The mTORC1-Signaling Pathway and Hepatic Polyribosome Profile Are Enhanced after the Recovery of a Protein Restricted Diet by a Combination of Soy or Black Bean with Corn Protein.

Claudia Márquez-Mota,Amanda Gálvez,Omar Granados,Pauline Adjibade,Rachid Mazroui,Nimbe Torres,Armando Tovar,Cinthya Rodriguez-Gaytan

doi:10.3390/nu8090573

Abstract

Between 6% and 11% of the world’s population suffers from malnutrition or undernutrition associated with poverty, aging or long-term hospitalization. The present work examined the effect of different types of proteins on the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTORC1)-signaling pathway in: (1) healthy; and (2) protein restricted rats. (1) In total, 200 rats were divided into eight groups and fed one of the following diets: 20% casein (C), soy (S), black bean (B), B + Corn (BCr), Pea (P), spirulina (Sp), sesame (Se) or Corn (Cr). Rats fed C or BCr had the highest body weight gain; rats fed BCr had the highest pS6K1/S6K1 ratio; rats fed B, BCr or P had the highest eIF4G expression; (2) In total, 84 rats were fed 0.5% C for 21 day and protein rehabilitated with different proteins. The S, soy + Corn (SCr) and BCr groups had the highest body weight gain. Rats fed SCr and BCr had the highest eIF4G expression and liver polysome formation. These findings suggest that the quality of the dietary proteins modulate the mTORC1-signaling pathway. In conclusion, the combination of BCr or SCr are the best proteins for dietary protein rehabilitation due to the significant increase in body weight, activation of the mTORC1-signaling pathway in liver and muscle, and liver polysome formation.

Highlights

A deficiency of protein and energy causes a type of malnutrition called protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), which affects children, elderly people and hospitalized patients [1,2] and accounts for six million deaths annually [3]
Several studies have demonstrated the effect of dietary protein, mainly casein or whey [11,12], on growth and protein synthesis [13,14,15], less is known about the effect of different dietary protein sources or combinations of vegetable proteins to activate liver and muscle mTORC1-signaling pathway
We found that the combination of B + Corn (BCr), soy + Corn (SCr) or S are the best proteins for dietary protein rehabilitation due to the significant increase in body weight, the activation of the mTORC1-signaling pathway in liver and muscle, and liver polysome formation

Summary

Introduction

A deficiency of protein and energy causes a type of malnutrition called protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), which affects children, elderly people and hospitalized patients [1,2] and accounts for six million deaths annually [3]. Clinical and consumer market interest is increasingly directed toward the use of plant-based proteins as dietary components to increase protein synthesis; there is controversy about whether the ingestion of a plant-based diet results in lower protein synthesis compared to animal-derived proteins. This could be attributed to the lower digestibility of some plant-based sources due to the low content of some essential amino acids such as methionine in legumes and lysine in cereals. Diets as consumed inevitably consist of mixtures of proteins, which improve the quality of the protein by complementing the limiting amino acids in each source

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