RESISTANCE TRAINING WITH EXCESSIVE TRAINING LOAD AND INSUFFICIENT RECOVERY ALTERS SKELETAL MUSCLE MASS–RELATED PROTEIN EXPRESSION RODRIGO WAGNER ALVES SOUZA,1 ANDREO F. AGUIAR,1,2 IVAN J. VECHETTI-JU´NIOR,1 WARLEN PEREIRA PIEDADE,1 GERSON EDUARDO ROCHA CAMPOS,3 AND MAELI DAL-PAI-SILVA1 1

Department of Morphology, Sa˜o Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil; 2Centre of Biological and Health Sciences, North University of Parana´ (UNOPAR), Londrina, Parana´, Brazil; and 3Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, Physiology and Biophysics, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil ABSTRACT

Alves Souza, RW, Aguiar, AF, Vechetti-Ju´nior, IJ, Piedade, WP, Rocha Campos, GE, and Dal-Pai-Silva, M. Resistance training with excessive training load and insufficient recovery alters skeletal muscle mass–related protein expression. J Strength Cond Res 28(8): 2338–2345, 2014—The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a resistance training program with excessive training load and insufficient recovery time between bouts on muscle hypertrophy- and atrophy-related protein expression. Male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to either a trained (TR, N = 9) or a sedentary (SE, N = 9) group. The TR group was subjected to a 12-week resistance training program with excessive training load and insufficient recovery between bouts that was designed to induce plantaris muscle atrophy. After the 12-week experiment, the plantaris muscle was collected to analyze the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the muscle fibers, and MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein expression (Western blot). The CSA was reduced significantly (217%, p # 0.05) in the TR group compared with the SE group. Reciprocally, there was a significant (p # 0.05) 20% increase in MAFbx protein expression, whereas the MyoD (227%), myogenin (229%), and IGF-I (243%) protein levels decreased significantly (p # 0.05) in the TR group compared with the SE group. In conclusion, our data indicated that muscle atrophy induced by resistance training with excessive training load and insufficient recovery was associated with upregulation of the MAFbx catabolic protein and downregulation of the MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I anabolic proteins. These findings suggest that quantitative analysis of these proteins can be important and complementary

Address correspondence to Andreo F. Aguiar, [email protected]. 28(8)/2338–2345 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Ó 2014 National Strength and Conditioning Association

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with other biochemical markers to confirm a possible overtraining diagnosis.

KEY WORDS overworked muscles, muscle atrophy, MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, IGF-I INTRODUCTION

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egular resistance training is naturally associated with mild tissue trauma, which is followed by recovery (38). When an adequate recovery period is allowed between training bouts, muscle adaptation occurs and athletic performance improves; this process is often known as “adaptive microtrauma” (38). However, when excessive training volume is associated with an insufficient recovery time, a mild trauma could develop into a more chronic and severe form of tissue trauma (25) in a clinical state of muscle injury. Muscle injury is associated with strength reduction (10) that is characterized by extensive muscle damage (37), swelling in the injured area, soreness, edema (10,17,22), and local inflammatory response (39). Under these conditions, muscle recovery may require weeks or months of absolute rest or greatly reduced exercise training (20). Our laboratory recently reported that a resistance training program with insufficient recovery time between bouts can induce atrophy and phenotypic alterations in rat skeletal muscle fibers (9), which indicates an increase in the protein catabolism/anabolism ratio. In this regard, Petibois et al. (31) observed that overtrained individuals presented higher amino acid levels and lower blood protein accumulation in response to exercise compared with appropriately trained individuals, which suggested that proteins were catabolized for amino acid supply during exercise. This increased requirement for amino acids during hypermetabolism is partly satisfied by increased muscle proteolysis and concomitant reduction in muscle anabolism (40). In addition, Seene et al. (36) showed that an excessive training volume can increase the protein catabolism/anabolism ratio and consequently decrease muscle mass in rats. The authors also observed that the DNA content per muscle decreased in

