Effect of fasting and refeeding on acetyl-CoA carboxylase in rat hindlimb muscle

Skeletal muscle ACC is controlled by different mechanisms than those observed in liver, and is found to respond to dietary manipulation similarly to liver.

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated marked differences in liver acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) activity between fasted rats and fasted rats refed with a fat-free diet. This study was designed to determine whether skeletal muscle ACC responds to dietary manipulation similarly to liver. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fasted 48 h (F), fasted 48 h and refed fat-free diet for 48 h (R), or were fed normal rat chow ad libitum (A). Liver ACC, measured on resuspended ammonium sulfate precipitates of 48,000 g supernatants of tissue homogenates, was markedly decreased in F (77 +/- 6 nmol.g-1.min-1) and increased in R (562 +/- 37 nmol.g-1.min-1) rats compared with A rats (210 +/- 23 nmol.g-1.min-1). The citrate concentration required to cause half-maximal activation of liver ACC (K0.5) was 1.34 +/- 0.14 mM for F, 0.77 +/- 0.09 mM for R, and 0.87 +/- 0.09 mM for A. The quadriceps muscle, on the other hand, showed no difference in ACC activity or in the K0.5 for citrate activation. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blots confirmed the biochemical measurements, showing marked differences in the size of the protein bands in the +260,000 mol wt range in F vs. R liver ACC preparations but not in skeletal muscle ACC preparations. We conclude that skeletal muscle ACC is controlled by different mechanisms than those observed in liver.