DNA binding sites target nuclear NFATc1 to heterochromatin regions in adult skeletal muscle fibers

Voltage sensor movements of CaV1.1 during an action potential in skeletal muscle fibers

The skeletal muscle L-type Ca²⁺ channel (Ca_V1.1) works primarily as a voltage sensor for skeletal muscle action potential (AP)-evoked Ca²⁺ release. Ca_V1.1 contains four distinct voltage-sensing domains (VSDs), yet the contribution of each VSD to AP-evoked Ca²⁺ release remains unknown. To investigate the role of VSDs in excitation-contraction coupling (ECC), we encoded cysteine substitutions on each S4 voltage-sensing segment of Ca_V1.1, expressed each construct via in vivo gene transfer electroporation, and used in cellulo AP fluorometry to track the movement of each Ca_V1.1 VSD in skeletal muscle fibers. We first provide electrical measurements of Ca_V1.1 voltage sensor charge movement in response to an AP waveform. Then we characterize the fluorescently labeled channels' VSD fluorescence signal responses to an AP and compare them with the waveforms of the electrically measured charge movement, the optically measured free myoplasmic Ca²⁺, and the calculated rate of Ca²⁺ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum for an AP, the physiological signal for skeletal muscle fiber activation. A considerable fraction of the fluorescence signal for each VSD occurred after the time of peak Ca²⁺ release, and even more occurred after the earlier peak of electrically measured charge movement during an AP, and thus could not directly reflect activation of Ca²⁺ release or charge movement, respectively. However, a sizable fraction of the fluorometric signals for VSDs I, II, and IV, but not VSDIII, overlap the rising phase of charge moved, and even more for Ca²⁺ release, and thus could be involved in voltage sensor rearrangements or Ca²⁺ release activation.

CaMKII oxidation is a critical performance/disease trade-off acquired at the dawn of vertebrate evolution

Antagonistic pleiotropy is a foundational theory that predicts aging-related diseases are the result of evolved genetic traits conferring advantages early in life. Here we examine CaMKII, a pluripotent signaling molecule that contributes to common aging-related diseases, and find that its activation by reactive oxygen species (ROS) was acquired more than half-a-billion years ago along the vertebrate stem lineage. Functional experiments using genetically engineered mice and flies reveal ancestral vertebrates were poised to benefit from the union of ROS and CaMKII, which conferred physiological advantage by allowing ROS to increase intracellular Ca²⁺ and activate transcriptional programs important for exercise and immunity. Enhanced sensitivity to the adverse effects of ROS in diseases and aging is thus a trade-off for positive traits that facilitated the early and continued evolutionary success of vertebrates.

Natural selection may favor traits underlying aging-related diseases if they benefit the young. Wang et al. find that oxidative activation of CaMKII provides physiological benefits critical to the initial and continued success of vertebrates but at the cost of disease, frailty, and shortened lifespan.

Plantar Mechanical Stimulation Maintains Slow Myosin Expression in Disused Rat Soleus Muscle via NO-Dependent Signaling

It was observed that gravitational unloading during space missions and simulated microgravity in ground-based studies leads to both transformation of slow-twitch muscle fibers into fast-twitch fibers and to the elimination of support afferentation, leading to the "switching-off" of postural muscle motor units electrical activity. In recent years, plantar mechanical stimulation (PMS) has been found to maintain the neuromuscular activity of the hindlimb muscles. Nitric oxide (NO) was shown to be one of the mediators of muscle fiber activity, which can also promote slow-type myosin expression. We hypothesized that applying PMS during rat hindlimb unloading would lead to NO production upregulation and prevention of the unloading-induced slow-to-fast fiber-type shift in rat soleus muscles. To test this hypothesis, Wistar rats were hindlimb suspended and subjected to daily PMS, and one group of PMS-subjected animals was also treated with nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (L-NAME). We discovered that PMS led to sustained NO level in soleus muscles of the suspended animals, and NOS inhibitor administration blocked this effect, as well as the positive effects of PMS on myosin I and IIa mRNA transcription and slow-to-fast fiber-type ratio during rat hindlimb unloading. The results of the study indicate that NOS activity is necessary for the PMS-mediated prevention of slow-to-fast fiber-type shift and myosin I and IIa mRNA transcription decreases during rat hindlimb unloading.

