The differentiation of avian skeletal muscle in culture: changes in responsiveness of adenylyl cyclase to prostaglandin E1 and adrenergic agonists

Isoproterenol induces an increase in muscle fiber size by the proliferation of Pax7-positive cells and in a mTOR-independent mechanism

β-Adrenergic signaling regulates many physiological processes in skeletal muscles. A wealth of evidence has shown that β-agonists can increase skeletal muscle mass in vertebrates. Nevertheless, to date, the specific role of β-adrenergic receptors in different cell phenotypes (myoblasts, fibroblasts, and myotubes) and during the different steps of embryonic skeletal muscle differentiation has not been studied. Therefore, here we address this question through the analysis of embryonic chick primary cultures of skeletal muscle cells during the formation of multinucleated myotubes. We used isoproterenol (ISO), a β-adrenergic receptor agonist, to activate the β-adrenergic signaling and quantified several aspects of muscle differentiation. ISO induced an increase in myoblast proliferation, in the percentage of Pax7-positive myoblasts and in the size of skeletal muscle fibers, suggesting that ISO activates a hyperplasic and hypertrophic muscle response. Interestingly, treatment with ISO did not alter the number of fibroblast cells, suggesting that ISO effects are specific to muscle cells in the case of chick myogenic cell culture. We also show that rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway, did not prevent the effects of ISO on chick muscle fiber size. The collection of these results provides new insights into the role of β-adrenergic signaling during skeletal muscle proliferation and differentiation and specifically in the regulation of skeletal muscle hyperplasia and hypertrophy.

beta-adrenergic receptor population is up-regulated by increased cyclic adenosine monophosphate concentration in chicken skeletal muscle cells in culture

Skeletal muscle hypertrophy is promoted in vivo by administration of beta-adrenergic receptor (betaAR) agonists. Chicken skeletal muscle cells were treated with 1 microM isoproterenol, a strong betaAR agonist, between days 7 and 10 in culture. betaAR population increased by approximately 40% during this treatment; however, the ability of the cells to synthesize cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) was diminished by twofold. Neither the basal concentration of cAMP nor the quantity of myosin heavy chain (MHC) was affected by the 3-d exposure to isoproterenol. To understand further the relationship between intracellular cAMP levels, betaAR population, and muscle protein accumulation, intracellular cAMP levels were artificially elevated by treatment with 0-10 betaM forskolin for 3 d. The basal concentration of cAMP in forskolin-treated cells increased up to sevenfold in a dose-dependent manner. Increasing concentrations of forskolin also led to an increase in betaAR population, with a maximum increase of approximately 40-60% at 10 microM forskolin. A maximum increase of 40-50% in the quantity of MHC was observed at 0.2 microM forskolin, but higher concentrations of forskolin reduced the quantity of MHC back to control levels. At 0.2 microM forskolin, intracellular levels of cAMP were higher by approximately 35%, and the betaAR population was higher by approximately 30%. Neither the number of muscle nuclei fused into myotubes nor the percentage of nuclei in myotubes was affected by forskolin at any of the concentrations studied.

Adenylyl cyclase activity in clonally derived human myoblast cultures: evidence for myoblast heterogeneity

In vitro myogenesis recapitulates the programme of myogenesis in vivo. During the process of muscle differentiation, cAMP plays an important role in the control of gene expression and in the integration of metabolic functions. cAMP generation may be affected by drugs or hormones that interact with the membrane-bound enzyme adenylyl cyclase, including adrenergic agents and glucocorticoids. In this study, adenylyl cyclase activity was evaluated in membranes prepared from human clonally derived muscle cultures. In control cultures, there was considerable inter-clonal variation in basal, sodium-fluoride and forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity. Cultures differed in their response to steroids: adenylyl cyclase activity was markedly enhanced in some clones, and was significantly inhibited in other clones. Pre-treatment of cultures with pertussis toxin indicated that the effects of steroids are mediated in part by modulation of G-protein activity. These findings indicate a substantial heterogeneity among myoblast clones with respect to the modulating effect of steroids on adenylyl cyclase activity. This observation may account for the conflicting reports of steroid effects on muscle in vitro, and may be of relevance to the understanding of possible transmembrane signalling alterations in muscle disease.

