Myostatin (MSTN) is a well-known negative growth factor of muscle mass, and studies have shown that MSTN-inhibition would be a potential strategy to treat muscle atrophy seen in various clinical conditions. Recent studies suggest that MSTN-inhibition induces skeletal muscle hypertrophy through up-regulation of the anabolic Akt/mTOR pathway. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the muscle hypertrophy induced by MSTN-inhibition would be suppressed by the administration of rapamycin (RAP), a mTOR suppressor. A MSTN transgenic mouse strain (MSTN-pro), which is characterized by a postnatal hyper-muscularity due to MSTN inhibition through transgenic overexpression of MSTN propeptide, was used in producing experimental animals. Five-week-old male heterozygous MSTN-pro mice and wild-type littermates were administered with 0 or 3 mg/kg body weight of RAP intraperitoneally every other day for 4 weeks. The effects of RAP on muscle growth, mRNA abundance of signaling components of the Akt/mTOR pathway, and myogenic regulatory factors (MyoD, Myf5, MyoG, and Mrf4) were examined in comparison to wild-type mice. Body weight gain of MSTN-pro mice was significantly greater than that of wild-type mice. RAP suppressed body weight gain and muscle mass in both MSTN-pro and wild-type mice. The extent of both body weight and muscle mass suppression was significantly greater in MSTN-pro mice than in wild-type mice. Real-time qPCR analysis showed that mRNA abundance of the signaling molecules of the Akt/mTOR pathway, including Akt, p70S6K, and 4E-BP1, were significantly higher in MSTN-pro mice. RAP treatment decreased mRNA abundance of Akt, p70S6K and 4E-BP1 only in MSTN-pro mice. mRNA abundances of MyoD and MyoG were not affected by MSTN suppression or RAP treatment. mRNA abundance of Myf5 was decreased by RAP, but not affected by MSTN suppression. mRNA abundance of Mrf4 was decreased by MSTN suppression. RAP treatment decreased mRNA abundance of Mrf4 only in wild type mice. Results of this study indicate that transcriptional regulation of signaling components of the Akt/mTOR pathway and myogenic regulatory transcription factor Mrf4 is involved in the enhancement of skeletal muscle mass induced by MSTN suppression.

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− The effect of preparation method on the catalytic activities of the Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalysts on steam reforming of ethylene glycol was investigated. The catalysts were prepared with various preparation methods such as an incipient wetness impregnation, wet impregnation, and coprecipitation method. In the case of coprecipitation method, various precipitants such as KOH, K 2 CO 3 , and NH 4 OH were compared. The prepared catalysts were characterized by using N 2 physisorption, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, temperatureprogrammed reduction, pulsed H 2 chemisorption, temperature-programmed oxidation, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Among the catalysts reduced at 773 K, the Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst prepared by a coprecipitation with KOH or K 2 CO 3 as precipitants showed the best catalytic performance. The preparation method affected the particle size of Ni, reducibility of nickel oxides, catalytic performance (activity and stability), and types of coke formed during the reaction. The Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst prepared by a coprecipitation with KOH showed the increasing catalytic activity with an increase in the reduction temperature from 773 to 1173 K because of an increase in the reduction degree of Ni oxide species even though the particle size of Ni increased with increasing reduction temperature.