Role of PDK1 in skeletal muscle hypertrophy induced by mechanical load

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) plays an important role in protein metabolism and cell growth. We here show that mice (M-PDK1KO mice) with skeletal muscle–specific deficiency of 3′-phosphoinositide–dependent kinase 1 (PDK1), a key component of PI3K signaling pathway, manifest a reduced skeletal muscle mass under the static condition as well as impairment of mechanical load–induced muscle hypertrophy. Whereas mechanical load-induced changes in gene expression were not affected, the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K) and S6 induced by mechanical load was attenuated in skeletal muscle of M-PDK1KO mice, suggesting that PDK1 regulates muscle hypertrophy not through changes in gene expression but through stimulation of kinase cascades such as the S6K-S6 axis, which plays a key role in protein synthesis. Administration of the β(2)-adrenergic receptor (AR) agonist clenbuterol activated the S6K-S6 axis in skeletal muscle and induced muscle hypertrophy in mice. These effects of clenbuterol were attenuated in M-PDK1KO mice, and mechanical load–induced activation of the S6K-S6 axis and muscle hypertrophy were inhibited in mice with skeletal muscle–specific deficiency of β(2)-AR. Our results suggest that PDK1 regulates skeletal muscle mass under the static condition and that it contributes to mechanical load–induced muscle hypertrophy, at least in part by mediating signaling from β(2)-AR.