Myogenic and neurogenic contributions to the development of fast and slow twitch muscles in rat

Effects of hypothyroidism on myosin isozyme transitions in developing rat muscle

Hypothyroidism was induced in young rats by methylthiouracil treatment of pregnant mothers from 18 days of gestation to 4 weeks after birth. Electrophoretic analysis of native myosin isozymes revealed a persistence of neonatal and embryonic myosin in developing fast and slow muscles up to at least 28 days after birth. The appearance of adult fast myosin was inhibited in 28-day old animals, however adult slow myosin was found in the soleus muscle. Immunocytochemical results on the soleus demonstrate a cellular heterogeneity in the response to hypothyroidism. About half fibers have a normal complement of slow myosin and do not contain neonatal myosin. Only the remaining fibers contain the large amounts of neonatal myosin demonstrated by electrophoresis.

Effect of denervation at birth on the development of skeletal muscle cell types in the rat

In the newborn rat all cells of soleus, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles stained for fast troponin I. A proportion of the cells, that was much higher in the soleus, also stained for slow troponin I. Fast and slow troponin I were segregated in different cell types in all three muscles 10 to 12 days after birth. No subsequent changes in the distribution of the two forms of troponin I occurred with further growth of EDL and TA muscles. The number of type I cells in soleus steadily increased with increasing age to 24 weeks. Three weeks after denervation at birth, almost all cells in soleus muscle stained for fast troponin I but less than 5% stained significantly dark for slow troponin I. All cells stained for myosin ATPase after alkaline preincubation, but very few after acid preincubation. Three weeks after denervation of EDL and to a lesser extent with TA muscle, fast and slow troponin I were still segregated in different cells. After alkaline preincubation all cells stained equally dark for myosin ATPase but only those positive for slow troponin I stained for myosin ATPase after acid preincubation.

Thyroidal and neural control of myosin transitions during development of rat fast and slow muscles

Experiments with developing euthyroid, hypothyroid and hyperthyroid rats show that the transition from neonatal to adult fast myosin is orchestrated by thyroid hormones acting directly upon fast muscle cells. Denervation studies reveal the switch from neonatal to adult fast myosin synthesis is independent of the motoneuron. However the synthesis of slow myosin during development is critically dependent on innervation.

Differentiation of muscle fiber types in the chicken hindlimb

The differentiation of myotubes into fiber types was studied by examining the ATPase staining characteristics of chicken embryo thigh muscles. Two distinct fiber types, designated type IEMB and IIEMB, could be distinguished as early as stage 29. Paralysis of the embryo with d-tubocurarine prevented the differentiation of type IEMB but not type IIEMB characteristics. The two embryonic fiber types differed from each other, and mature type I and II fibers, in the acid and alkali labilities of their ATPases. Myotubes which were type IEMB at stage 29 matured into type I fibers, whereas those which were type IIEMB predominantly but not exclusively developed into type II fibers. The process of maturation involved sequential changes in the staining characteristics of the myotubes. Thus, the ultimate fiber type of a myotube can be detected long before it expresses its mature characteristics.

Ultrastructural abnormalities of muscle and neuromuscular junction differentiation in a bovine congenital neuromuscular disease

The syndrome of arthrogryposis and palatoschisis (SAP), an inherited syndrome of muscular hypotonia in Charolais cattle, was used as an experimental model to study neuromuscular differentiation. The ultrastructural development of muscle, peripheral nerve, and neuromuscular junctions was studied to determine the sequence of events preceding hypotrophic changes in the skeletal muscles of affected calves at birth. Dorsiflexion of the metatarsophalangeal joints in the hindlimbs occurred in fetuses older than 3 months of age, but hypotrophic changes in skeletal muscle, manifested as small fibers scattered among larger and occasional degenerating fibers, was not apparent until late in gestation, affecting 8-month-old fetuses and neonatal calves. Electron microscope and enzyme histochemistry studies disclosed differentiation of skeletal muscle into fiber types which is consistent with changes expected from disuse and does not indicate a primary myopathic abnormality. Abnormal differentiation of neuromuscular junctions (NMJ), composed of several separated axonal endings terminating in shallow synaptic gutters, indicated impaired maturation of the synapse. The earliest indication of abnormal NMJ was observed in a 5-month-old SAP fetus. The clinical signs and pathologic changes found in the neuromuscular junction and skeletal muscle of SAP fetuses are consistent with an embryologic defect occurring during development of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects the integrated function of the motor neurons to the limbs. However, diversification of myofibers by histochemistry and ultrastructural parameters is evidence that the intrinsic physiologic properties of spinal motor neurons were retained.

