TY - JOUR T1 - Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor is a Regulator of Muscular Strength in Aging JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 1257 LP - 1262 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-04-01257.1999 VL - 19 IS - 4 AU - Catherine Guillet AU - Patrick Auguste AU - Willy Mayo AU - Paul Kreher AU - Hugues Gascan Y1 - 1999/02/15 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/19/4/1257.abstract N2 - Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) participates in the survival of motor neurons and reduces the denervation-induced atrophy of skeletal muscles. Experiments performed in rats show a decrease in peripheral CNTF synthesis during aging, associated with an overexpression of its α-binding receptor component by skeletal muscles. Measurement of sciatic nerve CNTF production and of the muscular performance developed by the animals revealed a strong correlation between the two studied parameters (r = 0.8; p < 0.0003). Furthermore, the twitch and tetanic tensions measured in the isolated soleus skeletal muscle in 24-month-old animals increased 2.5-fold by continuous in vivo administration of CNTF. Analyses of the activation level of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor β- and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3-signaling molecules in response to exogenous CNTF revealed an increased tyrosine phosphorylation positively correlated with the twitch tension developed by the soleus muscle of the animals. ER -