Chronic improvement of amino acid nutrition stimulates initiation of global messenger ribonucleic acid translation in tissues of sheep without affecting protein elongation

• Published in: Journal of animal science Vol. 88; no. 2; pp. 689 - 696
• Main Authors: Connors, M.T, Poppi, D.P, Cant, J.P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Champaign, IL American Society of Animal Science 01.02.2010; Am Soc Animal Sci
• Subjects: absorption; adverse effects; Amino Acids, Essential - pharmacology; Amino Acids, Essential - physiology; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - drug effects; Animal productions; animal tissues; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cysteine - pharmacology; dietary protein; Dietary Supplements; Digestion - physiology; essential amino acids; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; long term effects; messenger RNA; Methionine - pharmacology; molecular genetics; Nitrogen - metabolism; nutrient availability; nutrient uptake; nutrient utilization; nutritional status; Peptide Chain Elongation, Translational - drug effects; polypeptides; Protein Biosynthesis - drug effects; Protein Biosynthesis - physiology; protein elongation; protein metabolism; protein synthesis; risk assessment; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; sheep; Sheep - metabolism; sheep feeding; Terrestrial animal productions; translation (genetics); uptake mechanisms; Vertebrates; Farming animal; Nutrition; amino acid; ribosome transit time; fishmeal; Protein; Tissue; Vertebrata; Improvement; Meat animals; Mammalia; Protein synthesis; Sheep; Artiodactyla; Ungulata
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163
• DOI: 10.2527/jas.2009-1901

Initiation of mRNA translation and elongation of the polypeptide chain are 2 regulated processes responsible for the short-term postprandial acceleration of protein synthesis in animal tissues. It is known that a chronic increase in the absorptive supply of AA stimulates protein synthesis in ruminant animals, but effects on translation initiation and elongation are unknown. To determine whether initiation or elongation phases of global mRNA translation are affected by chronic elevation of AA supply, 24 ewe lambs of 25.9 ± 2.5 kg of BW were randomly allocated to 4 treatment groups of 6 lambs each. All lambs received a basal diet of barley and hay at 1.2 times maintenance ME intake. Treatments were an intravenous (i.v.) saline infusion as a control, i.v. infusion of 6 essential AA (EAA; Arg, Lys, His, Thr, Met, Cys) for 10 d, i.v. infusion of the same EAA excluding Met and Cys (EAA-SAA) for 10 d, and an oral drench of fishmeal twice daily for 17 d. Fishmeal supplementation supplied an extra 719 mg of N kg⁻⁰.⁷⁵ d⁻¹ and N retention was increased 519 mg kg⁻⁰.⁷⁵ d⁻¹ over the control. The EAA treatment supplied an extra 343 mg of N kg⁻⁰.⁷⁵ d⁻¹ directly into the blood, and N balance was increased by 268 mg kg⁻⁰.⁷⁵ d⁻¹. Deletion of Met plus Cys from EAA had no effect on N balance. The results indicate that Met plus Cys did not limit body protein gain on the basal diet alone or the basal diet plus 6 AA. Protein fractional synthesis rates in liver, duodenum, skin, rumen, semimembranosus, and LM were measured by a flooding dose procedure using L-[ring-2,6-³H]-Phe. Ribosome transit times were estimated from the ratio of nascent to total protein-bound radioactivities. Fishmeal and EAA treatments had no effect on RNA, DNA, or protein contents of tissues, but fractional synthesis rate, translational efficiency, and concentrations of active ribosomes were consistently elevated. Ribosome transit time was not affected by long-term AA supply. We conclude that the chronic stimulation of protein synthesis by long-term i.v. infusion of EAA or supplementation with an undegradable protein source is brought about by an improvement in the rate of initiation of mRNA translation with no change in the rate of polypeptide chain elongation.