Effect of alloxan diabetes on a Ca2+-activated proteinase in rat skeletal muscle

Tracing the lactate shuttle to the mitochondrial reticulum

Isotope tracer infusion studies employing lactate, glucose, glycerol, and fatty acid isotope tracers were central to the deduction and demonstration of the Lactate Shuttle at the whole-body level. In concert with the ability to perform tissue metabolite concentration measurements, as well as determinations of unidirectional and net metabolite exchanges by means of arterial-venous difference (a-v) and blood flow measurements across tissue beds including skeletal muscle, the heart and the brain, lactate shuttling within organs and tissues was made evident. From an extensive body of work on men and women, resting or exercising, before or after endurance training, at sea level or high altitude, we now know that Organ-Organ, Cell-Cell, and Intracellular Lactate Shuttles operate continuously. By means of lactate shuttling, fuel-energy substrates can be exchanged between producer (driver) cells, such as those in skeletal muscle, and consumer (recipient) cells, such as those in the brain, heart, muscle, liver and kidneys. Within tissues, lactate can be exchanged between white and red fibers within a muscle bed and between astrocytes and neurons in the brain. Within cells, lactate can be exchanged between the cytosol and mitochondria and between the cytosol and peroxisomes. Lactate shuttling between driver and recipient cells depends on concentration gradients created by the mitochondrial respiratory apparatus in recipient cells for oxidative disposal of lactate.

Endogenous Nutritive Support after Traumatic Brain Injury: Peripheral Lactate Production for Glucose Supply via Gluconeogenesis

We evaluated the hypothesis that nutritive needs of injured brains are supported by large and coordinated increases in lactate shuttling throughout the body. To that end, we used dual isotope tracer ([6,6-(2)H2]glucose, i.e., D2-glucose, and [3-(13)C]lactate) techniques involving central venous tracer infusion along with cerebral (arterial [art] and jugular bulb [JB]) blood sampling. Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who had nonpenetrating head injuries (n=12, all male) were entered into the study after consent of patients' legal representatives. Written and informed consent was obtained from healthy controls (n=6, including one female). As in previous investigations, the cerebral metabolic rate (CMR) for glucose was suppressed after TBI. Near normal arterial glucose and lactate levels in patients studied 5.7±2.2 days (range of days 2-10) post-injury, however, belied a 71% increase in systemic lactate production, compared with control, that was largely cleared by greater (hepatic+renal) glucose production. After TBI, gluconeogenesis from lactate clearance accounted for 67.1% of glucose rate of appearance (Ra), which was compared with 15.2% in healthy controls. We conclude that elevations in blood glucose concentration after TBI result from a massive mobilization of lactate from corporeal glycogen reserves. This previously unrecognized mobilization of lactate subserves hepatic and renal gluconeogenesis. As such, a lactate shuttle mechanism indirectly makes substrate available for the body and its essential organs, including the brain, after trauma. In addition, when elevations in arterial lactate concentration occur after TBI, lactate shuttling may provide substrate directly to vital organs of the body, including the injured brain.

Modulation of TRPV1-dependent contractility of normal and diabetic bladder smooth muscle by analgesic toxins from sea anemone Heteractis crispa

AIMS

TRPV1-expressing, capsaicin (CAP)-sensitive afferent fibers innervating bladder in addition to sensory function also exhibit "efferent" features consisting in TRPV1-dependent release of tachykinins (TAC) affecting detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) contractions. Our aim was to investigate the effects of two novel polypeptide inhibitors of TRPV1 from the venom of tropical sea anemone Heteractis crispa, APHC1 and APHC3, on the contractions of DSM from bladders of normal and diabetic rats.

MAIN METHODS

Experiments were conducted on urothelium-devoid DSM strips from normal rats and rats 8weeks after streptozotocin-induced diabetes by means of contraction force measurements.

KEY FINDINGS

Pre-exposure of DSM strips to APHC1 or APHC3 (200nM) specifically inhibited CAP-induced, TRPV1-dependent contractions. Both peptides also transiently enhanced basal tone and spontaneous contractions of DSM strips followed by delayed suppression of electric field stimulation (EFS)-evoked nonadrenergic-noncholinergic (NANC) contractions. The decrease of the amplitude of EFS-evoked NANC contractions by АРНС1 or АРНС3 reached 38.5±3.4% and 25.1±1.6%, respectively, in normal DSM strips and 46.3±3.3% and 43.9±1.8%, respectively, in diabetic ones. APHC-peptide-induced transient enhancement of basal tone could be mimicked by serine protease inhibitor, 4-(2-aminoethyl)bezenesulfonyl fluoride (300 μM).

SIGNIFICANCE

Our results demonstrate that АРНС1 and АРНС3 may be considered as effective inhibitors of bladder contractility especially during diabetic cystopathy. Modality of action of APHC-polypeptides via the mechanisms involving decreased TRPV1-dependent release of TAC from bladder afferents and suppression of TAC degradation due to their activity as endogenous proteases inhibitors is proposed.

Temporal changes in glycogenolytic enzyme mRNAs during myogenesis of primary porcine satellite cells

The objective was to study the regulation of glycogenolytic enzyme mRNAs in porcine satellite cells during proliferation and differentiation. Beyond 80% confluence, cells were grown in absence or presence of 1μM insulin. The observed increases in abundance of mRNA for glycogenin, glycogen synthase, phosphorylase kinase, phosphorylase and glycogen debranching enzyme, and no alterations of the transporter molecule GLUT4, clearly indicate that glycogenolytic enzymes of potential importance to meat quality development are regulated at the gene level during myogenesis, and are heavily involved in muscle cell and muscle fibre development. The genes, however, are not influenced by insulin, and the lack of response to insulin of expression of gene-encoding enzymes involved in the formation and degradation of glycogen may question the applicability of porcine cell culture systems, like the one applied, as a model to study the regulation and regulatory mechanism of energy metabolism in muscles.

Glucagon Receptors: Effect of Exercise and Fasting

One paradox of hormonal regulation during exercise is the maintenance of glucose homeostasis after endurance training despite a lower increase in plasma glucagon. One explanation could be that liver sensitivity to glucagon is increased by endurance training. Glucagon exerts its effect through a 62 KDa glycoprotein receptor, member of the G protein-coupled receptor. To determine whether changes with exercise in glucagon sensitivity occurred at the level of the glucagon receptor (GR), binding characteristics of hepatic glucagon receptors were ascertained in rat purified plasma membranes. Saturation kinetics indicated no difference in the dissociation constant or affinity of glucagon receptor, but a significantly higher glucagon receptor binding density in liver in endurance trained compared to untrained animals. Along with endurance training, it appears that fasting also changes GR binding characteristics. In animals fasting 24 hrs, a significant increase in glucagon receptor density was also reported. Although the exact mechanism remains unknown, there is no doubt that the liver can adapt to physiological stress through modulation of GR binding characteristics to enhance the hepatic glucose production responsiveness to glucagon. Key words: glucagon sensitivity, liver, endurance training, rats

The relationship between aerobic fitness and recovery from high intensity intermittent exercise

