Administration of insulin to newly hatched chicks improves growth performance via impairment of MyoD gene expression and enhancement of cell proliferation in chicken myoblasts.

The insulin/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway is strongly involved in the differentiation of C2C12 cells, as has been demonstrated by the addition of IGFs and insulin to culture media. In this study, we have characterized the role of insulin in chick myoblast proliferation and differentiation in vitro and in vivo, and have revealed novel details of how this exogenous hormone influences myogenic genes during differentiation. Chick myoblast cells cultured in differentiation medium (DMEM containing 2% FBS) supplemented with insulin exhibited a significant decrease in MyoD and myogenin mRNA expression after 12h of culture compared to cells cultured in differentiation media alone. MyoD and myogenin immunoreactive proteins in cells cultured in differentiation medium supplemented with insulin were quite low compared to those in control culture. Supplementation of the differentiation media containing insulin with LY294002 (a PI3K inhibitor) induced myoblast differentiation. A significant increase in MyoD and myogenin mRNA expression was observed in these cells after incubation for 12h, and the level of expression was similar to that of control cells incubated with differentiation media alone. The DNA content and the phosphor-Erk1/2 protein level were increased by the addition of insulin to the differentiation medium. These results suggest that insulin and its signaling pathway play an inhibitory role in chick myoblast differentiation. A high level of Pax7 mRNA was observed in the skeletal muscle of 3-day-old chicks administered insulin or tolbutamide at 1-day-of-age. In addition, body weight at 21 and 50 days-of-age was significantly greater for chickens administered insulin or tolbutamide at 1-day-of-age than for control chickens. These results detail not only species-specific differences in insulin action for myoblasts but also provide novel information that may be used for the improvement of chicken meat production.