Although it is well known that administration of the selective β(2)-adrenergic agonist clenbuterol (CB) protects muscle following denervation (DEN), the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. We report that in vivo treatment with CB (3 mg/kg sc) for 3 days induces antiproteolytic effects in normal and denervated rat soleus muscle via distinct mechanisms. In normal soleus muscle, CB treatment stimulates protein synthesis, inhibits Ca(2+)-dependent proteolysis, and increases the levels of calpastatin protein. On the other hand, the administration of CB to DEN rats ameliorates the loss of muscle mass, enhances the rate of protein synthesis, attenuates hyperactivation of proteasomal and lysosomal proteolysis, and suppresses the transcription of the lysosomal protease cathepsin L and of atrogin-1/MAFbx and MuRF1, two ubiquitin (Ub) ligases involved in muscle atrophy. These effects were not associated with alterations in either IGF-I content or Akt phosphorylation levels. In isolated muscles, CB (10(-6) M) treatment significantly attenuated DEN-induced overall proteolysis and upregulation in the mRNA levels of the Ub ligases. Similar responses were observed in denervated muscles exposed to 6-BNZ-cAMP (500 μM), a PKA activator. The in vitro addition of triciribine (10 μM), a selective Akt inhibitor, did not block the inhibitory effects of CB on proteolysis and Ub ligase mRNA levels. These data indicate that short-term treatment with CB mitigates DEN-induced atrophy of the soleus muscle through the stimulation of protein synthesis, downregulation of cathepsin L and Ub ligases, and consequent inhibition of lysosomal and proteasomal activities and that these effects are independent of Akt and possibly mediated by the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway.

Although it is well known that catecholamines inhibit skeletal muscle protein degradation, the molecular underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study was undertaken to investigate the role of beta(2)-adrenoceptors (AR) and cAMP in regulating the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in skeletal muscle. We report that increased levels of cAMP in isolated muscles, promoted by the cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine was accompanied by decreased activity of the UPS, levels of ubiquitin-protein conjugates, and expression of atrogin-1, a key ubiquitin-protein ligase involved in muscle atrophy. In cultured myotubes, atrogin-1 induction after dexamethasone treatment was completely prevented by isobutylmethylxanthine. Furthermore, administration of clenbuterol, a selective beta(2)-agonist, to mice increased muscle cAMP levels and suppressed the fasting-induced expression of atrogin-1 and MuRF-1, atrogin-1 mRNA being much more responsive to clenbuterol. Moreover, clenbuterol increased the phosphorylation of muscle Akt and Foxo3a in fasted rats. Similar responses were observed in muscles exposed to dibutyryl-cAMP. The stimulatory effect of clenbuterol on cAMP and Akt was abolished in muscles from beta(2)-AR knockout mice. The suppressive effect of beta(2)-agonist on atrogin-1 was not mediated by PGC-1alpha (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1alpha known to be induced by beta(2)-agonists and previously shown to inhibit atrogin-1 expression), because food-deprived PGC-1alpha knockout mice were still sensitive to clenbuterol. These findings suggest that the cAMP increase induced by stimulation of beta(2)-AR in skeletal muscles from fasted mice is possibly the mechanism by which catecholamines suppress atrogin-1 and the UPS, this effect being mediated via phosphorylation of Akt and thus inactivation of Foxo3.

Very little is known about the signaling pathways by which catecholamines exert anabolic effects on muscle protein metabolism, stimulating protein synthesis and suppressing proteolysis. The present work tested the hypothesis that epinephrine-induced inhibition of muscle proteolysis is mediated through the cAMP/Epac/PI3K-dependent pathway with the involvement of AKT and Foxo. The incubation of extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles from rats with epinephrine and/or insulin increased the phosphorylation of AKT and its downstream target Foxo3a, a well-known effect that prevents Foxo translocation to the nucleus and the activation of proteolysis. Similar effects on AKT/Foxo signaling were observed in muscles incubated with DBcAMP (cAMP analog). The stimulatory effect of epinephrine on AKT phosphorylation was completely blocked by wortmannin (selective PI3K inhibitor), suggesting that the epinephrine-induced activation of AKT is mediated through PI3K. As for epinephrine and DBcAMP, the incubation of muscles with 8CPT-2Me-cAMP (selective Epac agonist) reduced rates of proteolysis and increased phosphorylation levels of AKT and Foxo3a. The specific PKA agonist (N6BZ-cAMP) inhibited proteolysis and abolished the epinephrine-induced AKT and Foxo3a phosphorylation. On the other hand, inhibition of PKA by H89 further increased the phosphorylation levels of AKT and Foxo3a induced by epinephrine, DBcAMP or 8CPT-2Me-cAMP. These findings suggest that the antiproteolytic effect of the epinephrine on isolated skeletal muscle may occur through a cAMP/Epac/PI3K-dependent pathway, which leads to the phosphorylation of AKT and Foxo3a. The parallel activation of PKA-dependent pathway also inhibits proteolysis and seems to limit the stimulatory effect of cAMP on AKT/Foxo3a signaling.