Alternative signaling pathways from IGF1 or insulin to AKT activation and FOXO1 nuclear efflux in adult skeletal muscle fibers

Muscle atrophy is regulated by the balance between protein degradation and synthesis. FOXO1, a transcription factor, helps to determine this balance by activating pro-atrophic gene transcription when present in muscle fiber nuclei. Foxo1 nuclear efflux is promoted by AKT-mediated Foxo1 phosphorylation, eliminating FOXO1's atrophy-promoting effect. AKT activation can be promoted by insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) or insulin via a pathway including IGF1 or insulin, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and AKT. We used confocal fluorescence time-lapse imaging of FOXO1-GFP in adult isolated living muscle fibers maintained in culture to explore the effects of IGF1 and insulin on FOXO1-GFP nuclear efflux with and without pharmacological inhibitors. We observed that although AKT inhibitor blocks the IGF1- or insulin-induced effect on FOXO1 nuclear efflux, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors, which we show to be effective in these fibers, do not. We also found that inhibition of the protein kinase ACK1 or ATM contributes to the suppression of FOXO1 nuclear efflux after IGF1. These results indicate a novel pathway that has been unexplored in the IGF1- or insulin-induced regulation of FOXO1 and present information useful both for therapeutic interventions for muscle atrophy and for further investigative areas into insulin insensitivity and type 2 diabetes.

How Postural Muscle Senses Disuse? Early Signs and Signals

A mammalian soleus muscle along with other "axial" muscles ensures the stability of the body under the Earth's gravity. In rat experiments with hindlimb suspension, zero-gravity parabolic flights as well as in human dry immersion studies, a dramatic decrease in the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the soleus muscle has been repeatedly shown. Most of the motor units of the soleus muscle convert from a state of activity to a state of rest which is longer than under natural conditions. And the state of rest gradually converts to the state of disuse. This review addresses a number of metabolic events that characterize the earliest stage of the cessation of the soleus muscle contractile activity. One to three days of mechanical unloading are accompanied by energy-dependent dephosphorylation of AMPK, accumulation of the reactive oxygen species, as well as accumulation of resting myoplasmic calcium. In this transition period, a rapid rearrangement of the various signaling pathways occurs, which, primarily, results in a decrease in the rate of protein synthesis (primarily via inhibition of ribosomal biogenesis and activation of endogenous inhibitors of mRNA translation, such as GSK3β) and an increase in proteolysis (via upregulation of muscle-specific E3-ubiquitin ligases).

Sarcoplasmic reticulum and calcium signaling in muscle cells: Homeostasis and disease

The sarco/endoplasmic reticulum is an extensive, dynamic and heterogeneous membranous network that fulfills multiple homeostatic functions. Among them, it compartmentalizes, stores and releases calcium within the intracellular space. In the case of muscle cells, calcium released from the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum in the vicinity of the contractile machinery induces cell contraction. Furthermore, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum-derived calcium also regulates gene transcription in the nucleus, energy metabolism in mitochondria and cytosolic signaling pathways. These diverse and overlapping processes require a highly complex fine-tuning that the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum provides by means of its numerous tubules and cisternae, specialized domains and contacts with other organelles. The sarco/endoplasmic reticulum also possesses a rich calcium-handling machinery, functionally coupled to both contraction-inducing stimuli and the contractile apparatus. Such is the importance of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum for muscle cell physiology, that alterations in its structure, function or its calcium-handling machinery are intimately associated with the development of cardiometabolic diseases. Cardiac hypertrophy, insulin resistance and arterial hypertension are age-related pathologies with a common mechanism at the muscle cell level: the accumulation of damaged proteins at the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum induces a stress response condition termed endoplasmic reticulum stress, which impairs proper organelle function, ultimately leading to pathogenesis.

From Slow to Fast: Hypogravity-Induced Remodeling of Muscle Fiber Myosin Phenotype

Skeletal muscle consists of different fiber types arranged in a mosaic pattern. These fiber types are characterized by specific functional properties. Slow-type fibers demonstrate a high level of fatigue resistance and prolonged contraction duration, but decreased maximum contraction force and velocity. Fast-type fibers demonstrate high contraction force and velocity, but profound fatigability. During the last decades, it has been discovered that all these properties are determined by the predominance of slow or fast myosin-heavy-chain (MyHC) isoforms. It was observed that gravitational unloading during space missions and simulated microgravity in ground-based experiments leads to the transformation of some slow-twitch muscle fibers into fast-twitch ones due to changes in the patterns of MyHC gene expression in the postural soleus muscle. The present review covers the facts and mechanistic speculations regarding myosin phenotype remodeling under conditions of gravitational unloading. The review considers the neuronal mechanisms of muscle fiber control and molecular mechanisms of regulation of myosin gene expression, such as inhibition of the calcineurin/NFATc1 signaling pathway, epigenomic changes, and the behavior of specific microRNAs. In the final portion of the review, we discuss the adaptive role of myosin phenotype transformations.

