Journal: Frontiers in Aging
Article Title: Elevated circulating GDF11 and its role in age-related sarcopenia: insights from clinical, transcriptomic, and in vitro analyses
doi: 10.3389/fragi.2026.1736069
Figure Lengend Snippet: Exogenous GDF11 induces muscle atrophy signaling in C2C12 myotubes. (A) GDF11 PPI network constructed using STRING. (B) GO-BP enrichment analysis derived from the STRING dataset. (C) GDF11 PPI network constructed using GeneMANIA. (D) GO-BP enrichment analysis derived from the GeneMANIA dataset. (E) Protein–protein docking simulation of the GDF11–ACVR2B complex. (F) Representative Western blot images of p-SMAD3, SMAD3, Atrogin-1, MuRF1, and Gapdh in C2C12 myotubes treated with rGDF11 (0–100 ng/mL) for 48 h. (G) Densitometric quantification of the p-SMAD3/SMAD3 protein ratio. (H) Densitometric quantification of Atrogin-1 protein expression. (I) Densitometric quantification of MuRF1 protein expression. (J,K) Relative mRNA expression of Atrogin-1 and MuRF1. Data are mean ± SEM. ns , not significant, * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001 versus control; n = 3.
Article Snippet: Membranes were blocked with 5% skimmed milk for 1 h at room temperature and subsequently incubated with primary antibodies against Smad3 (ab40854, Abcam, United States), phosphorylated Smad3 (p-SMAD3; #9520, CST, United States), Atrogin-1 (67172-1-Ig, Proteintech, China), MuRF1 (55456-1-AP, Proteintech, China) and GAPDH (1E6D9, Proteintech, China), with GAPDH serving as the loading control.
Techniques: Construct, Derivative Assay, Western Blot, Expressing, Control