Fig. 1.

Skeletal muscle autophagy but not proteasome-mediated proteolysis is increased in cirrhosis and portosystemic shunting. A: real-time PCR quantification of critical components of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in the rectus abdominis skeletal muscle of patients with cirrhosis (n = 13) compared with controls (n = 13). No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups. B: proteasome 20S activity assay in skeletal muscle lysate from cirrhotics (n = 10) and controls (n = 10) showed no significant differences between the 2 groups. C: representative immunoblots performed on total protein extracted from skeletal muscle biopsies from cirrhotic patients (n = 13) and control subjects of p62, beclin-1, and LC3 lipidation (each lane represents a separate subject). D: densitometry with error bars of the blots normalized to β-actin. Increased LC3 lipidation, p62 degradation, and beclin-1 expression in cirrhosis compared with controls. *P < 0.01. E: representative immunoblots performed on total protein extracted from gastrocnemius muscle of portacaval anastamosis (PCA) rat and pair-fed sham-operated control rats showed increased LC3 lipidation and p62 degradation in sham control and PCA rats (each lane is a separate animal). F: densitometry with error bars for the blots normalized to β-actin. **P < 0.01 PCA compared with sham controls.