Abstract
The TGF-β1-Smad pathway is a well-known negative regulator of muscle growth; however, its potential role in resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy is not clear. The present study proposed to determine whether and how this pathway may be involved in resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy. Skeletal muscle samples were collected from the control, trained (RT), control + SB431542 (CITGF ), and trained + SB431542 (RTITGF ) animals following 3, 5, and 8 weeks of resistance training. Inhibition of the TGF-β1-Smad pathway by SB431542 augmented muscle satellite cells activation, upregulated Akt/mTOR/S6K1 pathway, and attenuated FOXO1 and FOXO3a expression in the CITGF group (all p < .01), thereby causing significant muscle hypertrophy in animals from the CITGF . Resistance training significantly decreased muscle TGF-β1 expression and Smad3 (P-Smad3S423/425 ) phosphorylation at COOH-terminal residues, augmented Smad2 (P-Smad2-LS245/250/255 ) and Smad3 (P-Smad3-LSer208 ) phosphorylation levels at linker sites (all p < .01), and led to a muscle hypertrophy which was unaffected by SB431542, suggesting that the TGF-β1-Smad signaling pathway is involved in resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy. The effects of inhibiting the TGF-β1-Smad signaling pathway were not additive to the resistance training effects on FOXO1 and FOXO3a expression, muscle satellite cells activation, and the Akt/mTOR/S6K1 pathway. Resistance training effect of satellite cell differentiation was independent of the TGF-β1-Smad signaling pathway. These results suggested that the effect of the TGF-β1-Smad signaling pathway on resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy can be attributed mainly to its diminished inhibitory effects on satellite cell activation and protein synthesis. Suppressed P-Smad3S423/425 and enhanced P-Smad2-LS245/250/255 and P-Smad3-LSer208 are the molecular mechanisms that link the TGF-β1-Smad signaling pathway to resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy.