Cachexia is a highly complex syndrome identified by metabolic, hormonal and cytokine-related abnormalities, but can be shortly characterized as accelerated skeletal muscle and adipose tissue loss in the context of a chronic inflammatory response. Cachexia is a debilitating complication of several diseases such as AIDS, sepsis, diabetes, renal failure, burn injury and cancer. Cachexia is responsible for 25-30% of cancer patient deaths. One of the most obvious outcomes of cancer cachexia is the redistribution of the total protein content, namely the depletion of skeletal muscle protein levels and increase in the acute phase response protein levels as a response to tissue injury. Although the plasticity of muscle mass and utility of skeletal muscle as a protein source are known facts, there have not been many studies concerning the mechanism of conversion of skeletal muscle proteins to other protein forms, for which the organism has greater need. IL-6 and activation of the acute phase response have been linked to cancer cachexia. However, IL-6 is generally not thought to signal directly on skeletal muscle and to date no studies have manipulated the STAT3 pathway for regulating skeletal muscle mass. Our data demonstrate direct action of IL-6 on activation of the STAT3 and acute phase response pathway at the skeletal muscle. In addition, our observations that STAT3 is broadly activated in cachexia and that STAT3 activation is sufficient and necesssary to induce muscle wasting are also novel. Thus, these studies define a new pathway leading to muscle wasting, which can be a potential target for reversing muscle wasting in cancer cachexia. Successful inhibition of skeletal muscle wasting and other metabolic derangements of cachexia will increase quality of life and survival of a significant fraction of cancer patients.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the role of lactate in the regulatory volume response of mammalian skeletal muscle to hypertonic challenge-induced cell shrinkage. It was demonstrated that adult mice skeletal muscle single fibres responded to increased extracellular osmolarity in a dose-dependent manner when exposed to NaCl or sucrose challenge. This regulatory response to sucrose and NaCl however was abolished when cells were pre-treated with bumetanide, a specific sodium-potassium-chloride cotransport (NKCC) inhibitor, demonstrating that the NKCC is primarily responsible for eliciting a regulatory volume increase (RVI). When cells were exposed to NaLac treatment, bumetanide incubation did not significantly diminish the ability of the cells to recover volume. Furthermore, these cells lost less volume compared to NaCl or sucrose control. Inhibiting the single muscle fibres with either monocarboxylate transport (MCT) inhibitor phloretin or pCMBS resulted in significantly greater volume loss and impaired volume recovery. Combined MCT inhibition of phloretin or pCMBS with NKCC inhibition (bumetanide) led to unexpected findings, whereby the cells lost very little volume. These data suggest that while skeletal muscle fibres may utilize the NKCC to regulate volume, the ability for these cells to employ the most efficient means of volume regulation involves the inclusion of lactate as well via MCT uptake. / NSERC

Fatty acid transport across the plasma membrane is an important site of regulation in skeletal muscle lipid metabolism, and is governed by a number of fatty acid transport proteins including, CD36, FABPpm, and FATP1 and 4. While each transporter is capable of independently stimulating fatty acid transport, less is known about their specific functions under various metabolic conditions, although CD36 appears to be key. The purpose of this thesis was to examine skeletal muscle fatty acid metabolism in several rodent models where CD36 has been altered, particularly via whole body deletion, by muscle specific overexpression, or in the face of permanent redistribution of CD36 to the plasma membrane. Using these models, this thesis sought to answer the following questions: 1) Is caffeine-stimulated fatty acid oxidation CD36-dependent? 2) Does CD36 function in tandem with FABPpm, and does this enhance fatty acid uptake at the plasma membrane and/or influence the metabolic fate of incoming fatty acids? 3) Is intramuscular lipid distribution altered in a rodent model of obesity, in which CD36-mediated fatty acid uptake is increased? Specific novel findings include the following: 1) Caffeine-stimulated calcium release can elicit the translocation of a number of fatty acid transporters in skeletal muscle, but CD36 is essential for caffeine-induced increases in fatty acid uptake and oxidation. 2) In spite of difficulties associated with protein co-overexpression, it appears that simultaneous overexpression of CD36 and FABPpm enhances fatty acid transport across the plasma membrane, and that these transporters may collaborate to increase insulin-induced fatty acid esterification and AICAR-induced oxidation. 3) Finally, in the obese Zucker rat model, augmented CD36-dependent fatty acid transport into muscle in combination with elevated lipid supply, results in lipid accretion within the IMF region of muscle, an effect that could not be explained by compartment-specific changes in selected glycerolipid synthesizing enzymes. Taken together, these studies emphasize the importance of CD36 in the regulation of plasmalemmal fatty acid transport, and further elucidate the metabolic implication of CD36 alteration on overall skeletal muscle metabolism.

