Layne, question

I'm Derek, but I hope I can be helpful aswell. Leucine is a very interesting amino acid. It's been shown to independantly stimulate protein synthesis. I rationalized this is what you may have been alluding to:

Posted by: @Burton

J Nutr. 2005 Mar;135(3):376-82. Related Articles, Links

Oral leucine administration stimulates protein synthesis in rat skeletal muscle.

Crozier SJ, Kimball SR, Emmert SW, Anthony JC, Jefferson LS.

Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033 and.

Oral administration of a single bolus of leucine in an amount equivalent to the daily intake (1.35 g/kg body wt) enhances skeletal muscle protein synthesis in food-deprived rats. To elucidate whether smaller amounts of leucine can also stimulate protein synthesis, rats were administered the amino acid at concentrations ranging from 0.068 to 1.35 g/kg body wt by oral gavage. Thirty minutes following the administration of doses of leucine as low as 0.135 g/kg body wt, skeletal muscle protein synthesis was significantly greater than control values. The increase in protein synthesis was associated with changes in the regulation of biomarkers of mRNA translation initiation as evidenced by upregulated phosphorylation of the translational repressor, eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), the association of eIF4G with the mRNA cap binding protein eIF4E, and the phosphorylation of the 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase. Alterations in the phosphorylation of eIF4G, as well as the association of 4E-BP1 with eIF4E, were observed following leucine administration; however, these changes appeared to be biphasic with maximal changes occurring when circulating insulin concentrations were elevated. Thus it appears that leucine administration affects mRNA translation and skeletal muscle protein synthesis through modulation of multiple biomarkers of mRNA translation. The ability of small doses of leucine to stimulate skeletal muscle protein synthesis suggests that future research on the regulation of skeletal muscle protein synthesis by orally administered leucine will be feasible in humans.

If you have time check out this very informative thread.

Derek,
That is EXACTLY the journal article that I was going to cite, you beat me to the punch. Jefferson's lab does excellent work and corroborates with us quite frequently.

Burton, I am in the nutritional science program at university of illinois. Here is a link to learn more about the program http://www.nutrsci.uiuc.edu

The top school for this field are

UC Davis
University of IL
University of Wisconsin
Cornell University
Penn State

Most of the Big Ten schools are actually pretty good; Iowa is another one, as is michigan and michigan state.

-Layne

Thanks for the info guys. That is exactly what I was looking for. THe more I learn about leucine, the more intrigued I become by it. I'm just glad you guys knew what I was talking about, I know it was kinda vague but good enough I guess. Once again, thanks for the guidance, I'll be looking into it now, was just having trouble with articulating the right search parameters for pubmed.

Layne, thanks for the info on grad schools, I'll put that program on my short list of potential interests program wise. If you dont mind me asking, how do you like what you do? I would assume you like it as it seems geared to you. Any complaints or gripes about it, or wishes you might have done something else?

nope i'm pretty happy

Posted by: @Burton

Thanks for the info guys.  That is exactly what I was looking for.  THe more I learn about leucine, the more intrigued I become by it.  I'm just glad you guys knew what I was talking about, I know it was kinda vague but good enough I guess.  Once again, thanks for the guidance, I'll be looking into it now, was just having trouble with articulating the right search parameters for pubmed.

Layne, thanks for the info on grad schools, I'll put that program on my short list of potential interests program wise.  If you dont mind me asking, how do you like what you do?  I would assume you like it as it seems geared to you.  Any complaints or gripes about it, or wishes you might have done something else?

I just read an old thread by Layne on bb.com explaining leucine's effects on mTOR's anabolic signalling pathway; you might add that to your search terms as well.

you might also pick up the latest issue of natural bodybuilding & fitness magazine... I have a pretty good article about leucine in there.

additionally, I should have a review in journal of nutrition on leucine coming out any week now.

-Layne

Layne, what kind of background does one need as an undergrad to be able to take up nutritional science for grad school?

sorry, nvm. Just found the list of required courses and other requirements