Denervation of newborn rat muscle does not block the appearance of adult fast myosin heavy chain

Several observations, both in vivo and in vitro, have indicated that the development and maturation of mammalian skeletal muscle fibres is influenced by nerve-muscle interactions. Morphological maturation of newly regenerated adult mouse muscle fibers in an organotypic nerve-muscle culture system depends on the presence of spinal cord neurones. Sciatic nerve transection in newborn rats has been shown to modify the development of the histochemical and contractile properties of the denervated muscles. In addition, neural influences are important for the appearance of certain of the myosin small subunits. It has been proposed that the nerve also controls the changes in myosin heavy chain isozymes appearing during development. One such transition occurs in rat muscle where the neonatal form of myosin heavy chain is replaced by the adult form during the second post-natal week. Here we demonstrate that innervation of the rat gastrocnemius muscle (a fast-contracting muscle in the adult) is not required for the appearance of the adult form of myosin heavy chain.

Two major allelic forms of myosin light chain-1 in strains of normal and dystrophic chickens

Evidence is presented from electrophoresis and peptide-mapping for the existence of two major allelic forms of myosin light chain-1 in the fast white muscle fibers of domestic chickens. One form predominates in birds of White Leghorn stock, the other in birds of New Hampshire Red stock. The two light chain-1 forms were invariant during development. Variability was not detected in light chains-2 or -3. The distribution of the two forms in two strains homozygous for the am gene for muscular dystrophy--Connecticut dystrophic and line 413--and their controls, White Leghorn and line 412, respectively, while clearly unrelated to avian dystrophy, emphasizes the heterogeneity in background genes of these non-inbred lines and indicates caution in their use in studies of avian dystrophy.

Chronic denervation of rat diaphragm: selective maintenance of adult fast myosin heavy chains

After long-term denervation in mixed rat muscles there is a selective loss of slow myosin. The bidimensional electrophoretic pattern of light chains and the results of preliminary studies on heavy chains have left open the question of whether the nature of the residual fast-like myosin is of the immature or adult type. We have further investigated chronically denervated myosin by (1) electrophoresis in nondissociating conditions; (2) acidic electrophoresis of the heavy chains; and (3) proteolytic mapping of the heavy chains. These techniques clearly distinguish adult myosins from those present in immature muscles. Using these criteria, myosin from the chronically denervated diaphragm is of an adult type, even though the presence of trace amounts of embryonic myosin cannot be excluded. The contractile properties also indicate that chronically denervated hemidiaphragm is more similar to an adult fast muscle than to an immature muscle. The selective maintenance after long-term denervation of fast myosin in adult muscle provides good evidence of the independence of the genetic expression of myosin from a direct neural chemotrophic control.

Abnormal distribution of proteins in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus of dystrophic mice

Proteins of the whole muscle homogenates of the slow-twitch soleus (SOL) and fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) of normal and dystrophic C57BL/6J mice at 4, 8, 12, and 32 weeks of age were resolved on polyacrylamide isoelectric focusing gels. Gels of the normal SOL proteins at all ages contained two bands specific to SOL and not represented in EDL. Gels of normal EDL contained three bands highly amplified in EDL but barely detectable in SOL. The distribution of proteins in dystrophic SOL was abnormal at all age groups studied due, in part, to a decrease in the proportion of SOL-specific proteins relative to other proteins in the muscle. The distribution of proteins in dystrophic EDL appeared abnormal first at 12 weeks due to a decrease in the relative proportion of EDL-amplified proteins. Due to these and other changes, at 32 weeks the dystrophic SOL and EDL were almost indistinguishable on the basis of their proteins' distributions.

The effect of denervation on the distribution of the polymorphic forms of troponin components in fast and slow muscles of the adult rat

The structure of a proprioceptor in the lateral hypodermal chords of Denotostoma californicum has been studied by light and electron microscopy. It is comprised of a sensory cell provided with a cilium situated in a terminal invagination. An accompanying dendrite forms a synaptic junction at the distal end of the sensory cell. This is the first fine structural description of this proprioceptor in the Enoplida.

The distribution of satellite cells and their relationship to specific fiber types in soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles

Fiber type classification of p-phenylene-diamine-stained transverse sections of rat skeletal muscle correlated with electron microscopic observations demonstrate that satellite cells are not equally distributed among the various fiber types in either the EDL or soleus at 1 and 12 months of age. Of the three fiber types in the EDL, satellite cells are observed most frequently on Type IIA fibers, and at approximately equal frequencies on Type IIB and Type I fibers. Satellite cells in the soleus, in contrast to the EDL, are not often encountered on Type IIA fibers, but are preferentially associated with Type I fibers in that muscle. The frequency with which satellite cells are found on specific fiber types is distinct for the soleus and EDL and appears to correspond with their growth characteristics. The distribution of satellite cells according to fiber type does not provide an explanation for the differences in the percentage of satellite cell nuclei between the EDL and soleus.

