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Antibody-directed myostatin inhibition enhances muscle mass and function in tumor-bearing mice

journal contribution
posted on 2024-08-20, 06:40 authored by Kate Murphy, Annabel Chee, Ben G Gleeson, Timur Naim, Kristy Swiderski, René Koopman, Gordon S Lynch
Cancer cachexia describes the progressive skeletal muscle wasting and weakness in many cancer patients and accounts for >20% of cancer-related deaths. We tested the hypothesis that antibody-directed myostatin inhibition would attenuate the atrophy and loss of function in muscles of tumor-bearing mice. Twelve-week-old C57BL/6 mice received a subcutaneous injection of saline (control) or Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor cells. One week later, mice received either once weekly injections of saline (control, n = 12; LLC, n = 9) or a mouse chimera of anti-human myostatin antibody (PF-354, 10 mg·kg−1·wk−1, LLC+PF-354, n = 11) for 5 wk. Injection of LLC cells reduced muscle mass and maximum force of tibialis anterior (TA) muscles by 8–10% ( P < 0.05), but the muscle atrophy and weakness were prevented with PF-354 treatment ( P > 0.05). Maximum specific (normalized) force of diaphragm muscle strips was reduced with LLC injection ( P < 0.05) but was not improved with PF-354 treatment ( P > 0.05). PF-354 enhanced activity of oxidative enzymes in TA and diaphragm muscles of tumor-bearing mice by 118% and 89%, respectively ( P < 0.05). Compared with controls, apoptosis that was not of myofibrillar or satellite cell origin was 140% higher in TA muscle cross sections from saline-treated LLC tumor-bearing mice ( P < 0.05) but was not different in PF-354-treated tumor-bearing mice ( P > 0.05). Antibody-directed myostatin inhibition attenuated the skeletal muscle atrophy and loss of muscle force-producing capacity in a murine model of cancer cachexia, in part by reducing apoptosis. The improvements in limb muscle mass and function highlight the therapeutic potential of antibody-directed myostatin inhibition for cancer cachexia.

History

Journal

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology

Volume

301

Pagination

R716-R726

Location

United States

ISSN

0363-6119

eISSN

1522-1490

Language

en

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

3

Publisher

American Physiological Society