Calpain-3 gene expression is decreased during experimental cancer cachexia

The Yoshida AH-130 rat ascites hepatoma is a model system for studying the mechanisms involved in the protein hypercatabolism associated with cancer cachexia. The present study was aimed at investigating if the calpain-3 gene expression in skeletal muscle was affected by tumor growth. The results presented clearly show that calpain-3 gene expression is considerably reduced in experimental cancer cachexia, while there is a reciprocal change in the expression of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic system and in the ubiquitous m-calpain. The results, observed during cancer cachexia, suggest a potential counterregulatory role of calpain-3 in muscle proteolysis.