Skip to main content
Biochemical Journal logoLink to Biochemical Journal
. 1983 Jan 15;210(1):243–249. doi: 10.1042/bj2100243

Effects of anabolic agents on protein breakdown in L6 myoblasts.

F J Ballard, G L Francis
PMCID: PMC1154211  PMID: 6342615

Abstract

1. Protein degradation in rat L6 myoblasts is inhibited by high concentrations of insulin as well as by foetal bovine serum and bovine colostrum, mixtures rich in growth-factor activity. 2. Growth factors achieve maximal effects within 2 h after addition to the cell cultures, but these diminish with time. Indeed, during incubations greater than 12 h, foetal calf serum actually stimulates protein breakdown. The changed response, however, is not due to the depletion of growth factors from serum. 3. Protein breakdown is stimulated by dexamethasone by a process that takes several hours to be expressed, but is more pronounced over a 4 h measurement period than over 18h. The glucocorticoid response is prevented by insulin or by cycloheximide. 4. Anabolic agents such as trenbolone, diethylstilboestrol and testosterone do not alter rates of intracellular protein breakdown and do not interfere with the glucocorticoid-induced catabolic response. 5. The results are consistent with anabolic steroids and related agents acting indirectly on muscle, perhaps via altering concentrations of growth factors of the somatomedin type.

Full text

PDF
243

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ballard F. J., Knowles S. E., Wong S. S., Bodner J. B., Wood C. M., Gunn J. M. Inhibition of protein breakdown in cultured cells is a consistent response to growth factors. FEBS Lett. 1980 Jun 2;114(2):209–212. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(80)81116-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ballard F. J., Nield M. K., Francis G. L., Dahlenburg G. W., Wallace J. C. The relationship between the insulin content and inhibitory effects of bovine colostrum on protein breakdown in cultured cells. J Cell Physiol. 1982 Mar;110(3):249–254. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1041100305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ballard F. J., Wong S. S., Knowles S. E., Partridge N. C., Martin T. J., Wood C. M., Gunn J. M. Insulin inhibition of protein degradation in cell monolayers. J Cell Physiol. 1980 Nov;105(2):335–346. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1041050216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DeMartino G. N., Goldberg A. L. Thyroid hormones control lysosomal enzyme activities in liver and skeletal muscle. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Mar;75(3):1369–1373. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.3.1369. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Donaldson I. A., Hart I. C., Heitzman R. J. Growth hormone, insulin, prolactin and total thyroxine in the plasma of sheep implanted with the anabolic steroid trenbolone acetate alone or with oestradiol. Res Vet Sci. 1981 Jan;30(1):7–13. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Goldberg A. L., Chang T. W. Regulation and significance of amino acid metabolism in skeletal muscle. Fed Proc. 1978 Jul;37(9):2301–2307. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldberg A. L. Protein turnover in skeletal muscle. II. Effects of denervation and cortisone on protein catabolism in skeletal muscle. J Biol Chem. 1969 Jun 25;244(12):3223–3229. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goldberg A. L., St John A. C. Intracellular protein degradation in mammalian and bacterial cells: Part 2. Annu Rev Biochem. 1976;45:747–803. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.45.070176.003531. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Heitzman R. J. The effectiveness of anabolic agents in increasing rate of growth in farm animals; report on experiments in cattle. Environ Qual Saf Suppl. 1976;(5):89–98. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Heitzman R. J. The efficacy and mechanism of action of anabolic agents as growth promoters in farm animals. J Steroid Biochem. 1979 Jul;11(1C):927–930. doi: 10.1016/0022-4731(79)90032-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hopgood M. F., Clark M. G., Ballard F. J. Stimulation by glucocorticoids of protein degradation in hepatocyte monolayers. Biochem J. 1981 Apr 15;196(1):33–40. doi: 10.1042/bj1960033. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mayer M., Rosen F. Interaction of anabolic steroids with glucocorticoid receptor sites in rat muscle cytosol. Am J Physiol. 1975 Nov;229(5):1381–1386. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1975.229.5.1381. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Poggi C., Le Marchand-Brustel Y., Zapf J., Froesch E. R., Freychet P. Effects and binding of insulin-like growth factor I in the isolated soleus muscle of lean and obese mice: comparison with insulin. Endocrinology. 1979 Sep;105(3):723–730. doi: 10.1210/endo-105-3-723. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Richman R. A., Weiss J. P., Roberts S. B., Florini J. R. The effect of serum and multiplication stimulating activity on L6 myoblast growth: the lack of correlation with cyclic nucleotide changes. J Cell Physiol. 1980 Apr;103(1):63–69. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1041030110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. VanderWal P. General aspects of the effectiveness of anabolic agents in increasing protein production in farm animals, in particular in bull calves. Environ Qual Saf Suppl. 1976;(5):60–78. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Vernon B. G., Buttery P. J. The effect of trenbolone acetate with time on the various responses of protein synthesis of the rat. Br J Nutr. 1978 Nov;40(3):563–572. doi: 10.1079/bjn19780160. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wangsness P. J., Olsen R. F., Martin R. J. Effects of breed and zeranol implantation on serum insulin, somatomedin-like activity and fibroblast proliferative activity. J Anim Sci. 1981 Jan;52(1):57–62. doi: 10.2527/jas1981.52157x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Zapf J., Froesch E. R., Humbel R. E. The insulin-like growth factors (IGF) of human serum: chemical and biological characterization and aspects of their possible physiological role. Curr Top Cell Regul. 1981;19:257–309. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-152819-5.50024-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biochemical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biochemical Society

RESOURCES