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Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research overtrained muscles because of a loss of myonuclei on muscle atrophy (36). Collectively, these findings suggest that an imbalance between stimulus and recovery can increase the catabolism/anabolism ratio and potentially lead to skeletal muscle atrophy. However, the exact molecular mechanisms that govern this atrophic condition during resistance training with excessive training load remain largely unknown. Moreover, no single reliable diagnostic marker of muscle wasting induced by excessive accumulation of training stress (i.e., an increase in training volume, training intensity, or both) is currently available apart from a declined performance (27). Theoretically, the muscle atrophy induced by excessive training volume may be associated with changes in the expression of proteins that govern muscle mass, including muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx; also called atrogin-1), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), and myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs [MyoD, Myf-5, myogenin, and MRF4]); however, this hypothesis remains to be tested. MAFbx, an ubiquitin E3 ligase, is known to be a potent contributor to muscle proteolysis (6,13) through the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway. MAFbx expression is stimulated when the muscle nerve is cut, which results in paralysis and severe atrophy; this gene is also upregulated during muscular immobilization or treatment with a glucocorticoid (6), indicating the important role of MAFbx in skeletal muscle atrophy. Conversely, the MRFs (e.g., MyoD and myogenin) and IGF-I recently have been described as the 2 major anabolic regulators in skeletal muscle. The MRFs are a superfamily of transcription factors that regulates the expression of several skeletal muscle-specific genes (30). The family is composed of 4 members: myogenin, MRF4, MyoD, and Myf-5. The MRFs are upregulated during muscle hypertrophy, which requires satellite cells (SC) to repair load-induced muscle damage. The steps associated with the proliferation, differentiation, and fusion of SC to damaged myofibers (hypertrophy) are generally well established (for a review see Charge´ and Rudnicki (7)). Similarly, IGF-I has also been characterized as a strong anabolic agent because it acts in 2 different manners during load-induced muscle hypertrophy: (a) by stimulating the SC to proliferate and differentiate during the process of compensatory hypertrophy (1), and/or (b) by activating a cascade of signaling pathways through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/p70S6 kinase (p70S6K), which results in the downstream activation of targets required for protein synthesis (11,32) and, consequently, muscle hypertrophy (for a review see Glass (12)). Although it has been well established that MAFbx, MRFs, and IGF-I play key roles in the control of skeletal muscle mass, the expression of these proteins during muscle atrophy induced by excessive training load and insufficient recovery must still be examined. Protein biomarkers of muscle wasting could be important and complementary with other biochemical markers (e.g., elevated creatine kinase and cortisol levels, reduced testosterone levels, and decline in perfor-

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mance) to confirm a possible overtraining diagnosis during intensified training. Thus, this study was designed to examine the chronic response of the MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I proteins to an excessive accumulation of training stress that results in skeletal muscle atrophy. We hypothesized that a long-term resistance training program with excessive training load and insufficient recovery would induce the upregulation of catabolic protein expression (MAFbx) and the downregulation of anabolic protein expression (MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I).

METHODS Experimental Approach to the Problem

A prospective randomized animal study was conducted to examine the chronic response of the MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein levels to an excessive accumulation of training stress, resulting in skeletal muscle atrophy. For this purpose, we used a 12-week resistance training program (Figure 1), according to a protocol previously used in our laboratory, to induce muscle overwork and consequent atrophy in plantaris muscle fast-twitch fibers (e.g., type IIA and IID fibers) (9). The intensity and volume of training were progressive throughout the experiment (Table 1), achieving an overload 15% greater than what is recommended to promote beneficial adaptations in rat skeletal muscle (e.g., muscle fiber hypertrophy) (2). Furthermore, the plantaris muscle was trained 5 consecutive days each week to intentionally limit the muscle recovery time. We felt that this

Figure 1. Sketch of the training apparatus.

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Excessive Training and Muscle Protein Expression

TABLE 1. Resistance training protocol. Weeks Sets 3 jumps Overload (% body weight) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

5 7 12 6 8 10 10 10 8 8 6 6

Training Protocol

60 60 60 65 65 65 70 70 80 80 85 85

training protocol provided an effective way to investigate MyoD, myogenin, IGF-I, and MAFbx protein expression in response to muscle atrophy induced by resistance training with excessive training load and insufficient recovery time between bouts. Two days after the last training bout, morphometric and Western blot analyses were performed to assess muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) and MyoD, myogenin, IGF-I, and MAFbx protein expression in plantaris muscle. The animal model is an accurate method to isolate single muscles and perform analysis on whole muscle preparations, reflecting the total muscle response. To date, most studies have been performed on human subjects to determine the benefit of training for specific athletic performances. However, human studies can be influenced by training motivation, food intake, and lifestyle. Our animal model ensures that experimental results are not influenced by unintended environmental factors. Animals and Experimental Groups

