TITLE:
Mitophagy in the Skeletal Muscle Is Suppressed in Spleen Qi Deficiency
AUTHORS:
Dan Ma, Wenjun Liu, Lu Wang, Xinzhu Xu, Lingzhi Wang, Huaxin Yu, Xudong Liu, Huihui Liu, Deshan Wang, Dehong Shan
KEYWORDS:
Spleen Qi Deficiency, Mitophagy, PINK1, Parkin, LC3, p62, Muscle
JOURNAL NAME:
Chinese Medicine,
Vol.10 No.1,
January
30,
2019
ABSTRACT: Objective: Mitochondrial impairment in the skeletal muscle contributes to useless
of limbs in spleen qi deficiency; however the genesis of such impairment is not clear. Herein,
PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1)-Parkin pathway and mitophagy were
studied to explore the machinery of mitochondrial impairment. Methods: 16 male SD rats were randomly divided in the control group and spleen qi
deficiency group (model group); transmission electron microscope was used to
observe mitochondrial morphology; mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation was
assessed by testing mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and levels of ATP
and ROS; western blot was used to analyze expressions of PINK1, Parkin, microtubule-associated
protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II) and p62. Results: Compared with
those in the control group, mitochondria became small, less and scattered, MMP and the ATP level were
reduced, the ROS level was elevated, PINK1 expression was decreased, p62
expression was increased, but Parkin and LC3-II expressions were not altered,
in the model group. Conclusions: Suppression of mitophagy might be
related to the mitochondrial damage in the skeletal muscle when spleen qi
deficiency develops.