Effect of myostatin depletion on weight gain, hyperglycemia, and hepatic steatosis during five months of high-fat feeding in mice.

The marked hypermuscularity in mice with constitutive myostatin deficiency reduces fat accumulation and hyperglycemia induced by high-fat feeding, but it is unclear whether the smaller increase in muscle mass caused by postdevelopmental loss of myostatin activity has beneficial metabolic effects during high-fat feeding. We therefore examined how postdevelopmental myostatin knockout influenced effects of high-fat feeding. Male mice with ubiquitous expression of tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase were fed tamoxifen for 2 weeks at 4 months of age.

Grip force, EDL contractile properties, and voluntary wheel running after postdevelopmental myostatin depletion in mice.

There is no consensus about whether making muscles abnormally large by reducing myostatin activity affects force-generating capacity or the ability to perform activities requiring muscular endurance. We therefore examined grip force, contractile properties of extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles, and voluntary wheel running in mice in which myostatin was depleted after normal muscle development. Cre recombinase activity was induced to knock out exon 3 of the myostatin gene in 4-mo-old mice in which this exon was flanked by loxP sequences (Mstn[f/f]).

Effects of the cFMS kinase inhibitor 5-(3-methoxy-4-((4-methoxybenzyl)oxy)benzyl)pyrimidine-2,4-diamine (GW2580) in normal and arthritic rats.

The cFMS (cellular homolog of the V-FMS oncogene product of the Susan McDonough strain of feline sarcoma virus) (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 83:3331-3335, 1986) kinase inhibitor 5-(3-methoxy-4-((4-methoxybenzyl)oxy)benzyl)pyrimidine-2,4-diamine (GW2580) inhibits colony-stimulating factor (CSF)-1-induced monocyte growth and bone degradation in vitro and inhibits CSF-1 signaling through cFMS kinase in 4-day models in mice (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:16078, 2005). In the present study, the kinase selectivity of GW2580 was further characterized, and the effects of chronic treatment were evaluated in normal and arthritic rats. GW2580 selectively inhibited cFMS kinase compared with 186 other kinases in vitro and completely inhibited CSF-1-induced growth of rat monocytes, with an IC(50) value of 0.

Design and synthesis of an array of selective androgen receptor modulators.

We describe the design, using shape comparison and fast docking computer algorithms, and rapid parallel synthesis of a 1300 member array based on GSK7721, a 4-aminobenzonitrile androgen receptor (AR) antagonist identified by focused screening of the GSK compound collection. The array yielded 352 submicromolar and 17 subnanomolar AR agonists as measured by a cell-based reporter gene functional assay. The rapid synthesis of a large number of active compounds provided valuable information in the optimization of AR modulators, which may be useful in treating androgen deficiency in aging males.

Changes of skeletal muscle adiponectin content in diet-induced insulin resistant rats.

The current study examined the relationship between skeletal muscle levels of adiponectin and parameters of insulin sensitivity. A high fat/sucrose diet (HFD) for 20 weeks resulted in significant increases in body weight, serum insulin, triglycerides (TG), and free fatty acids (FFA) (all p < 0.01).

Phosphorylation of p70s6 kinase is implicated in androgen-induced levator ani muscle anabolism in castrated rats.

Androgens are known to increase muscle mass, strength and muscle protein synthesis. However, the molecular mechanisms by which androgens regulate skeletal muscle development remain poorly understood. The ribosomal protein kinase p70(s6k) is a regulator of ribosome biogenesis and plays an important role in the regulation of growth-related protein synthesis.