Eighteen male Wistar rats (80 days old, 250–300 g) were obtained from the Multidisciplinary Center for Biological Investigation (CEMIB, UNICAMP, Campinas, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil). The rats were housed in collective polypropylene cages (4 animals per cage) covered with metallic grids, kept in a temperature-controlled room (22–248 C) under an artificial 12:12-hour light-dark cycle and provided with unlimited access to standard rat chow (4.644 kJ$g21 at 26% protein, 3% lipid, 54% carbohydrate, and 17% other; Labina, Purina, Paulı´nia, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil) and water. This standard diet follows the recommendations of the Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals (4) and ensures both the welfare of the animals and the reliability of the experimental results. With these controlled variables, rats were randomly assigned to either a trained (TR, N = 9) or sedentary (SE, N = 9) group. All procedures were approved by the Biosciences Institute Ethics Committee, UNESP, Botucatu, SP, Brazil (Protocol No. 018/08-CEEA) and were conducted in accordance with

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the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals as revised 1996 (15). Throughout the study, every effort was made to minimize the number of animals used, as well as their suffering. The TR group was subjected to a 12-week resistance training program with excessive training load and insufficient recovery time between bouts using a water jump–exercise model (Figure 1), as described in detail elsewhere (9). Briefly, rats underwent consecutive training sessions (5 d$wk21) that consisted of jumps (repetitions) to the water surface (38 cm deep; approximately 150% of rat body length), carrying an overload strapped to a vest on the animal’s chest. Initially, all animals completed a 1-week pretraining (once daily) that consisted of a progressive number of sets (2–4) and repetitions (5–12) with a 30-second rest between each set, and carrying an overload of 50% body weight (BW). Subsequently, the rats began the 12-week training program, which consisted of progressive overload corresponding to 60% (first to third week), 65% (fourth to sixth week), 70% (seventh to eighth week), 80% (ninth to 10th week), and 85% (11th to 12th week) of BW (Table 1). We have previously demonstrated that this training protocol is effective in promoting type IIA and IID fiber atrophy in rat plantaris muscle (9). The SE group was not exposed to any training stimuli throughout the study. The total time of 1 training session for each animal was approximately 4 minutes, in which each animal performed 10 jumps in approximately 20 seconds. This time remained the same throughout the period of training. Sessions were performed between 2 and 4 PM. Anatomical Data

Throughout the experiment, the BW and food intake of the animals were monitored every 2 days. Two days after the last training session, the animals (fed state) were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (40 mg$kg21 IP) and killed by decapitation. Immediately afterward, the middle third (muscle belly) of the plantaris muscle was collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen (21568 C) for morphometric (measurement of muscle fiber CSA) and Western blot (protein expression) analyses. Samples were kept at 2808 C until use. Morphometric Analysis

Plantaris muscle histological sections (12 mm thick) were obtained in a cryostat (JUNG CM1800; Leica, Wetzlar, Germany) at 2248 C and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) (Figure 2A). The stained sections were used for the photographic documentation of 3 random histological fields (203 lens) from each animal. The images were obtained using a microscope connected to a computer. The muscle fiber CSA (500 fibers/animal) was measured using an image analysis system (software QWin Plus; Leica). Western Blot Analysis

MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein levels were measured by Western blot assays of protein extracts from the

