Harry M. Vars Research Award: A New Model to Determine in Vivo the Relationship Between Amino Acid Transmembrane Transport and Protein Kinetics in Muscle

The bidirectional transmembrane transport rates of leucine (Leu), valine (Val), phenylalanine (Phe), lysine (Lys), and alanine (Ala) were measured in vivo in the hindlimb muscle of five dogs and related to the rates of protein synthesis and degradation. The compartmental model was based on the systemic continuous infusion of stable isotopic tracers of the amino acids, and the measurement of the enrichment and concentration in the arterial and femoral vein plasma and the intracellular free water in muscle (obtained by biopsy). The transport rate from plasma to tissue (in micromoles per minute) was: Leu, 18.1 +/- 1.8; Val, 26.9 +/- 3.5; Phe, 10.5 +/- 1.6 Lys; 12.2 +/- 1.8; and Ala, 10.7 +/- 3.4. The transport rate from tissue to plasma (in micromoles per minute) was: Leu, 25.5 +/- 2.5; Val, 32.4 +/- 2.8; Phe, 17.0 +/- 2.8; Lys, 24.9 +/- 3.4; Ala, 34.4 +/- 9.0. When the transmembrane transport rate was normalized per unit of amino acid concentration in the source pool, we found that the transport of Leu, Val, and Phe was significantly faster (p less than .05) than the transport of Lys and Ala. The calculated rates of incorporation into hindlimb muscle protein of Phe and Lys (in micromoles per minute) were 4.2 +/- 1.3 and 19.4 +/- 5.3, respectively, and the rates of intracellular appearance from breakdown were 10.7 +/- 1.9 and 32.1 +/- 6.6, respectively. We concluded, therefore, that (1) the transmembrane amino acid transport rate can be measured in vivo in muscle with a relatively noninvasive technique, (2) in the dog hindlimb the equilibration between tissue and plasma free amino acid pool is different for each amino acid depending on the kinetics of the transmembrane transport systems, and (3) the transport rates of amino acids and their rate of appearance from protein breakdown are roughly comparable, suggesting that variations in transport rates could play a role in controlling the rate of protein synthesis.