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

TLR1/2 ligand-stimulated mouse liver endothelial cells secrete IL-12 and trigger CD8+ T cell immunity in vitro

Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) are unique organ-resident APCs capable of Ag cross-presentation and subsequent tolerization of naive CD8(+) T cells. Under certain conditions, LSECs can switch from a tolerogenic to an immunogenic state and promote the development of T cell immunity. However, little is known about the mechanisms of LSECs to induce T cell immunity. In this study, we investigated whether functional maturation of LSECs can be achieved by TLR ligand stimulation and elucidated the mechanisms involved in LSEC-induced T cell immunity. We demonstrate that pretreatment of LSECs with palmitoyl-3-cysteine-serine-lysine-4 (P3C; TLR1/2 ligand) but not poly(I:C) (TLR3 ligand) or LPS (TLR4 ligand) reverted their suppressive properties to induce T cell immunity. Importantly, P3C stimulation caused functional maturation of Ag-presenting LSECs and enabled them to activate virus-specific CD8(+) T cells. The LSEC-mediated CD8(+) T cell immunity was initiated by soluble mediators, one of which was IL-12 secreted at a low but sustained level after P3C stimulation. P3C stimulation did not induce programmed death ligand 1 expression on LSECs, thereby favoring T cell proliferation and activation instead of suppression. Our data suggest that LSECs undergo maturation exclusively in response to TLR1/2 ligand stimulation and that the immunological status of LSECs was dependent upon the balance between programmed death ligand 1 and IL-12 expression. These results have implications for our understanding of liver-specific tolerance and autoimmunity and for the development of strategies to overcome T cell tolerance in situations such as chronic viral liver infections or liver cancer.

TnIfast IRE enhancer: multistep developmental regulation during skeletal muscle fiber type differentiation

To identify developmental steps leading to adult skeletal muscle fiber-type-specific gene expression, we carried out transgenic mouse studies of the IRE enhancer of the quail TnIfast gene. Histochemical analysis of IRE/herpesvirus tk promoter/beta-galactosidase reporter transgene expression in adult muscle directly demonstrated IRE-driven fast vs. slow fiber-type specificity, and IIB>IIX>IIA differential expression among the fast fiber types: patterns similar to those of native-promoter TnIfast constructs. These tissue- and cell-type specificities are autonomous to the IRE and do not depend on interactions with a muscle gene promoter. Developmental studies showed that the adult pattern of IRE-driven transgene expression emerges in three steps: (1) activation during the formation of primary embryonic (presumptive slow) muscle fibers; (2) activation, to markedly higher levels, during formation of secondary (presumptive fast) fibers, and (3) differential augmentation of expression during early postnatal maturation of the IIB, IIX, IIA fast fiber types. These results provide insight into the roles of gene activation and gene repression mechanisms in fiber-type specificity and can account for apparently disparate results obtained in previous studies of TnI isoform expression in development. Each of the three IRE-driven developmental steps is spatiotemporally associated with a different major regulatory event at the fast myosin heavy chain gene cluster, suggesting that diverse muscle gene families respond to common, or tightly integrated, regulatory signals during multiple steps of muscle fiber differentiation.

Embryonic myosin heavy chain and troponin T isoforms remain in the cremaster muscle of adult rat cryptorchidism induced with flutamide

We examined the immunolocalization of isoforms of muscle proteins, myosin and troponin, in the cremaster muscle of the undescended testis (cryptorchidism). In cryptorchid rats induced by a nonsteroidal androgen antagonist, flutamide, the cremaster muscle contained embryonic myosin and embryonic/cardiac troponin T in both immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blotting using antibodies against myosin and troponin T specific for embryonic, cardiac and fast skeletal muscles. However, in muscles other than the cremaster muscle, i. e., the masseter, pectoral and abdominal muscles, embryonic isoforms of these proteins were undetectable by immunohistochemistry with these antibodies, even in the muscles from cryptorchid rats. Our results showing that high levels of embryonic isoforms of muscle proteins were specifically present in the cremaster muscle of cryptorchid rats induced by flutamide suggest that flutamide treatment of pregnant rats might affect genes controlling the development of the lumbar region of the fetus body resulting in the presence of embryonic protein isoforms in the cremaster muscles which are closely associated with undescended testes.

