Maintaining skeletal muscle mass is essential for general health and prevention of disease progression in various neuromuscular conditions. Currently, no treatments are available to prevent progressive loss of muscle mass in any of these conditions. Hibernating mammals are protected from muscle atrophy despite prolonged periods of immobilization and starvation. Here, we describe a mechanism underlying muscle preservation and translate it to non-hibernating mammals. Although Akt has an established role in skeletal muscle homeostasis, we find that serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) regulates muscle mass maintenance via downregulation of proteolysis and autophagy as well as increased protein synthesis during hibernation. We demonstrate that SGK1 is critical for the maintenance of skeletal muscle homeostasis and function in non-hibernating mammals in normal and atrophic conditions such as starvation and immobilization. Our results identify a novel therapeutic target to combat loss of skeletal muscle mass associated with muscle degeneration and atrophy.
Summary
Data were compiled regarding the success of commercial embryo recovery rate, transfer pregnancy rate, and embryonic loss in recipients, with respect to influence of donor parity and age, between 1985 and 1988. There were significant differences between maiden and subfertile mares for embryo recovery rate (40/66 versus 81/282), transfer pregnancy rate (34/49 versus 38/78), and embryonic loss in recipients (4/34 versus 13/38). There were also significant differences between recently foaling and subfertile mares (146/276 versus 81/282) and for younger mares (two to eight and nine to 17‐year‐old) compared with older mares (18 to 28‐year‐old) for embryo recovery rates (80/132, 94/183 and 93/309, respectively). Transfer pregnancy rates differed signifiantly between mares aged two to eight‐years‐old compared with those aged nine to 17 and 18 to 28‐years‐old (59/84, 50/97 and 50/90 respectively). No differences were observed among any of the age groups regarding embryonic loss in recipients. There was an effect of year on embryo transfer pregnancy rate in 1985 compared with subsequent years that could have been attributed to any of a wide variety of external factors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.