AICAR treatment for 4 weeks increases PGC-1α and mitochondrial content but has no effect on muscle mass or expression of ubiquitin ligases. A, levels in the gastrocnemius muscle of PGC-1α protein and the mitochondrial proteins, cytochrome c, and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), increase with AICAR treatment, and decrease with denervation. *, p < 0.05 versus innervated vehicle-treated muscle, n = 6. B, 2 weeks after denervation, the weights of several muscles decreased similarly with or without AICAR treatment. *, p < 0.01 versus innervated vehicle-treated muscle. C, the levels of the ubiquitin ligases Atrogin1 and MuRF1 proteins in the gastrocnemius muscle increased after denervation similarly with or without AICAR treatment. *, p < 0.05 versus innervated vehicle-treated muscle. D, the content of NRF-1 protein decreased with AICAR treatment and with denervation. *, p < 0.01 versus innervated vehicle-treated muscle, in contrast to the induction of NRF-1 following PGC-1 overexpression (cf. Fig. 2B).