A strong relationship between aerobic fitness and the aerobic response to repeated bouts of high intensity exercise has been established, suggesting that aerobic fitness is important in determining the magnitude of the oxidative response. The elevation of exercise oxygen consumption (VO2) is at least partially responsible for the larger fast component of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) seen in endurance-trained athletes following intense intermittent exercise. Replenishment of phosphocreatine (PCr) has been linked to both fast EPOC and power recovery in repeated efforts. Although 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies appear to support a relationship between endurance training and PCr recovery following both submaximal work and repeated bouts of moderate intensity exercise, PCr resynthesis following single bouts of high intensity effort does not always correlate well with maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). It appears that intense exercise involving larger muscle mass displays a stronger relationship between VO2max and PCr resynthesis than does intense exercise utilising small muscle mass. A strong relationship between power recovery and endurance fitness, as measured by the percentage VO2max corresponding to a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L, has been demonstrated. The results from most studies examining power recovery and VO2max seem to suggest that endurance training and/or a higher VO2max results in superior power recovery across repeated bouts of high intensity intermittent exercise. Some studies have supported an association between aerobic fitness and lactate removal following high intensity exercise, whereas others have failed to confirm an association. Unfortunately, all studies have relied on measurements of blood lactate to reflect muscle lactate clearance, and different mathematical methods have been used for assessing blood lactate clearance, which may compromise conclusions on lactate removal. In summary, the literature suggests that aerobic fitness enhances recovery from high intensity intermittent exercise through increased aerobic response, improved lactate removal and enhanced PCr regeneration.

Intra- and extra-cellular lactate shuttles

The "lactate shuttle hypothesis" holds that lactate plays a key role in the distribution of carbohydrate potential energy that occurs among various tissue and cellular compartments such as between: cytosol and mitochondria, muscle and blood, blood and muscle, active and inactive muscles, white and red muscles, blood and heart, arterial blood and liver, liver and other tissues such as exercising muscle, intestine and portal blood, portal blood and liver, zones of the liver, and skin and blood. Studies on resting and exercising humans indicate that most lactate (75-80%) is disposed of through oxidation, with much of the remainder converted to glucose and glycogen. Lactate transport across cellular membranes occurs by means of facilitated exchange along pH and concentration gradients involving a family of lactate transport proteins, now called monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). Current evidence is that muscle and other cell membrane lactate transporters are abundant with characteristics of high Km and Vmax. There appears to be long-term plasticity in the number of cell membrane transporters, but short-term regulation by allosteric modulation or phosphorylation is not known. In addition to cell membranes, mitochondria also contain monocarboxylate transporters (mMCT) and lactic dehydrogenase (mLDH). Therefore, mitochondrial monocarboxylate uptake and oxidation, rather than translocation of transporters to the cell surfaces, probably regulate lactate flux in vivo. Accordingly, the "lactate shuttle" hypothesis has been modified to include a new, intracellular component involving cytosolic to mitochondrial exchange. The intracellular lactate shuttle emphasizes the role of mitochondrial redox in the oxidation and disposal of lactate during exercise and other conditions.

Are arterial, muscle and working limb lactate exchange data obtained on men at altitude consistent with the hypothesis of an intracellular lactate shuttle?

The "Lactate Shuttle" Hypothesis posits that lactate removal requires exchange among producing and consuming cells. The "Intra-cellular Lactate Shuttle" hypothesis posits that lactate exchange occurs among compartments within cells, and that mitochondria are the major sites of cellular lactate disposal. Thus, cells with high mitochondrial densities (cardiocytes, myocytes, hepatocytes) are those which participate in lactate clearance. The model of an Intracellular Lactate Shuttle recognizes that the Keq for LDH is 3.6 x 10(4) M-1; thus, glycolysis results in cytosolic lactate production regardless of the intracellular PO2. The model also requires presence of a mitochondrial monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) that allows uptake of lactate as well as pyruvate, and intra-mitochondrial LDH whose function is linked to the ETC, and which permits lactate-->pyruvate conversion and oxidation. Recently, we have shown that liver, heart and muscle mitochondria readily oxidize lactate and contain LDH and MCT1. Accordingly, we have concluded that lactate is the predominant monocarboxylate oxidized by mitochondria in vivo. The model of an "Intra-cellular Lactate Shuttle" is consistent with many of the observations on men at sea level and altitude. The observations include: oxidation is the primary fate of lactate disposal during rest and exercise; lactate production and oxidation occur simultaneously within resting and working muscle; increasing [lactate]a increases muscle lactate extraction, and that by increasing SaO2 acclimatization reduces blood [lactate].