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Proteins were transferred from the gel to a nitrocellulose membrane (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA). Using a vacuum-enhanced detection system (SNAP i.d.; Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA), nonspecific binding sites were blocked with a 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution in phosphatebuffered saline (PBS-T: 0.1 M NaH2PO4$H2O, 0.1 M Na2HPO4$7H2O, 0.15 M NaCl, 0.1% Tween-20, pH 7.4) for 10 minutes, followed by specific primary antibody incubation for 10 minutes (Table 2). After 4 wash steps with PBS-T, membranes were incubated for 10 minutes with specific horseradish peroxidase–conjugated secondary antibodies corresponding to the primary antibodies used (Table 2). Finally, immunoreactive protein signals were detected using the SuperSignal Figure 2. Cross-sectional area of plantaris muscle stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) taken from representative sedentary and trained animals (A). Cross-sectional area values between sedentary (SE, N = 9) and West Pico Chemiluminescent trained (TR, N = 9) groups (B). Values are means 6 SD. *p # 0.05 compared with the SE group. Bar: 20 mm. Substrate Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Rockford, IL, USA), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Signals were quantified using densitometry analyplantaris muscle and normalized to actin. Muscle samples sis software (Image J, version 1.71; NIH, Hagenberg, Austria). were homogenized in lysis buffer (1% Triton X-100, 10 mM sodium pyrophosphate, 100 mM NaF, 10 mg$ml21 aprotiStatistical Analyses nin, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride, 0.25 mM Na3VO4, Data are expressed as mean 6 SD. Shapiro-Wilk normality 150 mM NaCl, and 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5). The samples test was used to verify data normal distribution. To ensure were centrifuged at 10,000g for 20 minutes, and 50 ml of the data reliability, the statistical procedure was performed after homogenate fraction was resuspended in 25 ml of Laemmli the preliminary study of the variable related to normality and loading buffer (2% SDS, 20% glycerol, 0.04 mg$ml21 bromoequality of variance between the groups, with the statistical phenol blue, 0.12 M Tris-HCl pH 6.8, and 0.28 M b-merpower of 80% for the comparisons assessed. Differences in captoethanol). Fifty micrograms of total protein was BW, muscle fiber CSA, MyoD, myogenin, IGF-I, and separated by 1-dimensional SDS-PAGE and stained with MAFbx protein expression between SE and TR groups were Coomassie blue to confirm equal loading of each sample.

TABLE 2. Primary and secondary antibodies used in Western blot analysis. Protein

Primary antibody

Secondary antibody

Manufacturer

MyoD Myogenin IGF-I MAFbx Actin

M-318 (sc-760) M-225 (sc-576) C-20 (sc-7144) E-14 (sc-27644) I-19 (sc-1616)

Goat anti-rabbit IgG-HRP/sc-2004 Goat anti-rabbit IgG-HRP/sc-2004 Donkey anti-goat IgG-HRP/sc-2020 Donkey anti-goat IgG-HRP/sc-2020 Donkey anti-goat IgG-HRP/sc-2020

Santa Cruz Biotechnology, CA, USA

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Excessive Training and Muscle Protein Expression

Figure 3. Plantaris muscle MAFbx (A), IGF-I (B), MyoD (C), and myogenin (D) protein expression in sedentary (SE, N = 9) and trained (TR, N = 9) groups. Actin was used as a loading control in Western blots. Values are mean 6 SD. *p # 0.05 compared with the SE group.

determined using a 2-tailed unpaired t-test. Statistical significance was set at p # 0.05. Statistical analyses were performed using a software package (SPSS for Windows, version 13.0; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

RESULTS

Muscle Protein Expression

Body Weight

The groups began the experiment with similar BWs (SE: 286.7 6 18.9 vs. TR: 276.4 6 15.5 g, p . 0.05), indicating similar health and physical activity levels. After the 12-week training program, the TR group displayed a lower BW compared with the SE group (SE: 498.6 6 30.5 vs. TR: 440.9 6 30.3 g, p # 0.05). Furthermore, no difference in weekly food intake was found between the groups (SE: 187.4 6 41.6 vs. TR: 167.7 6 41.2 g, p . 0.05). These results indicated that the loss of BW in the TR group was caused by physiological changes (e.g., protein breakdown and/or fat loss) but not behavioral changes (e.g., decrease in food intake). Cross-sectional Area of Muscle Fibers

Plantaris muscle fiber CSA was measured using HE-stained tissue sections; a representative image is shown in Figure 2A, and the corresponding data are presented in Figure 2B. An

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atrophic effect occurred in the plantaris muscle fibers CSA of the TR group compared with the SE group (SE: 3033 6 402 vs. TR: 2530 6 201 mm2, p # 0.05) after the 12-week training program. The muscle atrophy was corroborated by decreases in the muscle weight-to-BW ratio (data not shown).

the

Figure 3 shows the levels of MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein expression in the plantaris muscles from the TR and SE groups. After 12 weeks, the expression of MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein decreased by 27% (SE: 1.19 6 0.02 vs. TR: 0.86 6 0.08, p # 0.05; Figure 3C), 29% (SE: 0.77 6 0.15 vs. TR: 0.55 6 0.06, p # 0.05; Figure 3D), and 43% (SE: 1.34 6 0.04 vs. TR: 0.76 6 0.17, p # 0.05; Figure 3B), respectively. However, MAFbx protein expression was 20% greater in the TR group compared with that in the SE group (SE: 0.82 6 0.08 vs. TR: 0.99 6 0.12, p # 0.05; Figure 3A).

