Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Yaan, Sichuan 625014, PR China.
Cell Signal. 2011 Sep;23(9):1441-6. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2011.05.003. Epub 2011 May 15.
Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, is a critical autocrine/paracrine inhibitor of skeletal muscle growth. Since the first observed double-muscling phenotype was reported in myostatin-null animals, a functional role of myostatin has been demonstrated in the control of skeletal muscle development. However, beyond the confines of its traditional role in muscle growth inhibition, myostatin has recently been shown to play an important role in metabolism. During the past several years, it has been well established that Smads are canonical mediators of signals for myostatin from the receptors to the nucleus. However, growing evidence supports the notion that Non-Smad signal pathways also participate in myostatin signaling. Myostatin expression is increased in muscle atrophy and metabolic disorders, suggesting that changes in endogenous expression of myostatin may provide therapeutic benefit for these diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression and recent evidence has accumulated supporting a role for miRNAs in the regulation of myostatin expression. This review highlights some of these areas in myostatin research: a novel role in metabolism, signal pathways, and miRNA-mediated expression regulation.
肌肉生长抑制素（Myostatin）是转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）超家族的成员，是骨骼肌肉生长的关键自分泌/旁分泌抑制剂。自从在肌肉生长抑制素缺失动物中首次观察到双肌表型以来，肌肉生长抑制素的功能作用已被证明在控制骨骼肌肉发育中起作用。然而，除了其在肌肉生长抑制中的传统作用之外，肌肉生长抑制素最近被证明在代谢中发挥重要作用。在过去的几年中，已经明确 Smads 是肌肉生长抑制素信号从受体到细胞核的经典介质。然而，越来越多的证据支持非 Smads 信号通路也参与肌肉生长抑制素信号转导的观点。肌肉生长抑制素的表达在肌肉萎缩和代谢紊乱中增加，表明内源性肌肉生长抑制素表达的变化可能为这些疾病提供治疗益处。微小 RNA（miRNAs）是一类负调控基因表达的非编码 RNA，越来越多的证据表明 miRNAs 在调节肌肉生长抑制素表达中起作用。本文综述了肌肉生长抑制素研究的一些领域：在代谢、信号通路和 miRNA 介导的表达调控方面的新作用。