Importance of the 'crossover' concept in exercise metabolism

1. The 'crossover' concept is a model of substrate supply during exercise which makes the following predictions. 2. Lipid is the major fuel (approximately 60%) for non-contracting skeletal muscle and the body at rest. 3. Energy flux, as determined by exercise intensity, is the major factor in determining the balance of substrate utilization during exercise. Thus, moderate and greater exercise intensities increase contraction-induced muscle glycogenolysis and glycolysis, increase recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibres, increase sympathetic nervous system activity and down-regulate mitochondrial fatty acid uptake. 4. Glycogen and glucose utilization scales exponentially to relative exercise power output with a greater gain in glycogen than in glucose use at high power. The relationship between free fatty acid flux and power output is an inverted hyperbola. Consequently, at high power outputs, the role of lipid oxidation is diminished. 5. Factors such as endurance training, energy supply, as influenced by dietary manipulation, and prior exercise play secondary roles in determining the balance of substrate utilization during exercise. 6. Comparisons of the metabolic responses in subjects engaged in activities requiring vastly different metabolic rates or comparisons of subjects of different gender, age or training status require normalization of data to total energy flux.

Training enhanced hepatic gluconeogenesis: the importance for glucose homeostasis during exercise

Endurance training has long been known to improve the individual's resistance to exercise-induced hypoglycemia. Traditionally attributed to a reduction in glucose uptake subsequent to enhanced fat oxidation, this issue has only recently been directly addressed. This paper briefly reviews the evidence for reduced glucose uptake versus enhanced glucose production in the improved hypoglycemic resistance following training. While whole body glucose removal and production may be reduced following training, this has only been demonstrated under exercising conditions in which glycemia demonstrates little deviation from rest. Under exercise conditions where untrained animals demonstrate substantial reductions in blood glucose, training enhanced hypoglycemic resistance has been shown to result entirely from enhanced glucose production via gluconeogenesis. Using the in situ perfused liver preparation, the authors have provided direct evidence for a training enhanced hepatic gluconeogenic capacity. The site of adaptation within the gluconeogenic pathway has now been constrained to below the level of the triose phosphates. Lack of evidence for suppressed skeletal muscle glucose uptake following training, a uniform observation for humans and rats, is also discussed. It is concluded that the improved hepatic gluconeogenic capacity of endurance trained individuals, at least in rats, is critical to their demonstrated resistance to exercise-induced hypoglycemia.

The effects of ingesting polylactate or glucose polymer drinks during prolonged exercise

Five trained, fasted male cyclists rode a cycle ergometer three times at 50% of VO2max for 180 min. Using a balanced order, double-blind procedure, subjects were given either a solution containing polylactate (PL: 80% polylactate, 20% sodium lactate, in 7% solution with water), glucose polymer (GP: multidextrin in 7% solution with water), or control (C: water sweetened with aspartame) 5 min before exercise and at 20-min intervals during exercise. Venous blood samples were taken at rest and at 20-min intervals during exercise. In general, PL and GP rendered similar results except that pH and bicarbonate (HCO3-) were higher in PL. There were no differences between treatments in perceived exertion, sodium, potassium, chloride, lactate, heart rate, oxygen consumption, rectal temperature, or selected skin temperatures. These data show that polylactate may help maintain blood glucose and enhance blood buffering capacity during prolonged exercise and could be a useful component in an athletic fluid replacement beverage.

