cells Article Leucine Improved Growth Performance, Muscle Growth, and Muscle Protein Deposition Through AKT/TOR and AKT/FOXO3a Signaling Pathways in Hybrid Catfish Pelteobagrus vachelli × Leiocassis longirostris 1, 1, 1, 2,3 2,3 2,3 Ye Zhao y, Jin-Yang Li y, Qin Jiang y, Xiao-Qiu Zhou , Lin Feng , Yang Liu , Wei-Dan Jiang 2,3, Pei Wu 2,3, Jian Zhou 4, Juan Zhao 2 and Jun Jiang 1,3,* 1 College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China;
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[email protected] (J.Z.) 3 Fish Nutrition and Safety Production University Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China 4 Fisheries Institute of Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Science, Chengdu 611731, China;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +86-28-8629-1133 These authors contributed equally to this work. y Received: 25 October 2019; Accepted: 29 January 2020; Published: 30 January 2020 Abstract: (1) Background: l-leucine (Leu) plays a positive role in regulating protein turnover in skeletal muscle in mammal. However, the molecular mechanism for the effects of Leu on muscle growth and protein deposition is not clearly demonstrated in fish. This study investigated the effects of dietary Leu on growth performance and muscle growth, protein synthesis, and degradation-related signaling pathways of hybrid catfish (Pelteobagrus vachelli Leiocassis longirostris ).