Distribution and properties of myosin isozymes in developing avian and mammalian skeletal muscle fibers

Isozymes of myosin have been localized with respect to individual fibers in differentiating skeletal muscles of the rat and chicken using immunocytochemistry. The myosin light chain pattern has been analyzed in the same muscles by two-dimensional PAGE. In the muscles of both species, the response to antibodies against fast and slow adult myosin is consistent with the speed of contraction of the muscle. During early development, when speed of contraction is slow in future fast and slow muscles, all the fibers react strongly with anti-slow as well as with anti-fast myosin. As adult contractile properties are acquired, the fibers react with antibodies specific for either fast or slow myosin, but few fibers react with both antibodies. The myosin light chain pattern slow shows a change with development: the initial light chains (LC) are principally of the fast type, LC1(f), and LC2(f), independent of whether the embryonic muscle is destined to become a fast or a slow muscle in the adult. The LC3(f), light chain does not appear in significant amounts until after birth, in agreement with earlier reports. The predominance of fast light chains during early stages of development is especially evident in the rat soleus and chicken ALD, both slow muscles, in which LC1(f), is gradually replaced by the slow light chain, LC1(s), as development proceeds. Other features of the light chain pattern include an "embryonic" light chain in fetal and neonatal muscles of the rat, as originally demonstrated by R.G. Whalen, G.S. Butler- Browne, and F. Gros. (1978. J. Mol. Biol. 126:415-431.); and the presence of approximately 10 percent slow light chains in embryonic pectoralis, a fast white muscle in the adult chicken. The response of differentiating muscle fibers to anti-slow myosin antibody cannot, however, be ascribed solely to the presence of slow light chains, since antibody specific for the slow heavy chain continues to react with all the fibers. We conclude that during early development, the myosin consists of a population of molecules in which the heavy chain can be associated with a fast, slow, or embryonic light chain. Biochemical analysis has shown that this embryonic heavy chain (or chains) is distinct from adult fast or slow myosin (R.G. Whalen, K. Schwartz, P. Bouveret, S.M. Sell, and F. Gros. 1979. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76:5197-5201. J.I. Rushbrook, and A. Stracher. 1979. Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76:4331-4334. P.A. Benfield, S. Lowey, and D.D. LeBlanc. 1981. Biophys. J. 33(2, Pt. 2):243a[Abstr.]). Embryonic myosin, therefore, constitutes a unique class of molecules, whose synthesis ceases before the muscle differentiates into an adult pattern of fiber types.

Fiber type composition and postmetamorphic growth of anuran hindlimb muscles

Fiber type composition distinguished by the level of succinic dehydrogenase, mean fiber diameter, and fiber number were determined for the gracilis major and sartorius in ontogenetic series of the anurans Rana pipiens, Bufo americanus, and Xenopus laevis to characterize muscle composition and mode of muscle growth. A correlation can be made between the respective locomotor mode of these anurans, their activity physiology, and the fiber type composition of the propulsive muscles. R. pipiens and X. laevis have hindlimb muscles composed primarily of fast-twitch, fast-fatiguing type 1 fibers. B. americanus's muscles are composed of slow-twitch, slow-fatiguing type 2 and type 3 fibers. Fiber typing is apparently useful in explaining interspecific anuran locomotor capability previously difficult to correlate with body shape. Fiber typing also affords an explantion for reported variations in metabolism during strenuous activity. Postmetamorphically, anuran muscles grow by a combination of hyperplasia and hypertrophy, but the percent fiber type composition remains unchanged. In R. pipiens and X. laevis, the muscles grow primarily by hypertrophy with the addition of relatively fewer fibers. The converse is true for B. americanus. In all three species the combinations result in strong positive allometric increases in muscle cross section. Anuran muscle growth is similar to that reported for fish and different from that associated with mammals.