This project uses radionuclides from the uranium-238 decay chain series in conjunction with lead, strontium carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios to achieve accurate dating and geographical sourcing of human skeletal remains. A pilot study was conducted in order to test the hypothesis that 210pb stored within the skeleton during life decays at a known rate once death occurs. Samples of femur were used from 12 Portuguese individuals whose year of death was known.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Insulin resistance is a major metabolic defect associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The incidences of both are increasing at an alarming rate. Excessive consumption of nutrient rich foods have been implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. However, the mechanisms involved in the onset of insulin resistance in skeletal muscle caused by acute nutrient oversupply in vivo have not been fully elucidated. The broad aim of this thesis was to examine the mechanisms associated with the onset of skeletal muscle insulin resistance in models of acute nutrient oversupply. The effect of glucose oversupply was investigated in the first study, which resulted in insulin resistance at the whole body and skeletal muscle level following 5h of glucose infusion, but not after 3h. There was no change in markers of oxidative stress over the same time course during which insulin resistance developed. Furthermore, co-infusion of the antioxidant taurine had no effect on the decreased glucose uptake in skeletal muscle from glucose infused animals. There was no evidence of activation of inflammatory/stress signalling pathways or defects in the phosphorylation state of multiple insulin signalling intermediates over the same time course. In isolated soleus strips taken from control, 1h, or 5h glucose infused animals, insulin stimulated 2-deoxyglucose transport was similar. Although, insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis was significantly reduced after 5h of glucose infusion, in the presence of significantly increased glycogen content. The reduced flux through the glycogen synthesis pathway and a reduced content of glucose-6-phosphate suggests in this model that the rate limiting step has shifted from glucose transport to glucose phosphorylation by hexokinase (HK). In an acute lipid and insulin infusion model, the onset of insulin resistance was similar to that observed in the glucose infusion model. The mechanisms for the insulin resistance in skeletal muscle in this model was not associated with defects in the phosphorylation of key insulin signalling intermediates or activation of inflammatory/stress signalling pathways. Furthermore, there was no change in markers of oxidative stress and the co-infusion of taurine had no effect on the onset of insulin resistance. There was an increased exposure of long chain acyl-CoA (LCACoA), although there was no change in the content of other lipid intermediates such as DAG or ceramides. Interestingly, muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) kinase 4 (PDHK4) protein content was significantly decreased in hyperinsulinaemic glycerol infused rats after 3 and 5h, and this decrease was blunted in muscle from hyperinsulinaemic 3 and 5h lipid infused rats. These findings suggest that lipid infusion may reduce glucose metabolism by inhibition of the glucose phosphorylation due to LCACoA inhibition of HK and mitochondrial substrate competition regulated by increased PDHK4. In conclusion, the current studies demonstrate that the insulin resistance associated with nutrient oversupply was not associated with significant changes in phosphorylation of key insulin signalling intermediates, activation of inflammatory and stress signalling pathways, or a change in markers of oxidative stress. Overall, the studies in this thesis suggest that the initial onset of insulin resistance due to glucose and lipid oversupply (in the presence of high insulin) is associated with metabolic feedback regulation, which is likely to be a protective mechanism of the skeletal muscle to limit any further insult by the excess nutrients.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are the most prevalent metabolic diseases in the western world and affect over 50% of the world’s population. During obesity non-adipose tissues such as the liver and skeletal muscle take up and store excess fatty acids (FA) as lipids such as triacylglycerols (TAG) and diacylglycerols (DAG). Excessive lipid storage in non-adipose tissues can result in the dysfunction of cellular processes and lead to programmed cell death (apoptosis). Lipid-induced apoptosis was investigated in the key glucoregulatory tissues, the liver and skeletal muscle. Lipid-induced apoptosis was detected in vitro in both hepatocytes and myotubes but was not detected in the livers or skeletal muscles of genetically obese mice or high-fat fed mice. Further investigation discovered despite exacerbated TAG accumulation, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER) was not activated in the liver and pathways of cellular remodelling (proteolysis and autophagy) were not initiated in skeletal muscle. These studies demonstrated that the liver and skeletal muscle are adaptable to increased lipid storage in physiological models but not isolated cell culture systems. In vitro experiments demonstrated unsaturated FAs could protect hepatocytes from lipoapoptosis and it has been suggested this is due to driving FA accumulation into TAG lipid droplets. Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) is one of the primary TAG lipases. To explore TAG metabolism in the liver, primary hepatocytes were derived from ATGL null mice and ATGL was over-expressed in the livers of chronically obese mice. / It was found that cellular FA uptake and TAG esterification was increased and TAG lipolysis and FA oxidation were decreased in the ATGL null hepatocytes. This resulted in exacerbated TAG and diacylglycerol (DAG) storage. The gene expression of metabolic regulators such as cytochrome c oxidase subunit 2 (COX2), medium chain acyl Co-A dehydrogenase (MCAD), peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor co-activator 1! (PGC1!), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) and FA translocase/cluster of differentiation 36 (FAT/CD36) were increased in ATGL null hepatocytes compared with wild type hepatocytes, suggesting that the reduction in FA oxidation in the ATGL null hepatocytes was probably due to limited FA substrate availability. Interestingly, despite increased TAG and DAG, the hepatocytes remained insulin sensitive. To investigate hepatic ATGL over-expression an adenovirus containing an ATGL insert was injected into chronic high fat fed mice. Hepatic ATGL over-expression in the iii chronically obese mice reduced TAG, DAG and ceramide content in the liver. This resulted in improved hepatic insulin signalling and whole body insulin sensitivity. In summary, studies from this thesis suggested the use of in vitro systems are not a substitute for in vivo models when assessing the toxic effects of lipid oversupply, TAG accumulation may be a protective mechanism against cellular remodelling and programmed cell death, and increased ATGL expression in the liver can reduce hepatic steatosis and enhance whole body insulin sensitivity. Therefore, increasing hepatic ATGL expression could be a therapeutic approach to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.