Fig. 3

Metformin decreases inhibitory effects on protein synthesis in gastrocnemius muscle caused by tumour growth. Two different mTOR upstream proteins were analyzed by immunoblotting. a Representative image from at least four independent experiments. b AMPK was activated in W but not in WM, as showed by p-AMPK expression. c Akt phosphorylation was inhibited in untreated tumour-bearing animal (W) while in metformin-treated animals the activation was similar to control groups. Graphs (b) and (c) represent bands quantified and normalised by GAPDH expression. Values are relative percentage of C group, referred as 100 %. Legend: C, control rats; W, Walker 256 tumour-bearing rats; M, metformin-treated rats (33 mg/Kg); WM, Walker 256 tumour-bearing rats treated with metformin (33 mg/Kg). Columns represent mean ± SD. **p < 0.01 vs C; ***p < 0.001 vs C; #p < 0.05 vs W; ###p < 0.001 vs W