Changes in skeletal muscle gene expression following nutrient consumption

The objective of this study was to identify novel genes whose expression is sensitive to anabolic stimuli. We used microarrays to detail the change in gene expression within the tibialis anterior muscle following an anabolic stimulus. In this case, the anabolic stimulus was nutrient consumption. Male, C57Bl/6 mice aged 18 weeks were fasted beginning at 1800 hr. The next morning (~0800 hr), mice were randomized to remain fasted or were allowed to refeed for 30 minutes. Following the refeeding, all mice were fasted for an additional 4 hr until sacrifice. Those mice not refed remained fasted until sacrifice at the same time of day as those mice that were refed. At sacrifice, all mice were anesthetized with isoflurane, and the tibialis anterior muscle was extracted and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen