1. Academic Validation
  2. Triptolide induces atrophy of myotubes by triggering IRS-1 degradation and activating the FoxO3 pathway

Triptolide induces atrophy of myotubes by triggering IRS-1 degradation and activating the FoxO3 pathway

  • Toxicol In Vitro. 2020 Jun;65:104793. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2020.104793.
Jianfeng Wang 1 Xiukui Gao 2 Danhong Ren 3 Meihua Zhang 4 Pei Zhang 1 Shan Lu 1 Caijuan Huan 1 Yinan Yao 1 Liling Zheng 5 Zhang Bao 6 Jianying Zhou 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China.
  • 2 Provincial Key Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China.
  • 3 Department of Critical Care Medicine, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou 310003, China.
  • 4 Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China.
  • 5 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China.
  • 6 Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7 Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

Triptolide is an active ingredient isolated from an ancient Chinese herb (Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f) for inflammatory and immune disorders. It has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of skeletal muscle; however, mechanisms of this effect remain unclear. We used mouse C2C12 myotubes as an in vitro model to investigate the effects of triptolide on skeletal muscle. Triptolide markedly inhibited the expression of Myosin heavy chain and upregulated the expression of muscle atrophy-related proteins, leading to atrophy of the myotubes. Triptolide dose-dependently decreased the phosphorylation of Forkhead box O3 (FoxO3) and activated FoxO3 transcription activity, which regulates the expression of muscle atrophy-related proteins. Furthermore, triptolide inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt on the site of S473 and T308, and decreased the phosphorylation of Insulin Receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) on the site of S302. In addition, triptolide reduced the protein level, but not mRNA level of IRS-1, whereas other upstream regulators of the Akt signaling pathway were not affected. Finally, a time-course experiment showed that the triptolide-induced degradation of IRS-1 in myotubes occurred 12 h prior to both inhibition of Akt activity and the activation of FoxO3. These data indicate that triptolide triggers IRS-1 degradation to promote FoxO3 activation, which subsequently led to atrophy of myotubes, providing us a potential target to prevent triptolide-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.

Keywords

FoxO3; IRS-1; Myotubes atrophy; Skeletal muscle; Triptolide.

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