Changes in skeletal muscle gene expression following clenbuterol administration

Beta-adrenergic receptor agonists (BA) induce skeletal muscle hypertrophy, yet specific mechanisms that lead to this effect are not well understood. The objective of this research was to identify novel genes and physiological pathways that potentially facilitate BA induced skeletal muscle growth. The Affymetrix platform was utilized to identify gene expression changes in mouse skeletal muscle 24 hours and 10 days after administration of the BA clenbuterol.

Administration of clenbuterol stimulated anabolic activity, as indicated by decreased blood urea nitrogen (BUN; P < 0.01) and increased body weight gain (P < 0.05) 24 hours or 10 days, respectively, after initiation of clenbuterol treatment. A total of 22,605 probesets were evaluated with 52 probesets defined as differentially expressed based on a false discovery rate of 10%. Differential mRNA abundance of four of these genes was validated in an independent experiment by quantitative PCR. Functional characterization of differentially expressed genes revealed several categories that participate in biological processes important to skeletal muscle growth, including regulators of transcription and translation, mediators of cell-signalling pathways, and genes involved in polyamine metabolism.

Global evaluation of gene expression after administration of clenbuterol identified changes in gene expression and overrepresented functional categories of genes that may regulate BA-induced muscle hypertrophy. Changes in mRNA abundance of multiple genes associated with myogenic differentiation may indicate an important effect of BA on proliferation, differentiation, and/or recruitment of satellite cells into muscle fibers to promote muscle hypertrophy. Increased mRNA abundance of genes involved in the initiation of translation suggests that increased levels of protein synthesis often associated with BA administration may result from a general up-regulation of translational initiators. Additionally, numerous other genes and physiological pathways were identified that will be important targets for further investigations of the hypertrophic effect of BA on skeletal muscle.