Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 promotes muscle atrophy

What is it about?

Genetic ablation of PDK4 or ectopic overexpression of MYOGAA attenuated DEX-induced muscle atrophy, thereby implicating that PDK4 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of GCs-induced muscle atrophy. Altogether, we identified a novel mechanism where PDK4 plays a critical role in promoting GCs and CM-induced muscle atrophy via modulating MYOG protein stability. Therefore, the PDK4-MYOG axis represents a novel therapeutic target to alleviate GCs and CM-induced muscle atrophy.

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Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Here, an in-depth analysis revealed that PDK4 directly phosphorylates MYOG at two sites, serine 43 (S43) and threonine 57 (T57). We found that PDK4-mediated phosphorylation of MYOG at these sites led to an induction of MYOG ubiquitination and degradation.