Arginine induced acute pancreatitis alters the actin cytoskeleton and increases heat shock protein expression in rat pancreatic acinar cells

Arginine induced acute pancreatitis was evaluated as a novel and distinct form of experimental pancreatitis with particular attention to the actin cytoskeleton and expression of heat shock or stress proteins. Arginine induced a dose related necrotising pancreatitis in rats, as shown by histological evaluation, and an increase in serum amylase. Severe pancreatitis induced by 4.5 g/kg arginine was accompanied by dramatic changes in the actin cytoskeleton, as visualised with rhodamine phallodin. Intermediate filaments were also disrupted, as visualised by cytokeratin 8/18 immunocytochemistry. Arginine pancreatitis was accompanied by a stress response with a large increase in the small heat shock protein HSP27, as well as HSP70, peaking at 24 hours and localised to acinar cells. There was a lower increase in HSP60 and HSP90 and no effect on GRP78. HSP27 was also shifted to phosphorylated forms during pancreatitis. A lower dose of arginine (3.0 g/kg) induced less pancreatitis but a larger increase in HSP70 and HSP27 expression and phosphorylation of HSP27. Thus HSP expression can be overwhelmed by severe damage. The present work in conjunction with earlier work on caerulein induced pancreatitis indicates that changes in the actin cytoskeleton are an early component in experimental pancreatitis.

The human troponin I slow promoter directs slow fiber-specific expression in transgenic mice

Troponin I (TnI) is a muscle-specific protein involved in the calcium-mediated contraction of striated muscle. Three TnI isoforms have been identified, each encoded by a separate gene and expressed in specific striated muscles in the adult. The slow isoform gene (TnIs) is transcriptionally regulated during skeletal muscle development such that its expression in the adult is restricted to muscle fibers innervated by a slow nerve. To delineate regions of this gene that are responsive to information imparted by the slow nerve, we generated transgenic mice carrying -4,200 to +12 bp of the human TnIs gene linked to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) coding region. By Northern blot analysis, we detected transgene transcripts only in muscles containing slow-twitch fibers. CAT histochemical analysis revealed that expression of the transgene is restricted solely to slow-twitch fibers as characterized by type I myosin heavy-chain (MyHC) expression. Using regeneration as a model for neural influenced expression, we show that this gene construct also contains sequences necessary to respond to cues from the central nervous system.

Role of innervation for development and maintenance of troponin subunit isoform patterns in fast- and slow-twitch muscles of the rabbit

This study investigates the neural influence on the establishment and maintenance of muscle type-specific expression patterns of the three troponin (Tn) subunits, troponin T (TnT), troponin C (TnC), and troponin I (TnI) during postnatal development and in the adult rabbit. For this purpose, we followed changes in the expression of fast and slow TnT, TnC, and TnI isoforms at the protein and mRNA level in slow- and fast-twitch muscles. During postnatal development all fast Tn isoforms increased in fast-twitch muscle. Sequential transitions (TnTs-->TnT3f-->TnT1f) occurred in the TnT isoform pattern. These changes occurred in parallel with sequential transitions in the pattern of myosin heavy chain (HC) isoforms. Neonatal slow-twitch muscle displayed more mature (slow) isoform patterns for both TnT subunits and myosin HCs than fast-twitch muscle. Although the expression of slow TnC in slow-twitch muscle required innervation, denervation had little effect on slow TnT and TnI which seemed to be controlled by an intrinsic program. In fast-twitch muscle, denervation enhanced the expression of all slow Tn subunit isoforms. In addition, it led to a pronounced increase of the slow TnT2s isoform such that the amount of TnT2s exceeded that of TnT1s. The effects of denervation together with previous data on low-frequency stimulated muscle indicate that the expression of fast Tn isoforms in fast-twitch muscle is neurally controlled. The pattern of slow Tn isoforms in slow-twitch muscle seems to be regulated by an intrinsic program and, in addition, by neural influences.

