Muscle type‐specific effect of myostatin deficiency on myogenic regulatory factor expression in adult double‐muscled Japanese Shorthorn cattle

To clarify muscle type‐specific effect of myostatin on myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs), we examined mRNA expression of MRFs in five skeletal muscles of normal (NM) and myostatin‐deficient double‐muscled (DM) adult Japanese Shorthorn cattle by quantitative reverse‐transcribed PCR. Among the four MRFs, namely, Myf5, MyoD, myogenin, and MRF4, MyoD expression was different among the muscles of the DM cattle (P < 0.01) but not of the NM cattle. Meanwhile, MyoD expression was significantly elevated only in masseter (MS) muscle in the DM cattle due to the myostatin deficiency (P < 0.05). Myf5 and MRF4 expression in semitendinosus (ST) was higher in the DM than in the NM cattle (P < 0.05). According to analysis of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoform expression, more MyHC‐2x and ‐2a and less ‐slow isoforms were expressed in the longissimus and ST muscles compared to the MS muscle in both cattle (P < 0.05), but no significant difference in MyHC expression was observed between the NM and DM cattle. Taken together, myostatin has influences on Myf5 and MRF4 expression in faster‐type muscles and on MyoD expression in slower‐type muscles, suggesting a possible muscle type‐specific effect of myostatin in skeletal muscle growth and maintenance.