Fig. 3

The effects of L-carnitine are mediated by activation of the AKT/FOXO3a/MAFbx pathway. A The expression levels of AKT in myotube cultures treated with 50 nM si-RNA AKT1 were determined by Western blotting. After being pre-treated with 50 nM si-RNA AKT1 #2 for 6 h, myotube cultures were treated with 1000 μg/mL L-carnitine or the vehicle control for 48 h, then photomicrographs were taken. The diameters of the C2C12 myotubes. B After being pre-treated with 50 nM si-RNA AKT1#2 for 6 h, C2C12 myotubes were treated with 1000 μg/mL L-carnitine or the vehicle control for 24 h, then the p70S6K, p-p70S6K, FOXO3a, p-FOXO3a, MAFbx and MuRF1 protein levels were determined by Western blotting. The data shown represent the means ± SEM of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001