Effect of treatment with conditioned media derived from C2C12 myotube on adipogenesis and lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Regular exercise is an effective strategy that is used to prevent and treat obesity as well as type 2 diabetes. Exercise-induced myokine secretion is considered a mechanism that coordinates communication between muscles and other organs. In order to examine the possibility of novel communications from muscle to adipose tissue mediated by myokines, we treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes with C2C12 myotube electrical pulse stimulation-conditioned media (EPS-CM), using a C2C12 myotube contraction system stimulated by an electrical pulse. Continuous treatment with myotube EPS-CM promoted adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes via the upregulation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) 2 and PPARγ-regulated gene expression. Furthermore, our results revealed that myotube EPS-CM induces lipolysis and secretion of adiponectin in mature adipocytes. EPS-CM obtained from a C2C12 myoblast culture did not induce such changes in these genes, suggesting that contraction-induced myokine(s) secretion occurs particularly in differentiated myotubes. Thus, contraction-induced secretion of myokine(s) promotes adipogenesis and lipid metabolism in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These findings suggest the possibility that skeletal muscle communicates to adipose tissues during exercise, probably by the intermediary of unidentified myokines.