myogenesis , pi3k/akt/mtor pathway , phosphorylation , microbiology and biotechnology , amp activated protein kinase , chemistry , protein kinase a , foxo3 , ubiquitin , muscle atrophy , signal transduction , biology , myocyte , endocrinology , skeletal muscle , biochemistry , gene
Two muscle‐specific ubiquitin ligases (UL), muscle atrophy F box (MAFbx) and muscle RING finger 1 (MuRF1), are crucial for myofibrillar protein breakdown. The insulin like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) pathway inhibits muscle UL expression through Akt‐mediated inhibition of FoxO transcription factors, while AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) promotes UL expression. The underlying cellular mechanism, however, remains obscure. In this study, the effect of AMPK and its interaction with IGF‐1 on ubiquitin ligases expression was investigated. C2C12 myotubes were treated with 0, 0.1, 0.3, and 1.0 mM 5‐aminoimidazole‐4‐carboxamide‐1‐β‐ D ‐ribofuranoside (AICAR) in the presence or absence of 50 ng/ml IGF‐1. IGF‐1 activated Akt, which enhanced phosphorlytion of FoxO3a at Thr 318/321 and reduced the expression of UL. Intriguingly, though activation of AMPK by 0.3 and 1.0 mM AICAR synergized IGF‐1‐induced Akt activation, the expression of UL was not attenuated, but strengthened by AMPK activation. AICAR treatment decreased FoxO3a phosphorylation at 318/321 in the cytoplasm and induced FoxO3 nuclear relocation. mTOR inhibition increased basal MAFbx expression and reversed the inhibitory effect of IGF‐1 on UL expression. In conclusion, our data show that AMPK activation by AICAR stimulates UL expression despite the activation of Akt signaling, which may be due to the possible antagonistic effect of FoxO phosphorylation by AMPK on phosphorylation by Akt. In addition, AMPK inhibition of mTOR may provide an additional explanation for the enhancement of UL expression by AMPK. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 458–468, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.