Regulation of the human cardiac/slow-twitch troponin C gene by multiple, cooperative, cell-type-specific, and MyoD-responsive elements

The cardiac troponin C (cTnC) gene produces identical transcripts in slow-twitch skeletal muscle and in heart muscle (R. Gahlmann, R. Wade, P. Gunning, and L. Kedes, J. Mol. Biol. 201:379-391, 1988). A separate gene encodes the fast-twitch skeletal muscle troponin C and is not expressed in heart muscle. We have used transient transfection to characterize the regulatory elements responsible for skeletal and cardiac cell-type-specific expression of the human cTnC (HcTnC) gene. At least four separate elements cooperate to confer tissue-specific expression of this gene in differentiated myotubes; a basal promoter (between -61 and -13) augments transcription 9-fold, upstream major regulatory sequences (between -68 and -142 and between -1319 and -4500) augment transcription as much as 39-fold, and at least two enhancer-like elements in the first intron (between +58 and +1028 and between +1029 and +1523) independently augment transcription 4- to 5-fold. These enhancers in the first intron increase myotube-specific chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity when linked to their own promoter elements or to the heterologous simian virus 40 promoter, and the effects are multiplicative rather than additive. Each of the major myotube regulatory regions is capable of responding directly or indirectly to the myogenic determination factor, MyoD.A MyoD expression vector in 10T1/2 cells induced constructs carrying either the upstream HcTnC promoter elements or the first intron of the gene 300- to 500-fold. Expression was inhibited by cotransfection with Id, a negative regulator of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. The basal promoter contains five tandem TGGGC repeats that interact with Sp1 or an Sp1-like factor in nuclear extracts. Mutational analysis of this element demonstrated that two of the five repeat sequences were sufficient to support basal level muscle cell-specific transcription. Whereas the basal promoter is also critical for expression in cardiac myocytes, the elements upstream of -67 appear to play little or no role. Major augmentation of expression in cardiomyocytes is also provided by sequences in the first intron, but these are upstream (between +58 and +1028). The downstream segment of the first intron has no enhancer activity in cardiomyocytes. A specific DNA-protein complex is formed by this C2 cell enhancer with extracts from C2 cells but not cardiomyocytes. These observations suggest that tissue-specific expression of the HcTnC gene is cooperatively regulated by the complex interactions of multiple regulatory elements and that different elements are used to regulate expression in myogenic and cardiac cells.

Regulation of the human cardiac/slow-twitch troponin C gene by multiple, cooperative, cell-type-specific, and MyoD-responsive elements

The cardiac troponin C (cTnC) gene produces identical transcripts in slow-twitch skeletal muscle and in heart muscle (R. Gahlmann, R. Wade, P. Gunning, and L. Kedes, J. Mol. Biol. 201:379-391, 1988). A separate gene encodes the fast-twitch skeletal muscle troponin C and is not expressed in heart muscle. We have used transient transfection to characterize the regulatory elements responsible for skeletal and cardiac cell-type-specific expression of the human cTnC (HcTnC) gene. At least four separate elements cooperate to confer tissue-specific expression of this gene in differentiated myotubes; a basal promoter (between -61 and -13) augments transcription 9-fold, upstream major regulatory sequences (between -68 and -142 and between -1319 and -4500) augment transcription as much as 39-fold, and at least two enhancer-like elements in the first intron (between +58 and +1028 and between +1029 and +1523) independently augment transcription 4- to 5-fold. These enhancers in the first intron increase myotube-specific chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity when linked to their own promoter elements or to the heterologous simian virus 40 promoter, and the effects are multiplicative rather than additive. Each of the major myotube regulatory regions is capable of responding directly or indirectly to the myogenic determination factor, MyoD.A MyoD expression vector in 10T1/2 cells induced constructs carrying either the upstream HcTnC promoter elements or the first intron of the gene 300- to 500-fold. Expression was inhibited by cotransfection with Id, a negative regulator of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. The basal promoter contains five tandem TGGGC repeats that interact with Sp1 or an Sp1-like factor in nuclear extracts. Mutational analysis of this element demonstrated that two of the five repeat sequences were sufficient to support basal level muscle cell-specific transcription. Whereas the basal promoter is also critical for expression in cardiac myocytes, the elements upstream of -67 appear to play little or no role. Major augmentation of expression in cardiomyocytes is also provided by sequences in the first intron, but these are upstream (between +58 and +1028). The downstream segment of the first intron has no enhancer activity in cardiomyocytes. A specific DNA-protein complex is formed by this C2 cell enhancer with extracts from C2 cells but not cardiomyocytes. These observations suggest that tissue-specific expression of the HcTnC gene is cooperatively regulated by the complex interactions of multiple regulatory elements and that different elements are used to regulate expression in myogenic and cardiac cells.

