scholarly journals Myosin heavy-chain isoforms in the flight and leg muscles of hummingbirds and zebra finches

2014 ◽  
Vol 306 (11) ◽  
pp. R845-R851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandy P. Velten ◽  
Kenneth C. Welch

Myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform complement is intimately related to a muscle's contractile properties, yet relatively little is known about avian MHC isoforms or how they may vary with fiber type and/or the contractile properties of a muscle. The rapid shortening of muscles necessary to power flight at the high wingbeat frequencies of ruby-throated hummingbirds and zebra finches (25–60 Hz), along with the varied morphology and use of the hummingbird hindlimb, provides a unique opportunity to understand how contractile and morphological properties of avian muscle may be reflected in MHC expression. Isoforms of the hummingbird and zebra finch flight and hindlimb muscles were electrophoretically separated and compared with those of other avian species representing different contractile properties and fiber types. The flight muscles of the study species operate at drastically different contraction rates and are composed of different histochemically defined fiber types, yet each exhibited the same, single MHC isoform corresponding to the chicken adult fast isoform. Thus, despite quantitative differences in the contractile demands of flight muscles across species, this isoform appears necessary for meeting the performance demands of avian powered flight. Variation in flight muscle contractile performance across species may be due to differences in the structural composition of this conserved isoform and/or variation within other mechanically linked proteins. The leg muscles were more varied in their MHC isoform composition across both muscles and species. The disparity in hindlimb MHC expression between hummingbirds and the other species highlights previously observed differences in fiber type composition and thrust production during take-off.

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Picquet ◽  
L De-Doncker ◽  
M Falempin

Our objective was to determine the effects of a clenbuterol (CB) treatment orally administered (2 mg per kg) to rats submitted to 14 days of hindlimb unloading (HU). The morphological and the contractile properties as well as the myosin heavy chain isoforms contained in each fiber type were determined in whole soleus muscles. As classically described after HU, a decrease in muscle wet weight and in body mass associated with a loss of muscular force, an evolution of the contractile parameters towards those of a fast muscle type, and the emergence of fast myosin heavy chain isoforms were observed. The CB treatment in the HU rats helped reduce the decrease in 1) muscle and body weights, 2) force and 3) the proportion of slow fibers, without preventing the emergence of fast myosin isoforms. Clenbuterol induced a complex remodelling of the muscle typing promoting the combination of both slow and fast myosin isoforms within one fiber. To conclude, our data demonstrate that CB administration partially counteracts the effects produced by HU, and they allow us to anticipate advances in the treatment of muscular atrophy.Key words: β2 agonist, clenbuterol, soleus, contractile parameters, myosin, immunohistochemistry, simulated microgravity, countermeasure.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (3) ◽  
pp. C507-C514 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Jiang ◽  
R. R. Roy ◽  
V. R. Edgerton

The metabolic plasticity of single fibers in adult cat medial gastrocnemius (MG) 6 mo after complete spinal cord transection (Sp) at T12-T13 was studied. Some Sp cats were trained to weight support (Sp-WS) 30 min/day beginning 1 mo posttransection. Cross-sectional area, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPD), and myofibrillar adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activities were determined in fibers identified in frozen serial sections. Fibers were categorized as light or dark based on myosin ATPase staining, alkaline preincubation. The percentage of dark ATPase fibers was higher in Sp and Sp-WS (approximately 85%) than in control (approximately 60%). All dark ATPase fibers reacted positively to a fast myosin heavy chain monoclonal antibody. In both spinal groups, a higher percentage of dark ATPase fibers reacted to both fast and slow myosin heavy chain antibodies than in controls. Neither Sp nor Sp-WS cats showed fiber atrophy. Compared with control, SDH activity was decreased in both fiber types of Sp cats. Daily weight-support training ameliorated this adaptation. There were no differences among the three groups in mean GPD and ATPase activities for either fiber type. There was a slight tendency, however, for spinal cats to have higher GPD and ATPase activities (independent of type) than control, probably reflecting the larger proportion of dark ATPase fibers in these cats. These observations indicate that 6 mo after spinalization in adult cats, some of the fibers of a fast muscle became "faster" and developed oxidative and glycolytic enzyme profiles that normally are exhibited in fast fatigable motor units.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1999 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 823-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Jakubiec-Puka ◽  
I Ciechomska ◽  
U Mackiewicz ◽  
J Langford ◽  
H Chomontowska

