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Chronic metformin treatment induces beneficial adaptations in dystrophic skeletal muscle
Author(s) -
Ljubicic Vladimir,
Couvrette JeanFrancois,
Renaud JeanMarc,
Megeney Lynn A,
Jasmin Bernard J
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.939.16
Subject(s) - utrophin , skeletal muscle , ampk , duchenne muscular dystrophy , metformin , deiodinase , downregulation and upregulation , c2c12 , endocrinology , medicine , mdx mouse , dystrophin , pharmacology , chemistry , biology , insulin , thyroid , microbiology and biotechnology , myogenesis , triiodothyronine , biochemistry , protein kinase a , phosphorylation , gene
DMD is the most severe inherited neuromuscular disorder for which there is no effective treatment. Our pre‐clinical studies in mdx mice demonstrated that pharmacological activation of PPARβ/γ or AMPK elicits a fiber type shift towards the slower, more oxidative (SO) phenotype together with utrophin A upregulation thereby attenuating the dystrophic pathology (HMG, 18:2640, 2009; HMG, 20:3478, 2011; AJP Cell 302:C110, 2012). The challenge now is to identify agonists of these pathways that have more immediate clinical relevance. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether AMPK stimulation via metformin (MET), a front‐line drug in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, induces beneficial muscle remodeling. In C2C12 cells, MET augmented expression of PGC‐1α, a master regulator of the SO myogenic program, as well as utrophin A levels. MET treatment of mdx mice for 6 weeks resulted in an increase in PGC‐1α in fast skeletal muscle with a concomitant reduction of the transcriptional corepressor RIP140. Expression of utrophin A was also augmented after MET administration in vivo. The data clearly suggest that MET‐induced reciprocal changes in PGC‐1α and RIP140 expression are linked to elevations in utrophin A content. As these adaptations are expected to be highly beneficial to dystrophic fibers, we propose that MET represents a novel and promising therapeutic avenue for DMD. Supported by MDA, CIHR, and Jesse's Journey.