Inter- and intra-specific variation in myosin light chain and troponin I composition in fast muscle fibres from two species of fish (genus Oreochromis) which have different temperature-dependent contractile properties

The contractile properties and myofibrillar protein composition of fast muscle have been characterized in pure strains of two tropical fish Oreochromis niloticus and O. andersoni. Single fast muscle fibres were isolated from the abdominal myotomes and chemically skinned. The maximum tension-temperature relationships of fibres were similar at 25-30 degrees C, but diverged below 17 degrees C. At 10 degrees C, maximum tension was around 60% higher in O. andersoni (160 +/- 15 kN m-2) than O. niloticus (105 +/- 13 kN m-2) (mean +/- SD). The myofibrillar protein composition of fast fibres was investigated using one-dimensional and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and peptide mapping. The two Oreochromis species differed with respect to the composition of myosin light chains, troponin I and myosin heavy chains (V8 protease and chymotrypsin peptide maps). An unexpected finding was the presence of two isoforms of myosin light chain 1 in O. andersoni, with apparent molecular masses of 27.5 kDa (LC1f1) and 26.9 kDa (LC1f2). Individuals with LC1f1 (n = 20) and LC1f1 + LC1f2 (n = 12) were represented in the population studied. The myosin light chain 3 (LC3f) content of fibres was similar in both cases. Breeding experiments established that these intra-specific variations in isoform composition were heritable. Fast muscle from O. niloticus and O. andersoni contain two isoforms of troponin I (TNIfl + TNIf2) which were both expressed in single fibres. The identity of TNI was confirmed using a stationary phase troponin-C affinity column. Of the 20 O. niloticus studied seven contained only TNIf1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

cDNA sequence, tissue-specific expression, and chromosomal mapping of the human slow-twitch skeletal muscle isoform of troponin I

Troponin I (TnI) is a myofibrillar protein involved in the calcium-mediated regulation of striated muscle contraction. Three isoforms of TnI are known and each is expressed in a muscle fiber-type-specific manner. TnI-fast and TnI-slow are expressed exclusively in fast-twitch and slow-twitch skeletal muscle myofibers, respectively, while a third isoform, TnI-card, is expressed in both the atrium and the ventricle of the heart. An explanation of the myofiber-type-restricted expression of the troponin I multigene family will further aid in understanding how various types of striated muscle fibers are established. To initiate the study of TnI isoform gene expression, we have isolated a full-length cDNA representing the human slow-twitch skeletal muscle isoform of troponin I. Sequence comparisons demonstrate that the TnI-slow protein is highly conserved between species. Therefore, the cDNA was used as a probe to investigate the tissue-specific and developmental regulation of the TnI-slow gene in both rodent and human myogenic cells. TnI-slow message appears to be restricted to muscle tissue containing slow-twitch skeletal muscle myofibers. TnI-slow gene expression is induced in differentiated cultures of primary human muscle cells and several (but not all) myogenic cell lines. In addition, a human-specific probe prepared from the 3' untranslated region of the cDNA has been used to probe a panel of human/mouse somatic cell hybrid lines, resulting in the assignment of the human TnI-slow gene to the q12----qter region of chromosome 1. The locus is designated TNNI1.

Regulatory proteins in hamster cardiomyopathy

We have shown in genetic myopathic hamsters that cardiac myofibrillar ATPase regulation by calcium is altered and that there are shifts in myosin isozyme distribution (V1----V3) suggesting abnormalities in multiple components of the contractile apparatus. To focus more on the regulatory proteins (troponin and tropomyosin), individual proteins of the skeletal and cardiac actomyosin system were reconstituted under controlled conditions. In this way, myosin plus actin and troponin-tropomyosin from the normal and myopathic animals could be studied enzymatically. The proteins were isolated from the skeletal or cardiac muscle of random-bred control and cardiomyopathic hamsters (BIO 53:58) at 7 months of age. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoretic patterns indicated differences in the troponin I and troponin C regions of myopathic skeletal muscle, but cardiac samples from control and myopathic hamsters showed similarities in their mobilities. This suggests the possibility of different cardiac isozymes in the regulatory protein complex, as reported in our previous studies of cardiac myosin in cardiomyopathy. Calcium sensitivity was markedly decreased in the actomyosin reconstituted with troponin-tropomyosin from skeletal as well as cardiac muscle from myopathic animals. In summary, our data show that the regulatory proteins in skeletal and cardiac muscle of the myopathic hamsters have decreased inhibitory action on Mg2(+)-actomyosin ATPase activity. This loss of calcium regulation along with shifts in cardiac myosin heavy chain may be partially responsible for the impaired cardiac function in the hearts of myopathic hamsters.

