BDK knockout skeletal muscle satellite cells exhibit enhanced protein translation initiation signal in response to BCAA in vitro

We examined the effects of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and electrical pulse stimulation (EPS) on the mTORC1 pathway in muscle satellite cells (MSCs) isolated from branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase kinase (BDK) knockout (KO) mice in vitro. MSCs were isolated from BDK KO and wild-type (WT) mice, proliferated, and differentiated into myotubes. BCAA stimulation increased the phosphorylation of p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K), a marker of protein translation initiation, in MSCs from WT and BDK KO mice, but the rate of the increase was higher in MSCs isolated from BDK KO mice. Contrarily, there was no difference in the increase in p70S6K phosphorylation by EPS. Acute BDK knockdown in MSCs from WT mice using shRNA decreased p70S6K phosphorylation in response to BCAA stimulation. Collectively, the susceptibility of mTORC1 to BCAA stimulation was elevated by chronic, but not acute, enhancement of BCAA catabolism.