Although we have recently demonstrated that plasma catecholamines induce antiproteolytic effects on skeletal muscle (Graça FA, Gonçalves DAP, Silveira WA, Lira EC, Chaves VE, Zanon NM, Garófalo MAR, Kettelhut IC, Navegantes LCC. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 305: E1483-E1494, 2013), the role of the muscle sympathetic innervation and, more specifically, norepinephrine (NE) in regulating the ubiquitin (Ub)-proteasome system (UPS) remains unknown. Based on previous findings that chemical sympathectomy acutely reduces UPS activity, we hypothesized that muscle NE depletion induces adrenergic supersensitivity in rat skeletal muscles. We report that surgical sympathetic denervation (SDEN), a condition in which only muscle NE from both hindlimbs is depleted, transiently reduced the overall proteolysis and the UPS activity (∼25%) in both soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles. This antiproteolytic response was accompanied by increased activity of adenylyl cyclase (112%), levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP; 191%), and the serine phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (32%). In extensor digitorum longus from normal rats, NE (10(-4) M) in vitro increased the levels of cAMP (115%) and the serine phosphorylation of both cAMP response element-binding protein (2.7-fold) and forkhead box class O1 transcription factor. Similar effects were observed in C2C12 cells incubated with forskolin (10 μM). In parallel, NE significantly reduced the basal UPS (21%) activity and the mRNA levels of atrophy-related Ub-ligases. Similar responses were observed in isolated muscles exposed to 6-BNZ-cAMP (500 μM), a specific PKA activator. The phosphorylation levels of Akt were not altered by SDEN, NE, forskolin or 6-BNZ-cAMP. Our results demonstrate that SDEN induces muscle adrenergic supersensitivity for cAMP leading to the suppression of UPS, and that the suppressive effects of NE on UPS activity and expression of Ub-ligases can be mediated by the activation of cAMP/PKA signaling, with the inhibition of forkhead box class O1 transcription factor.

Baviera AM, Zanon NM, Navegantes LC, Migliorini RH, Kettelhut IC. Pentoxifylline inhibits Ca 2ϩ -dependent and ATP proteasomedependent proteolysis in skeletal muscle from acutely diabetic rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 292: E702-E708, 2007. First published October 31, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00147.2006.-Previous studies from this laboratory have shown that catecholamines exert an inhibitory effect on muscle protein degradation through a pathway involving the cAMP cascade. The present work investigated the systemic effect of pentoxifylline (PTX; cAMP-phosphodiesterase inhibitor) treatment on the rate of overall proteolysis, the activity of proteolytic systems, and the process of protein synthesis in extensor digitorum longus muscles from normal and acutely diabetic rats. The direct in vitro effect of this drug on the rates of muscle protein degradation was also investigated. Muscles from diabetic rats treated with PTX showed an increase (22%) in the cAMP content and reduction in total rates of protein breakdown and in activity of Ca 2ϩ -dependent (47%) and ATP proteasome-dependent (23%) proteolytic pathways. The high content of m-calpain observed in muscles from diabetic rats was abolished by PTX treatment. The addition of PTX (10 Ϫ3 M) to the incubation medium increased the cAMP content in muscles from normal (22%) and diabetic (51%) rats and induced a reduction in the rates of overall proteolysis that was accompanied by decreased activity of the Ca 2ϩ -dependent and ATP proteasome-dependent proteolytic systems, in both groups. The in vitro addition of H-89, an inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA), completely blocked the effect of PTX on the reduction of proteolysis in muscles from normal and diabetic rats. The present data suggest that PTX exerts a direct inhibitory effect on protein degradative systems in muscles from acutely diabetic rats, probably involving the participation of cAMP intracellular pathways and activation of PKA, independently of tumor necrosis factor-␣ inhibition.adenosine 3Ј,5Ј-cyclic monophosphate-phosphodiesterase inhibitors; muscle atrophy; streptozotocin-diabetic rats; adenosine 3Ј,5Ј-cyclic monophosphate-dependent pathway; xanthine derivatives MAINTENANCE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE mass is often viewed as the net result of the balance between two separate processes, protein synthesis and protein degradation; these two opposite processes are believed to hold the key to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass. The protein turnover in skeletal muscle is regulated by numerous nutritional, hormonal, and neural factors that culminate in metabolic adjustments to the most diverse situations. Recently, much progress has been made on the control of muscle protein breakdown and the role of the different proteolytic systems (the lysosomal, the Ca 2ϩ dependent, the ATPubiquitin proteasome dependent, and the residual processes) in several physiological and pathological states. Among the factors that regulate skeletal muscle protein metabolism, the catechol...