Effect of denervation on the distribution and developmental transition of phosphoglycerate mutase and creatine phosphokinase isozymes in rat muscles of different fiber-type composition

Phosphoglycerate mutase (PGM) and creatine phosphokinase (CK) occur as three isozymes (types MM, MB and BB) in mammals and these exhibit similar transitions during skeletal muscle development. To study the influence of innervation on this transition and on the maintenance of the isozyme phenotype in mature muscle, we have determined the changes produced by sciatic neurectomy in neonatal and adult rat hindlimb muscles. In 40-day-old rats, denervation decreased both PGM and CK activity, the effect being more pronounced in the fast-twitch extensorum digitorum longus (EDL) and gastrocnemius muscles than in the slow-twitch soleus muscle. It also produced a progressive increase in the proportion of MB- and BB-PGM isozymes in EDL and gastrocnemius but not in soleus, and an increase of MB- and BB-CK isozymes in all three muscles. In 5-day-old rats, denervation prevented the developmental increase of PGM and CK activity in all three muscles. Denervation also prevented the normal decrease in the relative amounts of the MB and BB isozymes of both enzymes which occur during postnatal muscle development. These results can be explained by the different effects of denervation upon slow and fast muscles, and by the distinct distribution of PGM and CK isozymes in rat type I and II muscle fibers.

Fast skeletal muscle-specific expression of a quail troponin I gene in transgenic mice

We have produced seven lines of transgenic mice carrying the quail gene encoding the fast skeletal muscle-specific isoform of troponin I (TnIf). The quail DNA included the entire TnIf gene, 530 base pairs of 5'-flanking DNA, and 1.5 kilobase pairs of 3'-flanking DNA. In all seven transgenic lines, normally initiated and processed quail TnIf mRNA was expressed in skeletal muscle, where it accumulated to levels comparable to that in quail muscle. Moreover, in the three lines tested, quail TnIf mRNA levels were manyfold higher in a fast skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius) than in a slow skeletal muscle (soleus). We conclude that the cellular mechanisms directing muscle fiber type-specific TnIf gene expression are mediated by cis-regulatory elements present on the introduced quail DNA fragment and that they control TnIf expression by affecting the accumulation of TnIf mRNA. These elements have been functionally conserved since the evolutionary divergence of birds and mammals, despite the major physiological and morphological differences existing between avian (tonic) and mammalian (twitch) slow muscles. In lines of transgenic mice carrying multiple tandemly repeated copies of the transgene, an aberrant quail TnIf transcript (differing from normal TnIf mRNA upstream of exon 2) also accumulated in certain tissues, particularly lung, brain, spleen, and heart tissues. However, this aberrant transcript was not detected in a transgenic line which carries only a single copy of the quail gene.

Fast skeletal muscle-specific expression of a quail troponin I gene in transgenic mice

We have produced seven lines of transgenic mice carrying the quail gene encoding the fast skeletal muscle-specific isoform of troponin I (TnIf). The quail DNA included the entire TnIf gene, 530 base pairs of 5'-flanking DNA, and 1.5 kilobase pairs of 3'-flanking DNA. In all seven transgenic lines, normally initiated and processed quail TnIf mRNA was expressed in skeletal muscle, where it accumulated to levels comparable to that in quail muscle. Moreover, in the three lines tested, quail TnIf mRNA levels were manyfold higher in a fast skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius) than in a slow skeletal muscle (soleus). We conclude that the cellular mechanisms directing muscle fiber type-specific TnIf gene expression are mediated by cis-regulatory elements present on the introduced quail DNA fragment and that they control TnIf expression by affecting the accumulation of TnIf mRNA. These elements have been functionally conserved since the evolutionary divergence of birds and mammals, despite the major physiological and morphological differences existing between avian (tonic) and mammalian (twitch) slow muscles. In lines of transgenic mice carrying multiple tandemly repeated copies of the transgene, an aberrant quail TnIf transcript (differing from normal TnIf mRNA upstream of exon 2) also accumulated in certain tissues, particularly lung, brain, spleen, and heart tissues. However, this aberrant transcript was not detected in a transgenic line which carries only a single copy of the quail gene.

