Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Isolation of Primary Mouse Hepatocytes for Nascent Protein Synthesis Analysis by Non-radioactive L-azidohomoalanine Labeling Method
Published on: October 23, 2018
Alanyl-glutamine supplementation regulates mTOR and ubiquitin proteasome proteolysis signaling pathways in piglets
Bolin Zhang1, Meng Lin2, Changning Yu2
1College of Animal Science and Technology; Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China; Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Zunyi Normal College, Zunyi, People's Republic of China.
Objective:
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the alanyl-glutamine dipeptide (Ala-Gln) or the combination supplementation of free alanine and glutamine (Ala+Gln) on the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and ubiquitin-proteasome proteolysis (UPP) signaling pathways in piglets.
Methods:
We randomly allocated 180 piglets to three treatments with three replicates of 20 piglets each, fed with diets containing 0.62% Ala, 0.5% Ala-Gln, 0.21% Ala+0.34% Gln, respectively. The duration of the experiment was 28 d.
Results:
The results showed that Ala-Gln increased average daily gain of piglets, and decreased the ratio of feed to gain (P < 0.05). Ala-Gln supplementation increased the concentrations of Gln and glutamate and decreased the activity of glutamine synthetase in liver and skeletal muscle (P < 0.05). Ala-Gln increased the expression of glutaminase and glutamate dehydrogenate (P < 0.05). The increased phosphorylation of eIF-4 E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) and ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) in Ala-Gln treatment were associated with phosphorylation of the mTOR in liver and skeletal muscle. Ala+Gln did not affect the phosphorylation abundances of mTOR, 4E-BP1, or S6K1 (P > 0.05). Ala-Gln supplementation inhibited the mRNA expressions of MAFbx and MuRF1 in skeletal muscle of piglets (P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Taken together, Ala-Gln supplementation improved the growth performance of piglets, enhanced the metabolism of Gln, upregulated protein synthetic signaling in liver and skeletal muscle and decreased protein degradative signaling in muscle of piglets. Moreover, these effects of Ala-Gln were more effective than those of Ala+Gln.
More Related Videos
08:23Adaptation of Microelectrode Array Technology for the Study of Anesthesia-induced Neurotoxicity in the Intact Piglet Brain
Published on: May 12, 2018
08:58Development of a Neonatal Piglet Acute Lung Injury Model Recreating the Early Environment of Preterm Infant Lungs
Published on: October 31, 2025
Related Concept Videos
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...