Embryonic and foetal myosins in human skeletal muscle. The presence of foetal myosins in duchenne muscular dystrophy and infantile spinal muscular atrophy

Recently described techniques for separating myosin isoenzymes have been adapted for analysis of myosins from diseased and developing human skeletal muscle. The method is highly suitable for analysis of human myosins because only 2 - 3 mg of muscle are required for routine analyses. Human embryonic/foetal myosins are electrophoretically distinct from mature skeletal myosins, and are not normally detected beyond the first month of post-natal life, except in premature infants. They have a high alkaline calcium-activated ATPase activity. This would account for the histochemical classification of foetal fibres as "Type II", although physiological differences between adult fast-twitch muscle and foetal muscle are well recognized. Foetal myosins are also synthesized in human skeletal muscle under certain pathological circumstances. Their presence in Duchenne dystrophy probably reflects the associated marked muscle regeneration, with immaturity of some muscle cells. The large amounts of foetal myosin present in many cases of infantile spinal muscular atrophy is evidence that innervation is necessary for the normal cessation of foetal myosin synthesis.

Dynamic aspects of structural proteins in vertebrate skeletal muscle

In this review, our current knowledge on the structural proteins of vertebrate skeletal muscle is briefly outlined. Structural proteins include the contractile proteins (actin and myosin), the major regulatory proteins (troponin and tropomyosin), the minor regulatory proteins (M-protein, C-protein, F-protein, I-protein, and actinins), and the scaffold proteins (connectin, desmin, and Z-protein). In addition, the relative turnover rates of the muscle proteins (M-protein greater than or equal to troponin greater than soluble protein as a whole greater than tropomyosin not equal to alpha-actinin greater than myosin greater than 10S-actinin greater than actin) are discussed. The changes in the turnover of muscle proteins are compared in denervated and dystrophic muscles. The properties of the various proteases in muscle, including alkaline protease, calcium-activated neutral protease (CANP), and acidic protease (cathepsins), and the structural alterations of myofibrils by these proteases are also described. Finally, the role of proteases and their inhibitors in diseased muscle is summarized, with focus on CANP and its inhibitors, leupeptin and E-64.

Development of muscle fiber specialization in the rat hindlimb

The appearance of fast and slow fiber types in the distal hindlimb of the rat was investigated using affinity-purified antibodies specific to adult fast and slow myosins, two-dimensional electrophoresis of myosin light chains, and electron microscope examination of developing muscle cells. As others have noted, muscle histogenesis is not synchronous; rather, a series of muscle fiber generations occurs, each generation forming along the walls of the previous generation. At the onset of myotube formation on the 15th d of gestation, the antimyosin antibodies do not distinguish among fibers. All fibers react strongly with antibody to fast myosin but not with antibody to slow myosin. The initiation of fiber type differentiation can be detected in the 17-d fetus by a gradual increase in the binding of antibody to slow myosin in the primary, but not the secondary, generation myotubes. Moreover, neuromuscular contacts at this crucial time are infrequent, primitive, and restricted predominantly, but not exclusively, to the primary generation cells, the same cells which begin to bind large amounts of antislow myosin at this time. With maturation, the primary generation cells decrease their binding of antifast myosin and become type I fibers. Secondary generation cells are initially all primitive type II fibers. In future fast muscles the secondary generation cells remain type II, while in future slow muscles most of the secondary generation cells eventually change to type I over a prolonged postnatal period. We conclude that the temporal sequence of muscle development is fundamentally important in determining the genetic expression of individual muscle cells.

Characterization of human muscle myosins with respect to the light chains

Isolated myosins from human predominantly fast and slow muscles, human neonatal and foetal muscle were examined for light chain composition by one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. The LC1F, LC2F and LC3F light chains were identical with their counterparts from rabbit fast myosin. Human LC1S was identified by correlative criteria as a single component having a molecular weight slightly lower than, but an electric charge similar to, that of rabbit LC1Sb. Consequently, human LC1S appears to be much less heterogeneous relative to LC1F than is the case with other mammalian species. A high immunological cross-reactivity was likewise observed, with antibody specific to rabbit LC1F, between the isolated myosins from several human mixed muscles and rabbit fast myosin, though reactivity was highest with foetal myosin (having a pure-fast-light-chain pattern).

The adaptive response of skeletal muscle to increased use

Skeletal muscle undergoes profound changes in morphological, physiological, and biochemical character when subjected to prolonged periods of increased use. Although increased use may be brought about in a variety of ways, the results show consistent features. In particular, endurance exercise and chronic stimulation differ only in degree: the properties which change in response to exercise are also those which change at an early stage of stimulation; the properties which are resistant to change under exercise conditions change only after prolonged stimulation. There is therefore a hierarchy of stability in the properties of skeletal muscle which is revealed in its response to changing functional demands. The adaptive potential of muscle provides a logical framework for understanding neural influences on the emergence of fiber types during muscle development. It is also relevant to the study of pathological conditions which may involve a sustained departure from normal postural and locomotor patterns of activity.

