Regulation of insulin signaling and glucose metabolism by muscle contractile activity and Resveratrol

Obesity is a world-wide health concern because of its close association with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Physical activity and natural compounds not only give a variety of health benefit but also significantly enhance insulin sensitivity. However, it is not clear how physical activity and natural compounds modify molecular mechanisms on human skeletal muscle cells from lean and obese individuals. We investigate molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways in human skeletal muscle myotubes in response to electrical muscle contraction mimicking physical activity and a natural compound, resveratrol produced by plants. Vastus lateralis muscle was obtained from ten lean (BMI40 kg/m2) individuals, and satellite cells were isolated from human myofiber. The extracted satellite cells were proliferated and differentiated to mature myotubes. Then, human skeletal muscle myotubes were contracted by applying electrical pulse stimulation for 24 hours while the myotubes were incubated with resveratrol for 24 hours. We will determine insulin signal transduction such as pIRStyr632, pAktSer473, pAktThr308, and pAS160Thr632 and glucose metabolism including glycogen synthesis, glucose uptake, and glucose oxidation.

Scholars @ ECU