Hormone-sensitive adenylyl cyclase in preadipocytes cultured from adipose tissue: comparison with 3T3-L1 cells and adipocytes

The adenylyl cyclase system of preadipocytes derived from the stromal vascular fraction of perirenal rat fat pads was characterized. Unlike mature adipocytes, preadipocyte adenylyl cyclase was only weakly stimulated by catecholamines and adrenocorticotrophic hormone, but was stimulated by guanine nucleotides. Parathyroid hormone and 2-chloroadenosine also stimulated preadipocyte adenylyl cyclase. The adenylyl cyclase system of preadipocytes resembled that of undifferentiated 3T3-L1 cells. However, agents which induced the differentiation of the 3T3-L1 cell adenylyl cyclase system did not have a similar effect on preadipocytes. A medium (CDM6) which induced some differentiation of preadipocyte adenylyl cyclase was developed. The observations that the adenylyl cyclase system of preadipocytes and undifferentiated 3T3-L1 cells are similar, that preadipocyte adenylyl cyclase can be induced to develop along lines similar to early differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells, and that the adenylyl cyclase system of fully-differentiated 3T3-L1 cells has characteristics intermediate between preadipocytes and adipocytes, suggest that the differentiation of preadipocyte and 3T3-L1 adenyly cyclase in vitro mimics adipose adenylyl cyclase development in vivo. The increased catecholamine and ACTH stimulation, and reduced GTP and adenosine sensitivities of adipocytes compared to preadipocytes suggest that a number of genes affecting adenylyl cyclase-associated regulatory and receptor proteins are coordinately repressed and derepressed during development.

The role of hormones and prostanoids in the in vitro proliferation and differentiation of human myoblasts

Fetal human myoblasts have been employed to examine the role of hormonal factors in human myogenesis. The results show that human myoblast proliferation is stimulated by insulin, hydrocortisone, and prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha). Exposure of human myoblasts preparing to differentiate to either PGE2 or isoproterenol results in the precocious initiation of differentiation (i.e., cell fusion and increase in creatine kinase activity). Three antagonists of prostanoid synthesis, indomethacin, aspirin, and DL-6-chloro-alpha-methylcarbozole-2-acetic acid, inhibit cell number increase with complete inhibitions of proliferation at 5 X 10(-5) M indomethacin and 6 X 10(-4) M aspirin. Reversal of the indomethacin-imposed block is achieved by prostaglandin F2 alpha. The same antagonists of prostanoid synthesis, when added to older cultures, depress prostaglandin E (PGE) levels and inhibit human myoblast differentiation. During differentiation, PGE is present in both the intracellular compartment (0.47 to 0.66 pmol/microgram DNA) and the culture medium (1.83 to 4.53 nmol PGE). The results suggest a role for prostanoids in the regulation of both human myoblast proliferation and differentiation. They also demonstrate that the active cyclooxygenase products are produced endogenously by the in vitro myogenic population. The findings are discussed within the context of what is known of the relationship between growth factor and prostanoid actions and the roles of these two categories of hormones in the regulation of myogenesis.

Myoblast fusion is regulated by a prostanoid of the one series independently of a rise in cyclic AMP

The role of prostanoids in the regulation of chick myoblast differentiation has been investigated. At 3 X 10(-6) M, indomethacin and chloroquine specifically inhibit cell fusion. They do not affect cell proliferation, alignment, or the expression of two muscle-specific proteins, namely, the acetylcholine receptor and the muscle-specific form of creatine phosphokinase. The results demonstrate that it is indomethacin's activity as an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis at the cyclooxygenase step that causes the block of cell fusion, whereas chloroquine probably acts at the earlier step of phospholipase A. Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), but not prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), rapidly reverses the inhibition of fusion imposed by indomethacin or chloroquine. The dose response of the myoblasts to PGE1 is a bell-shaped curve with a 100% reversal of fusion at approximately 10(-9) M. Eicosatrienoate and linoleate reverse the inhibition of fusion with similar kinetics, whereas arachidonate is completely ineffective. The ability of PGE1 and eicosatrienoate but not PGE2 and arachidonate to restore fusion to control levels implies that fusion is specifically regulated by a prostanoid of the one series. The reversal of the fusion-block by linoleate further suggests that this fatty acid provides the necessary source of eicosatrienoate in the myoblast plasma membrane. At 10(-8) M and above, PGE1 and PGE2 stimulate adenylate cyclase and depress control fusion as does 10(-5) M isoproterenol. The beta-adrenergic blocker propranolol abolishes both isoproterenol's inhibition of myoblast fusion and its activation of adenylate cyclase. The similar depressions imposed on cell fusion by 10(-8)-10(-6) M prostanoid and 10(-5) M isoproterenol suggest that in both cases the depressive effects are mediated by cyclic AMP. It is concluded that a prostanoid of the one series regulates fusion by a cyclic AMP-independent mechanisms.

Alterations in hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase of cloned rat osteosarcoma cells during long-term culture

The hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase system of a cloned bone cell line (UMR-106) derived from a rat osteosarcoma was compared in preparations from cells of early passages (less than 50) and cells maintained in continuous culture for over two years (late passages). Late passage cells showed greater calcitonin (CT)-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity than did early passages, whereas stimulation by PTH and the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol decreased in late passages. Hormone concentrations giving half-maximal stimulation were the same in early and late passages. Stimulation by agents (GTP and fluoride) which act at the stimulatory guanine nucleotide regulatory component (Ns) of adenylate cyclase was equivalent in early and late passages. Forskolin stimulation, which assessed catalytic component (and possibly Ns) activity, was reduced in late passages. These results are consistent with acquisition by cultured UMR-106 cells of CT receptors linked to adenylate cyclase and loss of PTH and beta-adrenergic receptors. Alteration of catalytic component (and/or Ns) function may also occur after long-term culture. Since late passage cells appear dedifferentiated by chromosomal analysis and since cAMP may regulate differentiation, altered hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase may be a marker for and a potential modulator of differentiation occurring in UMR-106 cells over long periods.

Modifications of the adenylate cyclase complex during differentiation of cultured myoblasts

Alterations in receptor-independent activation of adenylate cyclase during proliferation and differentiation of L6E9 myoblasts were studied using Mn2+, forskolin, and Gpp(NH)p. Analyses were performed 3, 6, and 10 days following subculture, corresponding to onset of proliferation, end of proliferation with start of differentiation, and completion of differentiation, respectively. The apparent activation constant for Mn2+ decreases with the age of the culture; the apparent activation constant for Mg2+ does not. Bimodal activation by Mn2+, i.e., at concentrations greater than 10 mM, results in total adenylate cyclase activity less than the Vmax and occurs exclusively in differentiated cultures. Independent of the presence of Mg2+, forskolin activation occurs with low-and high-affinity constants in differentiated cultures and with a low affinity constant in youngest cultures; intermediate cultures (day 6) demonstrate low- and high-affinity activation only in the presence of high Mg2+. In contrast, the Vmax for forskolin increases with increasing Mg2+ in all culture ages. Although Gpp(NH)p-dependent adenylate cyclase activation occurs with an apparent activation constant independent of culture age and Mg2+, low Mg2+ fosters bimodal activation by Gpp(NH)p, i.e., above 100 microM nucleotide, total adenylate cyclase activity is less than the Vmax. The loss of stimulatory capacity by high Gpp(NH)p is greatest in differentiated cultures. Additional experiments are presented to substantiate that bimodal activation by Gpp(NH)p is specific. Cholera- and pertussis toxin-dependent ADP ribosylation patterns demonstrate a marked decrease in both Ns and Ni in differentiated cultures. The data suggest that alterations in postreceptor activation of adenylate cyclase during the course of differentiation and proliferation are mediated by guanine nucleotide binding proteins as well as by allosteric cation regulatory units.