Monovalent cationic channel activity in the inner membrane of nuclei from skeletal muscle fibers

Nuclear ion channels remain among the least studied and biophysically characterized channels. Although considerable progress has been made in characterizing calcium release channels in the nuclear membrane, very little is known regarding the properties of nuclear monovalent cationic channels. Here, we describe a method to isolate nuclei from adult skeletal muscle fibers that are suitable for electrophysiological experiments. Using this approach, we show for the first time, to our knowledge, that a nuclear monovalent cationic channel (NMCC) is prominently expressed in the inner membrane of nuclei isolated from flexor digitorum brevis skeletal muscle fibers of adult mice. In isotonic 140 mM KCl, the skeletal muscle NMCC exhibits a unitary conductance of ?160 pS and high, voltage-independent open probability. Based on single-channel reversal potential measurements, NMCCs are slightly more permeable to potassium ions over sodium (PK/PNa = 2.68 ± 0.21) and cesium (PK/PCs = 1.39 ± 0.03) ions. In addition, NMCCs do not permeate divalent cations, are inhibited by calcium ions, and demonstrate weak rectification in asymmetric Ca(2+)-containing solutions. Together, these studies characterize a voltage-independent NMCC in skeletal muscle, the properties of which are ideally suited to serve as a countercurrent mechanism during calcium release from the nuclear envelope.

Mechanisms modulating skeletal muscle phenotype

Mammalian skeletal muscles are composed of a variety of highly specialized fibers whose selective recruitment allows muscles to fulfill their diverse functional tasks. In addition, skeletal muscle fibers can change their structural and functional properties to perform new tasks or respond to new conditions. The adaptive changes of muscle fibers can occur in response to variations in the pattern of neural stimulation, loading conditions, availability of substrates, and hormonal signals. The new conditions can be detected by multiple sensors, from membrane receptors for hormones and cytokines, to metabolic sensors, which detect high-energy phosphate concentration, oxygen and oxygen free radicals, to calcium binding proteins, which sense variations in intracellular calcium induced by nerve activity, to load sensors located in the sarcomeric and sarcolemmal cytoskeleton. These sensors trigger cascades of signaling pathways which may ultimately lead to changes in fiber size and fiber type. Changes in fiber size reflect an imbalance in protein turnover with either protein accumulation, leading to muscle hypertrophy, or protein loss, with consequent muscle atrophy. Changes in fiber type reflect a reprogramming of gene transcription leading to a remodeling of fiber contractile properties (slow-fast transitions) or metabolic profile (glycolytic-oxidative transitions). While myonuclei are in postmitotic state, satellite cells represent a reserve of new nuclei and can be involved in the adaptive response.

DUX4 expression in FSHD muscle cells: how could such a rare protein cause a myopathy?

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is one of the most frequent hereditary muscle disorders. It is linked to contractions of the D4Z4 repeat array in 4q35. We have characterized the double homeobox 4 (DUX4) gene in D4Z4 and its mRNA transcribed from the distal D4Z4 unit to a polyadenylation signal in the flanking pLAM region. It encodes a transcription factor expressed in FSHD but not healthy muscle cells which initiates a gene deregulation cascade causing differentiation defects, muscle atrophy and oxidative stress. PITX1 was the first identified DUX4 target and encodes a transcription factor involved in muscle atrophy. DUX4 was found expressed in only 1/1000 FSHD myoblasts. We have now shown it was induced upon differentiation and detected in about 1/200 myotube nuclei. The DUX4 and PITX1 proteins presented staining gradients in consecutive myonuclei which suggested a diffusion as known for other muscle nuclear proteins. Both protein half-lifes were regulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In addition, we could immunodetect the DUX4 protein in FSHD muscle extracts. As a model, we propose the DUX4 gene is stochastically activated in a small number of FSHD myonuclei. The resulting mRNAs are translated in the cytoplasm around an activated nucleus and the DUX4 proteins diffuse to adjacent nuclei where they activate target genes such as PITX1. The PITX1 protein can further diffuse to additional myonuclei and expand the transcriptional deregulation cascade initiated by DUX4. Together the diffusion and the deregulation cascade would explain how a rare protein could cause the muscle defects observed in FSHD.

Elevated extracellular glucose and uncontrolled type 1 diabetes enhance NFAT5 signaling and disrupt the transverse tubular network in mouse skeletal muscle

The transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T-cells 5 (NFAT5) is a key protector from hypertonic stress in the kidney, but its role in skeletal muscle is unexamined. Here, we evaluate the effects of glucose hypertonicity and hyperglycemia on endogenous NFAT5 activity, transverse tubular system morphology and Ca(2+) signaling in adult murine skeletal muscle fibers. We found that exposure to elevated glucose (25-50 mmol/L) increased NFAT5 expression and nuclear translocation, and NFAT-driven transcriptional activity. These effects were insensitive to the inhibition of calcineurin A, but sensitive to both p38α mitogen-activated protein kinases and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-related kinase inhibition. Fibers exposed to elevated glucose exhibited disrupted transverse tubular morphology, characterized by swollen transverse tubules and an increase in longitudinal connections between adjacent transverse tubules. Ca(2+) transients elicited by a single, brief electric field stimuli were increased in amplitude in fibers challenged by elevated glucose. Muscle fibers from type 1 diabetic mice exhibited increased NFAT5 expression and transverse tubule disruptions, but no differences in electrically evoked Ca(2+) transients. Our results suggest the hypothesis that these changes in skeletal muscle could play a role in the pathophysiology of acute and severe hyperglycemic episodes commonly observed in uncontrolled diabetes.

