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. 2016 Sep 16;8(2):202–212. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12145

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Activin A‐induced muscle catabolic response in mice is dependent on p38β MAPK. (A) Systemic administration of activin A activates p38 MAPK in mouse muscle. Activin A (or vehicle phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS)) was injected i.p. (100 µg/kg) to 7‐week‐old male control mice (p38βf/f). In 8 h, the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle was collected for analysis by Western blotting. (B) Activin A‐induced catabolic response in mouse muscle is abolished by inhibition or knockout of p38β MAPK. Activin A (or vehicle PBS) was injected i.p. (100 µg/kg) to 7‐week‐old male control mice (p38βf/f) and mice with muscle‐specific knockout of p38β MAPK (p38β MKO). When indicated, SB202190 was i.p. injected (5 mg/kg) 30 min prior to activin A injection. In 8 h, the TA muscle was collected for analyses by Western blotting. (C) Activin A acts through p38β MAPK to up‐regulate the gene transcription of UBR2, atrogin1, and LC3b in mouse muscle. TA samples obtained were further analysed with real‐time PCR for mRNA levels of the three genes. Asterisk (*) denotes a difference (P < 0.05) between the bracketed columns as determined by analysis of variance.