Physiological rise in plasma leucine stimulates muscle protein synthesis in neonatal pigs by enhancing translation initiation factor activation

• Published in: American journal of physiology: endocrinology and metabolism 2005-05, Vol.288 (5), p.E914-E921
• Main Authors: Escobar, Jeffery, Frank, Jason W, Suryawan, Agus, Nguyen, Hanh V, Kimball, Scot R, Jefferson, Leonard S, Davis, Teresa A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Eukaryotic Initiation Factors - metabolism; Infusions, Intra-Arterial; Leucine - administration & dosage; Leucine - blood; Muscle Proteins - metabolism; Muscle, Skeletal - blood supply; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Swine
• ISSN: 0193-1849; 1522-1555
• DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00510.2004

1 United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; and 2 Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania Submitted 26 October 2004 ; accepted in final form 30 December 2004 Protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of adult rats increases in response to oral gavage of supraphysiological doses of leucine. However, the effect on protein synthesis of a physiological rise in plasma leucine has not been investigated in neonates, an anabolic population highly sensitive to amino acids and insulin. Therefore, in the current study, fasted pigs were infused intra-arterially with leucine (0, 200, or 400 µmol·kg –1 ·h –1 ), and protein synthesis was measured after 60 or 120 min. Protein synthesis was increased in muscle, but not in liver, at 60 min. At 120 min, however, protein synthesis returned to baseline levels in muscle but was reduced below baseline values in liver. The increase in protein synthesis in muscle was associated with increased plasma leucine of 1.5- to 3-fold and no change in plasma insulin. Leucine infusion for 120 min reduced plasma essential amino acid levels. Phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-4E-binding protein-1 (4E-BP1), ribosomal protein (rp) S6 kinase, and rpS6 was increased, and the amount of eIF4E associated with its repressor 4E-BP1 was reduced after 60 and 120 min of leucine infusion. No change in these biomarkers of mRNA translation was observed in liver. Thus a physiological increase in plasma leucine stimulates protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs in association with increased eIF4E availability for eIF4F assembly. This response appears to be insulin independent, substrate dependent, and tissue specific. The results suggest that the branched-chain amino acid leucine can act as a nutrient signal to stimulate protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonates. nutrition; liver; amino acids; ribosomal protein S6 kinase; eukaryotic initiation factor-4E Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: T. A. Davis, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Dept. of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, 1100 Bates St., Suite 9064, Houston, TX 77030 (E-mail: tdavis{at}bcm.tmc.edu )