Progressive loss of PGC-1alpha expression in aging muscle potentiates glucose intolerance and systemic inflammation

Decreased mitochondrial mass and function in muscle of diabetic patients is associated with low PGC-1alpha, a transcriptional coactivator of the mitochondrial gene program. To investigate whether reduced PGC-1alpha and oxidative capacity in muscle directly contributes to age-related glucose intolerance, we compared the genetic signatures and metabolic profiles of aging mice lacking muscle PGC-1alpha. Microarray analysis revealed that a significant proportion of PGC-1alpha-dependent changes in gene expression overlapped with age-associated effects, and aging muscle and muscle lacking PGC-1alpha shared gene signatures of impaired electron transport chain activity and TGFbeta signalling. Gastrocnemius muscle mRNA from young (10 week old) and old (24 month old) wild-type and knock-out (muscle-specific PGC-1alpha, myogenin-cre) C57Bl/6N/6J/129 mice