DISCUSSION Our laboratory recently reported that a resistance training program with excessive training load and inappropriate recovery between bouts induces atrophy and phenotypic alterations in rat skeletal muscle fibers (9), indicating an

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Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research increase in the protein catabolism/anabolism ratio. To expand on these previous findings, we hypothesized that skeletal muscle atrophy induced by excessive training load and insufficient recovery would be associated with upregulation of catabolic protein expression (MAFbx) and downregulation of anabolic protein expression (MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I). Our results confirmed this hypothesis by showing, for the first time, that muscle atrophy induced by an imbalance in intensity and recovery of training was associated with increased MAFbx protein expression and decreased MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein expression. The upregulation of MAFbx protein expression observed in our study extends the findings from a previous study involving different atrophy conditions (6,13,34). Sandri et al. (34), using a model of in vitro atrophy (e.g., differentiated myotubes that were deprived of nutrients for 6 hours), found a 2.5-fold increase in MAFbx mRNA expression in conjunction with a 60% reduction in myotube diameter. These results are in agreement with the in vivo response to other treatments (6,13,19). For example, mice muscles that were subjected to immobilization or treatment with a glucocorticoid showed a marked increase in MAFbx gene expression (6). Additionally, mice that are null for MAFbx (MAFbx 2/2) seem to be more resistant to denervation-induced muscle loss than a control group of littermates (6). Considering these previous studies, it seems reasonable to assume that MAFbx plays a key role in regulating muscle catabolism in several atrophy models (e.g., disuse, hormonal intervention, and gene knockout); this fact could explain the 20% increase in MAFbx protein expression that was associated with muscle fiber atrophy and weight loss in the TR group, compared with the SE group, in this study. Despite strong evidence showing that increased MAFbx expression was associated with muscle atrophy, it is unclear why the 12-week resistance training program promoted a persistent increase in MAFbx protein expression. It is important to note that the common process of muscle regeneration in response to acute resistance training is associated with reduced MAFbx expression (analyses at 8, 12, and 24 hours after exercise) (23,26,28,43); this downregulation in MAFbx expression appeared to be necessary for promoting muscle regeneration (29). Therefore, it is likely that increased MAFbx protein expression and consequent muscle fiber atrophy during the 12-week training program was caused by the accumulation of functional and metabolic stress, which was induced by excessive training overload and insufficient recovery time between training sessions. Our results reveal new insight into the molecular mechanisms that govern muscle atrophy by showing for the first time that MAFbx protein expression is persistently increased when muscles are subjected to an excessive accumulation of training stress that results in the skeletal muscle atrophy. Interestingly, increased MAFbx protein expression was associated with the downregulation of MyoD (227%) and myogenin (229%) protein expression after the 12-week training program. MyoD and myogenin are members of

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the family of muscle-specific bHLH (basic helix-loophelix) transcription factors that are involved in the proliferation and differentiation of SC in response to loadinduced activation (5,14). It has been demonstrated that increased MyoD and myogenin expression is essential for successful skeletal muscle hypertrophy (16,24), and the contrary is true for skeletal muscle atrophy (21,42). The theoretical basis of these studies of muscle atrophy suggests that increased MAFbx expression can regulate the decrease in MyoD and myogenin expression and, consequently, induce muscle atrophy. Indeed, Lagirand-Cantaloube et al. (21) observed that increased MAFbx expression occurred concurrently with the selective suppression of MyoD in cultured myotubes undergoing atrophy. The authors also showed that shRNA-mediated silencing of the MAFbx gene in myotubes inhibited the MyoD proteolysis that was linked to atrophy. Furthermore, the overexpression of a mutant MyoDK133R (which is insensitive to MAFbx-mediated polyubiquitination) prevented atrophy of mouse primary myotubes and skeletal muscle fibers in vivo (21). In addition to MyoD, it has been shown that MAFbx can also regulate the degradation of myogenin in cell culture and in fasting mice (18). The authors found an increase in the polyubiquitination of myogenin in MAFbxoverexpressing cells and a stabilization of myogenin in MAFbx-knockdown cells, which indicated that myogenin can be a target of the MAFbx protein. Collectively, these results revealed that MAFbx was responsible for MyoD and myogenin degradation and that this process appeared to be required for muscle atrophy promotion (18,21,42). Therefore, the muscle atrophy observed in our study may be explained by the MAFbx-dependent decrease in MyoD and myogenin protein expression. Our results extend the findings of previous in vitro and in vivo studies involving several atrophy conditions (8,21,42) by showing for the first time that excessive training load with inappropriate recovery can reverse the anabolic effects of myogenic pathways that govern muscle hypertrophy (e.g., reduce the MyoD and myogenin levels) and thus induce muscle atrophy. Moreover, our results show that MyoD and myogenin are degraded by a common mechanism associated with increased MAFbx protein expression. From a practical perspective, the quantitative analysis of these proteins (as expressed by increased MAFbx protein content and decreased MyoD and myogenin protein content) could be important and complementary with other biochemical markers (e.g., elevated creatine kinase and cortisol levels, reduced testosterone levels, and decline in performance) to confirm a possible overtraining diagnosis during intensified training. Despite the important role of MAFbx in muscle atrophy, the exact molecular mechanisms that control its increase during excessive training load remain unknown. It is known that the IGF-I signaling pathway downregulates the transcription of MAFbx by activating PI3K and Akt (34). Okada et al. (29) found that an increase in IGF-I protein expression VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 8 | AUGUST 2014 |

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Excessive Training and Muscle Protein Expression occurred concurrently with reduced MAFbx expression during the time course of muscle regeneration (3 and 5 days after exercising) in mice subjected to forced eccentric contraction by electrical stimulation. Although it is not possible to establish a direct causal relationship in this study, the authors have suggested that the increase in IGF-I expression may have contributed to a concomitant reduction in the MAFbx expression required for muscle regeneration. Additionally, IGF-I signaling was shown to suppress protein breakdown (33); transgenic mice that overexpressed IGF-I were more resistant to skeletal muscle atrophy that was induced by chronic left-ventricular dysfunction (35), and local IGF-I injection was sufficient to block disuse atrophy (41). These studies also showed that IGF-I/Akt signaling completely suppressed MAFbx expression. If the increased IGF-I levels are capable of suppressing MAFbx expression and preventing muscle atrophy, it seems logical to think that the downregulation of IGF-I is required to increase the MAFbx protein level and promote muscle atrophy. In fact, our results showed that the TR group undergoing muscle atrophy showed a 43% decrease in IGF-I protein expression concomitant with increased MAFbx protein expression (compared with the SE group). These data suggest that the development of therapies to stimulate the IGF-I signaling pathway could also contribute to the treatment of muscle wasting in conditions of excessive training load and possibly other metabolic and neuromuscular diseases. However, there are some limitations that must be acknowledged and addressed regarding this study because (a) we did not measure the other proteins involved with muscle atrophy (e.g., MuRF-1) and hypertrophy (e.g., Akt, mTOR, p70S6k) processes and (b) we did not examine the serum levels of stress hormones (e.g., cortisol) and muscle injury-related proteins (e.g., creatine kinase activity). Future studies are required to address these issues during conditions of excessive training load with inappropriate recovery between bouts in athletes and amateurs. In conclusion, our data showed for the first time that muscle atrophy induced by resistance training with excessive training load and inappropriate recovery time between bouts was associated with upregulation of the MAFbx catabolic protein and downregulation of the MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I anabolic proteins. This result indicates that both the catabolic and anabolic pathways are affected at the translational level in overworked muscles undergoing atrophy.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This study has examined the chronic response of the MAFbx, MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I proteins to an excessive accumulation of training stress, which resulted in the skeletal muscle atrophy. The increased MAFbx levels and concomitant decreased MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I content confirm that these proteins are key elements to regulate muscle proteolysis in overworked muscles. From a practical perspective, the results indicate that quantitative

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analysis of these proteins (as expressed by increased MAFbx protein content and decreased MyoD, myogenin, and IGF-I protein content) can be important and complementary with other biochemical markers (e.g., elevated creatine kinase and cortisol levels, reduced testosterone levels, and decline in performance) to confirm a possible overtraining diagnosis during intensified training. Additionally, these proteins may be the targets of new therapeutic interventions to treat muscle wasting in overworked muscles undergoing atrophy, and possibly other neuromuscular diseases.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was supported by Sa˜o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Proc. 08/52641-1, by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Proc. 130628/2008-5, and by CAPES. This work is part of the MSc thesis that was presented by RWAS to the University of Campinas, UNICAMP, 2010.

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VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 8 | AUGUST 2014 |

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Resistance training with excessive training load and insufficient recovery alters skeletal muscle mass-related protein expression.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a resistance training program with excessive training load and insufficient recovery time betw...
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