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Regulation of muscle protein degradation, not synthesis, by dietary leucine in rats fed a protein-deficient diet

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of long-term intake of leucine in dietary protein malnutrition on muscle protein synthesis and degradation. A reduction in muscle mass was suppressed by leucine-supplementation (1.5% leucine) in rats fed protein-free diet for 7 days. Furthermore, the rate of muscle protein degradation was decreased without an increase in muscle protein synthesis. In addition, to elucidate the mechanism involved in the suppressive effect of leucine, we measured the activities of degradation systems in muscle. Proteinase activity (calpain and proteasome) and ubiquitin ligase mRNA (Atrogin-1 and MuRF1) expression were not suppressed in animals fed a leucine-supplemented diet, whereas the autophagy marker, protein light chain 3 active form (LC3-II), expression was significantly decreased. These results suggest that the protein-free diet supplemented with leucine suppresses muscle protein degradation through inhibition of autophagy rather than protein synthesis.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Kadowaki (Niigata University) for discussion about autophagy. This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; the 21st century COE in Iwate University program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; and Ajinomoto Co. Ltd.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, Morioka, Iwate, 020-8550, Japan

    Takayuki Sugawara

  2. Biological Chemistry and Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka, Iwate, 020-8550, Japan

    Yoshiaki Ito, Naoyuki Nishizawa & Takashi Nagasawa

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  1. Takayuki Sugawara
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  2. Yoshiaki Ito
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  3. Naoyuki Nishizawa
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  4. Takashi Nagasawa
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Correspondence to Takashi Nagasawa.

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Sugawara, T., Ito, Y., Nishizawa, N. et al. Regulation of muscle protein degradation, not synthesis, by dietary leucine in rats fed a protein-deficient diet. Amino Acids 37, 609–616 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-008-0180-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-008-0180-0

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