Kinetics of nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation of Foxo1 and Foxo3A in adult skeletal muscle fibers

In skeletal muscle, the transcription factors Foxo1 and Foxo3A control expression of proteins that mediate muscle atrophy, making the nuclear concentration and nuclear-cytoplasmic movements of Foxo1 and Foxo3A of therapeutic interest in conditions of muscle wasting. Here, we use Foxo-GFP fusion proteins adenovirally expressed in cultured adult mouse skeletal muscle fibers to characterize the time course of nuclear efflux of Foxo1-GFP in response to activation of the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)/phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway to determine the time course of nuclear influx of Foxo1-GFP during inhibition of this pathway and to show that Akt mediates the efflux of nuclear Foxo1-GFP induced by IGF-1. Localization of endogenous Foxo1 in muscle fibers, as determined via immunocytochemistry, is consistent with that of Foxo1-GFP. Inhibition of the nuclear export carrier chromosome region maintenance 1 by leptomycin B (LMB) traps Foxo1 in the nucleus and results in a relatively rapid rate of Foxo1 nuclear accumulation, consistent with a high rate of nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling of Foxo1 under control conditions before LMB application, with near balance of unidirectional influx and efflux. Expressed Foxo3A-GFP shuttles ∼20-fold more slowly than Foxo1-GFP. Our approach allows quantitative kinetic characterization of Foxo1 and Foxo3A nuclear-cytoplasmic movements in living muscle fibers under various experimental conditions.

Localization and regulation of the N terminal splice variant of PGC-1α in adult skeletal muscle fibers

The transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) regulates expression of genes for metabolism and muscle fiber type. Recently, a novel splice variant of PGC-1α (NT-PGC-1α, amino acids 1-270) was cloned and found to be expressed in muscle. Here we use Flag-tagged NT-PGC-1α to examine the subcellular localization and regulation of NT-PGC-1α in skeletal muscle fibers. Flag-NT-PGC-1α is located predominantly in the myoplasm. Nuclear NT-PGC-1α can be increased by activation of protein kinase A. Activation of p38 MAPK by muscle activity or of AMPK had no effect on the subcellular distribution of NT-PGC-1α. Inhibition of CRM1-mediated export only caused relatively slow nuclear accumulation of NT-PGC-1α, indicating that nuclear export of NT-PGC-1α may be mediated by both CRM1-dependent and -independent pathways. Together these results suggest that the regulation of NT-PGC-1α in muscle fibers may be very different from that of the full-length PGC-1α, which is exclusively nuclear.

Histochemistry and cell biology: the annual review 2010

This review summarizes recent advances in histochemistry and cell biology which complement and extend our knowledge regarding various aspects of protein functions, cell and tissue biology, employing appropriate in vivo model systems in conjunction with established and novel approaches. In this context several non-expected results and discoveries were obtained which paved the way of research into new directions. Once the reader embarks on reading this review, it quickly becomes quite obvious that the studies contribute not only to a better understanding of fundamental biological processes but also provide use-oriented aspects that can be derived therefrom.

Regulation of nucleocytoplasmic transport in skeletal muscle

Proper skeletal muscle function is dependent on spatial and temporal control of gene expression in multinucleated myofibers. In addition, satellite cells, which are tissue-specific stem cells that contribute critically to repair and maintenance of skeletal muscle, are also required for normal muscle physiology. Gene expression in both myofibers and satellite cells is dependent upon nuclear proteins that require facilitated nuclear transport. A unique challenge for myofibers is controlling the transcriptional activity of hundreds of nuclei in a common cytoplasm yet achieving nuclear selectivity in transcription at specific locations such as neuromuscular synapses and myotendinous junctions. Nucleocytoplasmic transport of macromolecular cargoes is regulated by a complex interplay among various components of the nuclear transport machinery, namely nuclear pore complexes, nuclear envelope proteins, and various soluble transport receptors. The focus of this review is to highlight what is known about the nuclear transport machinery and its regulation in skeletal muscle and to consider the unique challenges that multinucleated muscle cells as well as satellite cells encounter in regulating nucleocytoplasmic transport during cell differentiation and tissue adaptation. Understanding how regulated nucleocytoplasmic transport controls gene expression in skeletal muscle may lead to further insights into the mechanisms contributing to muscle growth and maintenance throughout the lifespan of an individual.