Skeletal muscle is one of the main regulators of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in our organism, and therefore, it is highly susceptible to changes in glucose and fatty acid (FA) availability. Skeletal muscle is an extremely complex tissue: its metabolic capacity depends on the type of fibers it is made up of and the level of stimulation it undergoes, such as acute or chronic contraction. Obesity is often associated with increased FA levels, which leads to the accumulation of toxic lipid intermediates, oxidative stress, and autophagy in skeletal fibers. This lipotoxicity is one of the most common causes of insulin resistance (IR). In this scenario, the “isolation” of certain lipids in specific cell compartments, through the action of the specific lipid droplet, perilipin (PLIN) family of proteins, is conceived as a lifeguard compensatory strategy. In this review, we summarize the cellular mechanism underlying lipid mobilization and metabolism inside skeletal muscle, focusing on the function of lipid droplets, the PLIN family of proteins, and how these entities are modified in exercise, obesity, and IR conditions.

In order to evaluate the effects of the exposition to continuous chronic hypobaric hypoxia (CCHH) and intermittent chronic hypobaric hypoxia (ICHH) on testis histology and on oxidative metabolism of spermatogenic cells (SC), male rats were exposed to a 4600-m simulated altitude (PO2: 89.6 mmHg). After 60 days, ICHH and CCHH groups presented a significant decrease in testicular mass, an increase in interstitial space, a decrease in height of the seminiferous epithelium, depletion of cellular elements, vacuolization in epithelial cells and folding of the basal membrane. Round spermatids from animals exposed to CCHH presented a significant decrease in energy-dependent cell shape changes. Round spermatid mitochondria of CCHH rats seem to be limited in their ability to handle reducing equivalents. These mitochondria also appear to be uncoupled under basal conditions. Round spermatids from CCHH rats evidence large oxygen consumption (QO2) insensitive to inhibition by cyanide, a process that could be partly related to lipoperoxidation. Thus, exposure of male rats to CCHH and ICHH induced evident changes in testicular morphology and loss of spermatogenic cells, in all stages of the spermatogenic cycle. This post-meiotic spermatogenic cell loss in the testis correlated well with metabolic changes in round spermatids that evidenced a strong metabolic stress in these cells.

Insulin resistance is defined as a reduced ability of insulin to stimulate glucose utilization. C57BL/6 mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) are a model of insulin resistance. In skeletal muscle, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) produced by NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) is involved in signaling pathways triggered by insulin. We evaluated oxidative status in skeletal muscle fibers from insulin-resistant and control mice by determining H2O2 generation (HyPer probe), reduced-to-oxidized glutathione ratio and NOX2 expression. After eight weeks of HFD, insulin-dependent glucose uptake was impaired in skeletal muscle fibers when compared with control muscle fibers. Insulin-resistant mice showed increased insulin-stimulated H2O2 release and decreased reduced-to-oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH/GSSG). In addition, p47phox and gp91phox (NOX2 subunits) mRNA levels were also high (~3-fold in HFD mice compared to controls), while protein levels were 6.8- and 1.6-fold higher, respectively. Using apocynin (NOX2 inhibitor) during the HFD feeding period, the oxidative intracellular environment was diminished and skeletal muscle insulin-dependent glucose uptake restored. Our results indicate that insulin-resistant mice have increased H2O2 release upon insulin stimulation when compared with control animals, which appears to be mediated by an increase in NOX2 expression.

Hyperosmotic stress promotes rapid and pronounced apoptosis in cultured cardiomyocytes. Here, we investigated if Ca(2+) signals contribute to this response. Exposure of cardiomyocytes to sorbitol [600 mosmol (kg water)(-1)] elicited large and oscillatory intracellular Ca(2+) concentration increases. These Ca(2+) signals were inhibited by nifedipine, Cd(2+), U73122, xestospongin C and ryanodine, suggesting contributions from both Ca(2+) influx through voltage dependent L-type Ca(2+) channels plus Ca(2+) release from intracellular stores mediated by IP(3) receptors and ryanodine receptors. Hyperosmotic stress also increased mitochondrial Ca(2+) levels, promoted mitochondrial depolarization, reduced intracellular ATP content, and activated the transcriptional factor cyclic AMP responsive element binding protein (CREB), determined by increased CREB phosphorylation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Incubation with 1 mM EGTA to decrease extracellular [Ca(2+)] prevented cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by hyperosmotic stress, while overexpression of an adenoviral dominant negative form of CREB abolished the cardioprotection provided by 1 mM EGTA. These results suggest that hyperosmotic stress induced by sorbitol, by increasing Ca(2+) influx and raising intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, activates Ca(2+) release from stores and causes cell death through mitochondrial function collapse. In addition, the present results suggest that the Ca(2+) increase induced by hyperosmotic stress promotes cell survival by recruiting CREB-mediated signaling. Thus, the fate of cardiomyocytes under hyperosmotic stress will depend on the balance between Ca(2+)-induced survival and death pathways.