Paraplegia increases skeletal muscle autophagy

Paraplegia leads to muscle loss by increasing protein breakdown. This study looks at how autophagy, a process where cells break down and recycle their own components, is affected in the muscles of rats with paraplegia. The study found that certain proteins involved in autophagy, Atg7 and Beclin-1, were increased in the muscles of rats with paraplegia. This suggests that autophagy is more active in these muscles. The researchers also looked at SIRT1, a protein that can regulate autophagy. They found that SIRT1 expression was lower in the rats with paraplegia, suggesting that autophagy was increased independently of SIRT1 signaling.

• 1
  SIRT1 protein expression was reduced by 37% in the paraplegia group compared to the control rats, indicating decreased SIRT1 signaling.
• 2
  The levels of Atg7 and Beclin-1, both markers of autophagy induction, were significantly elevated in the paraplegia group compared to the control group, suggesting an increase in autophagy.
• 3
  miR-9 expression tended to be elevated (P=0.11) suggesting that this specific miRNA may play a modest role in the regulation of SIRT1 signaling and the induction of muscle autophagy 10 weeks following complete spinal cord transection.