The myosin heavy chain (MHC) was studied by biochemical methods in the slow-twitch (soleus) and two fast-twitch leg muscles of the triiodothyronine treated (hyperthyroid), thyroidectomized (hypothyroid) and euthyroid (control) rats. The changes in the contents of individual MHC isoforms(MHC-1, MHC-2A, MHC-2B and MHC-2X) were evaluated in relation to the muscle mass and the total MHC content. The MHC-1 content decreased in hyperthyreosis, while it increased in hypothyreosis in the soleus and in the fast muscles. The MHC-2A content increased in hyperthyreosis and it decreased in hypothyreosis in the soleus muscle. In the fast muscles hyperthyreosis did not affect the MHC-2A content, whereas hypothyreosis caused an increase in this MHC isoform content. The MHC-2X, present only in traces or undetected in the control soleus muscle, was synthesised in considerable amount in hyperthyreosis; in hypothyreosis the MHC-2X was not detected in the soleus. In the fast muscles the content of MHC-2X was not affected by any changes in the thyroid hormone level. The MHC-2B seemed to be not influenced by hyperthyreosis in the fast muscles, whereas the hypothyreosis caused a decrease of its content. In the soleus muscle the MHC-2B was not detected in any groups of rats. The results suggest that the amount of each of the four MHC isoforms expressed in the mature rat leg muscles is influenced by the thyroid hormone in a different way. The MHC-2A and the MHC-2X are differently regulated in the soleus and in the fast muscles; thyroid hormone seems to be necessary for expression of those isoforms in the soleus muscle.


2002 ◽  
Vol 111 (11) ◽  
pp. 962-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsutoshi Suzuki ◽  
Diane M. Bless ◽  
Nadine P. Connor ◽  
Charles N. Ford ◽  
Kyungah Lee ◽  
...  

Deficits in voice and swallowing are found in the elderly, but the underlying neuromuscular mechanisms are unclear. A potential mechanism may be denervation-induced muscle fiber transformation to a slower-contracting type of muscle fiber. This study examined young, old, and denervated rat laryngeal muscles (lateral thyroarytenoid, lateral cricoarytenoid, and posterior cricoarytenoid) to examine differences in myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition. Results of sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses indicated that all muscles were composed predominately of type IIB MHC. With aging and denervation, type IIB was reduced and type IIX, a slower-contracting isoform, was increased in the lateral thyroarytenoid and lateral cricoarytenoid muscles. In the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle, the MHC composition was relatively unchanged. These findings suggest that aging may affect laryngeal adductory function by altering muscle fiber type composition to a slower-contracting isoform, in a manner similar to that observed with denervation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 1967-1975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manmohan S. Biring ◽  
Mario Fournier ◽  
David J. Ross ◽  
Michael I. Lewis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cellular response of the diaphragm, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), and soleus (Sol) muscles to clinically relevant doses of cyclosporine administered to male rats over 4 wk. Control rats were provided with vehicle only. Muscle fiber types, cross-sectional areas, indexes of capillarity, and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity were determined by quantitative histochemistry. Myosin heavy chain isoforms were identified by SDS-PAGE, and their proportions were measured by scanning densitometry. Serum cyclosporine level, 20–24 h after the last dose of cyclosporine, was 145 ± 81 ng/ml. Final body weight and muscle mass were similar between the cyclosporine and control groups. In the diaphragm, EDL, and Sol, no differences were observed between the groups with regard to fiber type proportions, fiber cross-sectional areas, and proportions of myosin heavy chain isoforms. In the EDL, reductions, both in SDH activity in type I, IIx, and IIb fibers (−26 to −37%) and in indexes of capillarity (−18 to −37%), were noted. In the Sol, SDH activity and capillarity were similar between the groups. In the diaphragm of cyclosporine-treated rats, there was significant reduction in the number of capillaries around individual fibers (−5%), whereas levels of SDH activity tended to be lower. This suggests that activation history may in part determine muscle-specific responses to cyclosporine. We speculate that reduced oxidative activity and capillarity of some limb muscles contribute to reduced exercise capacity and the “deconditioned state” observed in patients receiving cyclosporine after successful solid-organ transplantation.


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