Muscle atrophy including cachexia and sarcopenia, result in a reduction in the muscle fiber area, myo-protein content, and muscle strength, with various molecular modulators being involved. To search myogenic modulators from medicinal plants to treat muscle diseases, we isolated six alkaloids from Corydalis turtschaninovii (CT) and evaluated their myogenic potential in C2C12. Among them, canadine showed the strongest transactivation of MyoD and increased the number of multinucleated and cylinder-shaped myotubes during myogenesis. The activation of p38 MAPK and Akt are major mechanisms that contribute to the myogenesis by canadine.
In addition, canadine ameliorated the muscle protein degradation caused by CT26 colon carcinoma culture medium (CT26 CM), which is established to mimic cachexia, by down-regulating the muscle specific-E3 ligases, MAFbx/atrogin-1 and MuRF1.
In this study, we found that canadine from CT stimulates myogenesis and also inhibits muscle protein degradation. Therefore, we suggest canadine as a protective agent against muscle atrophy.