Satellite cells derived from streptozotocin-diabetic rats display altered fusion parameters in vitro

Myogenic satellite cells were isolated from nondiabetic and streptozotocin-diabetic rats and studied in vitro. Streptozotocin (STZ) administration produced both hyperglycemia and glucosuria in adult rats when compared to controls. (P less than 0.01), with 12.5% mortality in untreated animals. Insulin therapy diminished blood glucose levels to those found in nondiabetic animals. Only STZ-diabetic rats displayed symptoms of Type I diabetes, including polydipsia, polyuria, and hyperphagia. STZ-treated rats possessed less leg muscle mass and less subcutaneous, intermuscular, and intramuscular fat. Conversely, nondiabetic rats had a greater mean body weight (P less than 0.01) at the end of the experiment than did diabetic rats. Primary cultures of diabetic-derived satellite cells displayed decreased overall ability (P less than 0.01) to fuse to form multinucleated myotubes in vitro than controls. In addition, secondary cultures of diabetic-derived satellite cells achieved maximal fusion one day later than secondary cultures of control-derived cells. Collectively, these data provide preliminary evidence to suggest that untreated insulin-dependent diabetes results in altered fusion characteristics of myogenic satellite cells. Additional studies utilizing satellite cells from diabetic animals will provide valuable definition of the satellite cell involvement in skeletal muscle autophagy which is a symptom of type I diabetes.

Effects of training on blood glucose kinetics during glucose challenge in rats

We hypothesized that endurance training would alter blood glucose kinetics in rats given an exogenous glucose challenge. Primed-continuous infusion of H14CO3- and [3-3H]glucose were given to fasted rats during an intravenous glucose load of approximately 150% of the normal endogenous appearance rate for 3 h. In all rats blood glucose concentrations increased with loading, but in trained animals glucose stabilized at significantly lower levels. Trained animals had lower blood glucose turnover rates than the controls (75 +/- 2.3 vs. 120 +/- 6.3 mumoles/kg x min, respectively). Glucose metabolic clearance rates in trained rats (11.5 +/- 1.7) were not different from those in controls (11.6 +/- 1.2 ml/kg x min). Gluconeogenic rates estimated from incorporation of 14C into blood glucose did not differ between trained and untrained groups. However, the rate of hepatic glucose release estimated from the difference between tracer measured and exogenous appearance rate was lower in the trained group. These findings support the concept that when resting trained animals are challenged with an exogenous load, more glucose is diverted to anabolic processes as opposed to increased turnover.

The Ca2+-dependent protease inhibitor of rat ventral prostate: properties of the inhibitor and effects of castration on Ca2+-dependent protease and inhibitor activities

1. The rat ventral prostate contains a heat stable inhibitor of Ca2+-dependent protease. This inhibitor was found to exist in a wide range of molecular weights (approx. 40-270 kDa) in adult rats. 2. However, in rats immediately post puberty (45 days of age) the inhibitor was predominantly of the higher molecular weight forms. 3. The inhibitor was also found in the dorsolateral and anterior (coagulating gland) prostate lobes but was of lower specific activity than in the ventral lobe. 4. Although the activities of the Ca2+-dependent protease and inhibitor decreased per ventral prostate gland after castration, these activities were not different during the first 10 days postcastration when expressed per g wet wt or per unit cytosol protein. 5. With a longer duration of castration, there was a decline in the specific activity (per unit protein) of the protease and an increase in that of the inhibitor. 6. Thus, the activities of the protease and inhibitor change in concert with the amount of cellular cytosol protein during the active period of castration-induced atrophy. 7. However, in long term castrated rats, functions carried out by the Ca2+-dependent protease may be effectively suppressed. 8. These data suggest that the Ca2+-activated protease probably is involved in the regulation of some metabolic processes in the active gland and is not prominent in the castration induced atrophy of the ventral prostate unless it functions through the proteolysis of some select protein(s).

