Progressive increase in human skeletal muscle AMPKα2 activity and ACC phosphorylation during exercise

Abstract

The effect of prolonged moderate-intensity exercise on human skeletal muscle AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)α1 and -α2 activity and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCβ) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOSμ) phosphorylation was investigated. Seven active healthy individuals cycled for 30 min at a workload requiring 62.8 ± 1.3% of peak O2consumption (V˙o 2 peak) with muscle biopsies obtained from the vastus lateralis at rest and at 5 and 30 min of exercise. AMPKα1 activity was not altered by exercise; however, AMPKα2 activity was significantly ( P < 0.05) elevated after 5 min (∼2-fold), and further elevated ( P < 0.05) after 30 min (∼3-fold) of exercise. ACCβ phosphorylation was increased ( P < 0.05) after 5 min (∼18-fold compared with rest) and increased ( P< 0.05) further after 30 min of exercise (∼36-fold compared with rest). Increases in AMPKα2 activity were significantly correlated with both increases in ACCβ phosphorylation and reductions in muscle glycogen content. Fat oxidation tended ( P = 0.058) to increase progressively during exercise. Muscle creatine phosphate was lower ( P < 0.05), and muscle creatine, calculated free AMP, and free AMP-to-ATP ratio were higher ( P < 0.05) at both 5 and 30 min of exercise compared with those at rest. At 30 min of exercise, the values of these metabolites were not significantly different from those at 5 min of exercise. Phosphorylation of nNOSμ was variable, and despite the mean doubling with exercise, statistically significance was not achieved ( P = 0.304). Western blots indicated that AMPKα2 was associated with both nNOSμ and ACCβ consistent with them both being substrates of AMPKα2 in vivo. In conclusion, AMPKα2 activity and ACCβ phosphorylation increase progressively during moderate exercise at ∼60% of V˙o 2 peak in humans, with these responses more closely coupled to muscle glycogen content than muscle AMP/ATP ratio.