Department of Aquatic Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Nutrients. 2017 Sep 26;9(10):1066. doi: 10.3390/nu9101066.
As a widely distributed and natural existing antioxidant, ferulic acid and its functions have been extensively studied in recent decades. In the present study, hypertrophic growth of fast skeletal myofibers was observed in adult zebrafish after ferulic acid administration for 30 days, being reflected in increased body weight, body mass index (BMI), and muscle mass, along with an enlarged cross-sectional area of myofibers. qRT-PCR analyses demonstrated the up-regulation of relative mRNA expression levels of myogenic transcriptional factors (MyoD, myogenin and serum response factor (SRF)) and their target genes encoding sarcomeric unit proteins involved in muscular hypertrophy (skeletal alpha-actin, myosin heavy chain, tropomyosin, and troponin I). Western blot analyses detected a higher phosphorylated level of zTOR (zebrafish target of rapamycin), p70S6K, and 4E-BP1, which suggests an enhanced translation efficiency and protein synthesis capacity of fast skeletal muscle myofibers. These changes in transcription and translation finally converge and lead to higher protein contents in myofibers, as confirmed by elevated levels of myosin heavy chain (MyHC), and an increased muscle mass. To the best of our knowledge, these findings have been reported for the first time in vivo and suggest potential applications of ferulic acid as functional food additives and dietary supplements owing to its ability to promote muscle growth.
阿魏酸作为一种广泛分布且天然存在的抗氧化剂，其功能在近几十年来得到了广泛研究。在本研究中，阿魏酸给药 30 天后，成年斑马鱼出现快速骨骼肌纤维的肥大性生长，表现为体重、体重指数（BMI）和肌肉质量增加，以及肌纤维横截面积增大。qRT-PCR 分析表明，肌生成转录因子（MyoD、myogenin 和血清反应因子（SRF））及其编码参与肌肉肥大的肌节蛋白的靶基因的相对 mRNA 表达水平上调（骨骼肌α-肌动蛋白、肌球蛋白重链、原肌球蛋白和肌钙蛋白 I）。Western blot 分析检测到 zTOR（斑马鱼雷帕霉素靶蛋白）、p70S6K 和 4E-BP1 的磷酸化水平升高，提示快速骨骼肌肌纤维的翻译效率和蛋白质合成能力增强。转录和翻译的这些变化最终汇聚并导致肌纤维中更高的蛋白质含量，如肌球蛋白重链（MyHC）水平升高和肌肉质量增加所证实。据我们所知，这些发现是首次在体内报道的，表明阿魏酸作为功能性食品添加剂和膳食补充剂具有潜在的应用前景，因为它能够促进肌肉生长。
