Cessation of biomechanical stretch model of C2C12 cells models myocyte atrophy and anaplerotic changes in metabolism using non-targeted metabolomics analysis

Studies of skeletal muscle disuse, either in patients on bed rest or experimentally in animals (immobilization), have demonstrated that decreased protein synthesis is common, with transient parallel increases in protein degradation. Muscle disuse atrophy involves a process of transition from slow to fast myosin fiber types. A shift toward glycolysis, decreased capacity for fat oxidation, and substrate accumulation in atrophied muscles have been reported, as has accommodation of the liver with an increased gluconeogenic capacity. Recent studies have modeled skeletal muscle disuse by using cyclic stretch of differentiated myotubes (C2C12), which mimics the loading pattern of mature skeletal muscle, followed by cessation of stretch. We utilized this model to determine the metabolic changes using non-targeted metabolomics analysis of the media. We identified increases in amino acids resulting from muscle atrophy-induced protein degradation (largely sarcomere) that occurs with muscle atrophy that are involved in feeding the Kreb's cycle through anaplerosis. Specifically, we identified increased alanine/proline metabolism (significantly elevated proline, alanine, glutamine, and asparagine) and increased α-ketoglutaric acid, the proposed Kreb's cycle intermediate being fed by the alanine/proline metabolic anaplerotic mechanism. Additionally, several unique pathways not clearly delineated in previous studies of muscle unloading were seen, including: (1) elevated keto-acids derived from branched chain amino acids (i.e. 2-ketoleucine and 2-keovaline), which feed into a metabolic pathway supplying acetyl-CoA and 2-hydroxybutyrate (also significantly increased); and (2) elevated guanine, an intermediate of purine metabolism, was seen at 12h unloading. Given the interest in targeting different aspects of the ubiquitin proteasome system to inhibit protein degradation, this C2C12 system may allow the identification of direct and indirect alterations in metabolism due to anaplerosis or through other yet to be identified mechanisms using a non-targeted metabolomics approach.

Molecular regulation of reversible cardiac remodeling: lessons from species with extreme physiological adaptations

Some vertebrates evolved to have a remarkable capacity for anatomical and physiological plasticity in response to environmental challenges. One example of such plasticity can be found in the ambush-hunting snakes of the genus Python, which exhibit reversible cardiac growth with feeding. The predation strategy employed by pythons is associated with months-long fasts that are arrested by ingestion of large prey. Consequently, digestion compels a dramatic increase in metabolic rate and hypertrophy of multiple organs, including the heart. In this Review, we summarize the post-prandial cardiac adaptations in pythons at the whole-heart, cellular and molecular scales. We highlight circulating factors and cellular signaling pathways that are altered during digestion to affect cardiac form and function and propose possible mechanisms that may drive the post-digestion regression of cardiac mass. Adaptive physiological cardiac hypertrophy has also been observed in other vertebrates, including in fish acclimated to cold water, birds flying at high altitudes and exercising mammals. To reveal potential evolutionarily conserved features, we summarize the molecular signatures of reversible cardiac remodeling identified in these species and compare them with those of pythons. Finally, we offer a perspective on the potential of biomimetics targeting the natural biology of pythons as therapeutics for human heart disease.