Hormonal control of muscle growth

In muscle of whole animals, pituitary growth hormone, the thyroid hormones, and insulin are major growth-promoting hormones, and the glucocorticoids have significant catabolic actions. At the cellular level the primary anabolic hormones for cultured myoblasts are the somatomedins (insulin-like growth factors) and fibroblast growth factor. In these cells physiological concentrations of growth hormone, thyroid hormones, and insulin have no growth-promoting effect; some of the reported actions of insulin probably result from cross-reaction with the somatomedin receptor. Results with purified proteins do not support the view that mitogens block myoblast differentiation; transforming growth factor-beta and interferon are nonmitogenic proteins that inhibit differentiation, insulin-like growth factors are mitogens that stimulate differentiation, and fibroblast growth factor is the only purified mitogen that inhibits differentiation. At least six serum-free media have now been devised for the growth of various kinds of muscle cells under closely defined conditions.

Effects of pre-exercise carbohydrate feedings on muscle glycogen use during exercise in well-trained runners

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of pre-exercise glucose and fructose feedings on muscle glycogen utilization during exercise in six well-trained runners (VO2max = 68.2 +/- 3.4 ml X kg-1 X min-1). On three separate occasions, the runners performed a 30 min treadmill run at 70% VO2max. Thirty minutes prior to exercise each runner ingested 75 g of glucose (trial G), 75 g of fructose (trial F) or 150 ml of a sweetened placebo (trial C). During exercise, no differences were observed between any of the trials for oxygen uptake, heart rate or perceived exertion. Serum glucose levels were elevated as a result of the glucose feeding (P less than 0.05) reaching peak levels at 30 min post-feeding (7.90 +/- 0.24 mmol X l-1). With the onset of exercise, glucose levels dropped to a low of 5.89 +/- 0.85 mmol X l-1 at 15 min of exercise in trial G. Serum glucose levels in trials F and C averaged 6.21 +/- 0.31 mmol X l-1 and 5.95 +/- 0.23 mmol X l-1 respectively, and were not significantly different (P less than 0.05). There were also no differences in serum glucose levels between any of the trials at 15 and 30 min of exercise.

Fractionation and quantification of calcium-dependent proteinase activity from small tissue samples

Almost all mammalian tissues contain a cytoplasmic Ca2+-dependent proteolytic system consisting of two different proteinases (CDP I and CDP II) and an endogenous inhibitor specific for these proteinases. It was difficult to determine the relative activities of CDP I and CDP II directly and accurately without extensive purification, requiring relatively large amounts of tissue. We developed a simple technique based on Reactive Red-agarose affinity chromatography for quantitatively measuring CDP II activities in small (less than 100 mg) tissue samples. This technique is rapid, sensitive and highly reproducible. CDP II activities can be quantified in numerous tissue samples in a single day. Using this method, we analysed the components of the CDP system in various rat tissues and demonstrated quantitative differences in CDP II activities as well as relative differences in the amounts of CDP-inhibitor activity among the various tissues. This technique should prove useful in the efforts to define the currently unknown physiological function(s) of the Ca2+-dependent proteolytic system by allowing comparison of CDP activities in tissues under diverse conditions of protein metabolism.

Proteolysis of the calcium-dependent protease inhibitor by myocardial calcium-dependent protease

Bovine heart peak II calcium-dependent protease was capable of hydrolyzing its specific inhibitor protein at high molar ratios of protease to inhibitor. The proteolysis was inhibited by leupeptin and required millimolar calcium. Thus, it appeared to be attributable to the calcium-dependent protease and not to possible contaminating proteases in the purified preparations of inhibitor or calcium-dependent protease. Incubation of the purified inhibitor with the calcium-dependent protease produced a discrete pattern of inhibitor fragments on Western blots developed with an inhibitor-specific monoclonal antibody. Traces of similar or identical lower molecular weight immunoreactive material could be observed in Western blots of bovine heart extracts, and the immunoreactivity present as these lower molecular weight forms could be increased by incubation of the extracts with calcium ion. These results suggest that the inhibitor can be proteolyzed to low molecular weight forms which can be detected in cardiac tissue extracts, and that calcium-dependent protease(s) may be responsible for this phenomenon.