Why are fetal muscles slow?

Differentiating fast and slow mammalian muscles contract slowly at birth and increase their speed during the first few weeks of life. However, only small proportions of slow myosin light chains are found in early developing muscles and the fast type of light chains predominate. In addition, differentiating muscle contains unique, embryonic forms of myosin which may partially determine the early slow responses. The present study suggests additional reasons for these slow twitch times. Most skeletal muscles are initially formed from a small population of primary generation cells which are innervated by pioneering axons early in myogenesis. Subsequently, numerous secondary generation cells develop along the walls of primary myotubes, then separate and become independent units of contraction. Using affinity-purified antibodies to fast and slow myosin, it was found that most primary myotubes react with anti-slow myosin and are destined to become slow, Type I fibres. By contrast, secondary generation cells stain exclusively with anti-fast myosin and develop into Type II, fast fibres. We propose that primary myotubes constitute the fundamental motor units of the developing neuromuscular system and are responsible for early slow movements. Secondary generation cells become organized into large, fast motor units later in development, eclipsing the original slow response.

Ontogeny of oral function in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

The oral apparatus of neonatal and juvenile golden hamsters was investigated by clearing and staining of whole crania, videotaping of behavior, and electromyography of several jaw muscles. Chewing developed during the first postnatal week and matured in the second; however, suckling was still the primary mode of feeding. Micromovements of the jaws occurred early when the osseous skeleton and joints developed. Macromovements correlated well with EMG records and were limited to jaw opening at birth. Muscles of the oral floor generated large bursts of activity during jaw opening and tongue protrusion from 0 days postnatal (dpn), when simple and stereotyped gaping was induced, until 14 dpn, when movements were spontaneous and not stereotyped nor inducible. However, adductor muscle activity was brief, low in amplitude, and primarily involved with jaw stabilization until 4 dpn, when these muscles became active during closing the jaws; closing activity increased in frequency and amplitude until the end of the second week. Development of frequent, coordinated macromovements of chewing was associated with the refinement of joint structure and dental occlusion and with the growth of the craniofacial skeleton. Jaw movements and associated EMG's correlated better with available data on development of neural circuitry than with that for musculoskeletal development.

Myosin types in cultured muscle cells

Fluorescent antibodies against fast skeletal, slow skeletal, and ventricular myosins were applied to muscle cultures from embryonic pectoralis and ventricular myocadium of the chicken. A number of spindle-shaped mononucleated cells, presumably myoblasts, and all myotubes present in skeletal muscle cultures were labeled by all three antimyosin antisera. In contrast, in cultures from ventricular myocardium all muscle cells were labeled by anti-ventricular myosin, whereas only part of them were stained by anti-slow skeletal myosin and rare cells reacted with anti-fast skeletal myosin. The findings indicate that myosin(s) present in cultured embryonic skeletal muscle cells contains antigenic determinants similar to those present in adult fast skeletal, slow skeletal, and ventricular myosins.

'Square arrays' in the sarcolemma of human skeletal muscle fibres

Fast twitch fibres of rat and rabbit show rectangular patterns of intramembrane particles in freeze-fracture preparations of the sarcolemma. These 'square arrays' are almost totally absent in the slow twitch coleus muscle of rat. I report here differences in the incidence of square arrays in human fetal and adult muscle and in different fibres within a human muscle. Square arrays probably classify fast and slow twitch fibres in freeze-fracture preparations of mixed muscles.

Independent development of contractile properties and myosin light chains in embryonic chick fast and slow muscle

1. The contractile speeds and tetanus/twitch ratios of the slow anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) and fast posterior latissimus dorsi (PLD) muscles were studied during embryonic development and correlated with the type of myosin light chains present in these muscles as studied by one and two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. 2. At a time when the contractions of PLD were slow, i.e. in 15 day old embryos, the myosin light chains in this muscle were of the fast type. The slow contraction of this muscle may be due to incomplete and slow activation of the contractile elements. The tetanus/twitch ratio of muscles from 15 day old embryos is low and increases sharply with age. This increase could be due to the maturation of the internal membrane system, and occurs at about the same time as the increase in the speed of contraction. 3. ALD muscles contract slowly during all stages of development, although their tetanus/twitch ratio also increases with age. At 13 days they contain a mixture of fast and slow type myosin light chains and with increasing age the proportion of the slow type myosin light chains increases at the expense of the fast type. The slow time course of contraction of ALD is consistent with the presence of slow type myosin light chains. 4. The possibility that the synthesis of the slow type myosin light chains in ALD is induced by early motor activity in chick embryos is discussed.