Constitutive PGC-1α Overexpression in Skeletal Muscle Does Not Contribute to Exercise-Induced Neurogenesis

Physical exercise can improve age-dependent decline in cognition, which in rodent is partly mediated by restoration of an age-dependent decline in neurogenesis. Exercise-inducible myokines in the circulation present a link in muscle-brain crosstalk. The transcription factor PGC-1 alpha regulates the release of such myokines with neurotrophic properties into the circulation. We study how chronic muscular overexpression of PGC-1 alpha could contribute to exercise-induced effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and if this effect could be enhanced in a running wheel paradigm. We used 3- and 11-month-old transgenic mice with overexpression of PGC-1 alpha under the control of muscle creatinine kinase promoter (MCK-PGC-1 alpha), which have a constitutively developed endurance muscle phenotype. Wild-type and MCK-PGC-1 alpha mice were single housed with free access to running wheels. Four weeks of running in female animals increased the levels of newborn cells, immature neurons, and, for young animals, new mature neurons, compared to sedentary controls. However, no difference in these parameters was observed between wild-type and transgenic mice under sedentary or running conditions. Multiplex analysis of serum cytokines, chemokines, and myokines suggested several differences in serum protein concentrations between genotypes with musclin found to be significantly upregulated 4-fold in male MCK-PGC-1 alpha animals. We conclude that constitutive muscular overexpression of PGC-1 alpha, despite systemic changes and difference in serum composition, does not translate into exercise-induced effects on hippocampal neurogenesis, independent of the age of the animal. This suggests that chronic activation of PGC-1 alpha in skeletal muscle is by itself not sufficient to mimic exercise-induced effects or to prevent decline of neurogenesis in aging.