Changes in the distribution of slow skeletal myosin heavy chain SM1 in developing avian muscle fibres

The use of monoclonal antibodies against fast skeletal and slow skeletal myosin heavy chains (MHC) has shown the presence of significant amounts of slow skeletal type MHC in embryonic skeletal muscles of white leghorn chickens. The presence of this slow skeletal myosin heavy chain (SMHC) was not restricted to presumptive slow muscles only, as it was also observed in presumptive fast skeletal muscles. As was the case for embryonic MHC reactive with the antibody against fast skeletal myosin heavy chain (FMHC), the presence of SMHC could be detected at the earliest stages of myogenesis. It appeared to be present in most muscle cells during early embryonic development. The changes in its cellular distribution during subsequent embryonic and post-hatch period indicated its suppression in a certain proportion of the cells in both presumptive fast and slow skeletal muscles. Its time course of suppression, however, was much prolonged, not synchronized, and varied in fast and slow skeletal muscles during both embryonic and post-hatch development.

Identification and changes in the pattern of expression of slow-skeletal-muscle-like myosin heavy chains in a developing fast muscle

Immunochemical studies of chicken pectoralis major, a fast muscle, have demonstrated large amounts of myosin heavy chains (MHCs) of the slow-skeletal-muscle type during early stages of embryonic development. A large majority of the myotubes present in early embryonic muscle stained for this class of MHC. As development progressed, its synthesis was suppressed in most of the muscle, except in the deeper presumptive red-strip region. The level of this MHC in the embryonic muscle appeared to be reduced by its suppression in a proportion of the existing cells, by the addition of many presumptive fast cells that never expressed this MHC, and by atrophy or degeneration of a small proportion of the slow MHC-positive cells. Further suppression of this MHC in a proportion of the histochemically typed slow cells present in the red-strip region did not occur until quite late in the post-hatch period.

Neural regulation of parvalbumin expression in mammalian skeletal muscle

Parvalbumin was purified from rabbit fast skeletal muscle and used to raise antibodies in sheep. Subsequently, a sensitive 'sandwich' enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay permitted quantification of parvalbumin in homogenates of embryonic, maturing, innervated, denervated and chronically stimulated skeletal muscles of the rabbit. High concentrations of parvalbumin were detected in various adult fast-twitch muscles of the rabbit (700-1200 micrograms/g of muscle), whereas slow-twitch muscles contained negligible concentrations (3-5 micrograms/g of muscle). Parvalbumin was not detectable in embryonic-rabbit muscles (21, 25, 28 days of gestation), either presumptive fast- or slow-twitch. However, parvalbumin concentrations did increase during postnatal development in presumptive fast-twitch muscles. Thus the onset of parvalbumin synthesis appears to be correlated with the neonatal-to-adult transition of motor-neuron activity [Navarrete & Vrbová (1983) Dev. Brain Res. 8, 11-19]. The increase of parvalbumin in maturing, presumptive fast-twitch muscle was suppressed by denervation. In the adult rabbit, denervation of the tibialis anterior muscle caused a reduction of parvalbumin to a level normally found in slow-twitch muscles. In contrast, the already low levels of parvalbumin in maturing and adult slow-twitch soleus muscle were unaffected by denervation. Chronic low-frequency stimulation of adult fast-twitch muscle resulted in a rapid reduction of parvalbumin to a level normally found in slow-twitch muscle. These data support the hypothesis that the expression of parvalbumin is under positive control of fast-type motor-neuron activity.

