Time course change of IGF1/Akt/mTOR/p70s6k pathway activation in rat gastrocnemius muscle during repeated bouts of eccentric exercise

The purpose of this study was to examine whether insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and Akt/mTOR/p70S6K pathway activity is altered by chronic eccentric exercise in rat medial gastrocnemius muscle. Male Wistar rats (n = 24) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 groups: eccentric exercise (ECC) group or sham-operated control (CON) group. Rats in the ECC group were trained every second day for 10 days (5 sessions in total) or 20 days (10 sessions in total). After either 5 or 10 exercise sessions, muscle specimens were dissected and weighed. The mRNA expression of IGF-1 and its variant, mechano growth factor (MGF), was evaluated using real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Tissue concentrations of Akt (P), mTOR (P), and p70S6K (P) were measured by using western blot analysis. The medial gastrocnemius muscle mass of the ECC group did not show any significant difference after 5 exercise sessions, whereas the muscle mass increased significantly after 10 exercise sessions with a concomitant increase in the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers (p < 0.05). The expression of IGF-1 mRNA and the tissue concentrations of Akt (P) and p70S6K (P) after 10 exercise sessions was significantly higher than those of the age-matched controls and the rats that received 5 exercise sessions. The expression of MGF mRNA in both ECC5S and ECC10S were significantly higher than that in each period-matched control (p < 0.01). The tissue concentration of mTOR (P) after 10 sessions showed a significant increase when compared with period-matched controls (p < 0.01). These results suggest that activation of the IGF-1/Akt/mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway becomes dominant in the later phase of chronic exercise, when significant muscular hypertrophy is observed.