The isoforms of C protein and their distribution in mammalian skeletal muscle

A monoclonal antibody that is specific for the slow skeletal muscle isoform of C protein of rabbit muscle has been prepared by immunizing mice with a crude preparation of human myosin. It reacted with the X protein fraction of rabbit skeletal muscle and stained all type I cells in this tissue. It also stained a fraction of the type II cells with varying intensities. The type II cells staining with antibody to slow C protein also stained with a polyclonal antibody prepared against rabbit fast muscle C protein. The type II cells not staining with antibody to slow C protein stained strongly with antibody to fast C protein. In the human skeletal muscle antibody to slow C protein stained all cells whereas antibody to fast C stained only type II cells. It is concluded that the distribution of the isoforms of C protein in adult vertebrate skeletal muscle is more complex than is the case with proteins such as components of the troponin complex.

Initiation of differentiation into skeletal muscle fiber types

A monoclonal antibody directed against a slow isoform of a 100-K myofibrillar protein has been used to study the differentiation of muscle fibers in the fast and slow muscles of the rat. Immunohistochemical studies have shown that initiation of differentiation into fast and slow muscle fibers occurs very early during development. The distribution pattern of cell types in different muscles is unique and is also determined very early during fetal muscle development. It is concluded that motor innervation is probably not essential to initiate differentiation into distinct muscle fiber types.

Changes in the distribution of fast and slow forms of troponin I in some neuromuscular disorders

As judged from the atrophy of the muscle cells, the distribution of slow and fast troponin I in type I and type II cells in peripheral neuropathies in the adults (24-67 years of age) was unaffected for long periods after denervation. Reinnervation by fast or slow nerve in chronic neuropathies usually resulted in typical fibre type grouping with complete segregation of slow and fast troponin I in type I and type II cells, respectively. Intermediate fibres (slow and fast troponin I in the same cell) were present during the course of transformation. Unlike peripheral neuropathies, the number of cells staining for slow troponin I in the very atrophic fascicles in spinal muscular atrophy was considerably reduced. The synthesis of fast troponin I was stimulated in original type I cells containing slow troponin I. These observations support the experimental data (Dhoot and Perry 1982b) that the suppression of fast troponin I in type I or presumptive type I cells requires innervation by the slow nerve. Its absence results in an increased expression of fast troponin I in cells that originally contained only slow troponin I. Once suppressed, fast troponin I is absent in type I cells even after long periods of experimental denervation or cases of human peripheral neuropathies but not so in the cases of spinal muscular atrophy.

Neural influences on the distribution of troponin I isotypes in the cat

An immunohistochemical technique was used to study changes in the distribution of fast and slow forms of troponin I (TN-I) in response to alterations in the nerve supply. Hind limb muscles from normal, spinal-isolated, and cordotomized cats, one leg of which had undergone cross innervation between slow (soleus) and fast (flexor hallucis longus, FHL) muscles, were examined. At 8 months after cross innervation of normal soleus by the FHL nerve, the number of fast TN-I-positive cells had increased from 0.26 to 22.1%. At 8 months after cross innervation of normal FHL muscle with the soleus nerve, the number of fast TN-I-positive cells had decreased from 86.5 to 30.5%. The number of intermediate cells staining for both fast and slow TN-I, increased considerably after cross innervation of both soleus and FHL muscles. Spinal isolation by itself had a dramatic effect on the distribution of fast and slow TN-I, converting almost all the originally slow fibers in the FHL and 60.0% of the soleus fibers to fast TN-I-positive cells in 8 months. Cordotomy, in contrast, produced an increase of only 15.6% in the soleus, and did not change the FHL. There was no quantitative difference in the crossed-and uncrossed muscles of spinal isolated cats. In cordotomized cats, cross innervation of the soleus by the FHL nerve resulted in 32.3% fast TN-I-positive cells, with some fiber type grouping. Thus, distribution of fast and slow forms of TN-I changed after each neural manipulation which altered amounts and patterns of muscle contraction and stretch.

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.

Isoform variants of troponin in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells cultured with and without nerves

Immunofluorescence microscopy shows that cultured skeletal and cardiac muscle cells of chicken embryos exhibit the same stainabilities with antibodies against skeletal and cardiac troponin components as do those in embryos. Muscle cells of each type cultured with motor or sympathetic nerves or in medium containing the nerve extract exhibit the same reactivities as do those in adult animals. Cardiac muscle cells incubated in the nerve-conditioned medium also change the form of troponin components to the adult type. It appears that the differentiation of individual muscle fibers to specific types is induced by nerves, and especially by the neurohumoral effect.