Histochemical abnormalities of skeletal muscle in patients with acute psychoses

In 29 acutely psychotic patients (mostly schizophrenic), histochemical abnormalities of a myopathic type were demonstrated in skeletal muscle biopsies from 13 and were generally correlated with elevation of the "muscle" type isoenzymes of creatine phosphokinase in the patients' serum. The incidence was much higher than found in normal controls, hospitalized neurotic psychiatric patients, or parents of acutely psychotic patients. A diazo-coupling type of "alka-line phosphatase" reaction was particularly useful in identifying abnormal muscle fibers.     

Mammalian motor units: physiological-histochemical correlation in three types in cat gastrocnemius

The correlation among a variety of physiological properties and the histochemical characteristics of muscle fibers belonging to single motor units in a mixed mammalian muscle is directly demonstrated. The population of motor units making up the cat gastrocnemius was classified into three nonoverlapping groups on the basis of a combination of physiological parameters. The muscle fibers belonging to motor units of each physiological type exhibited a distinctive histochemical profile, such that the three basic histochemical "fiber types" exactly matched the three physiologically defined groups. Within each individual motor unit, the muscle fibers were histochemically uniform.     

骨骼肌肌纤维形成机制的研究进展

骨骼肌是动物躯体最重要的组成部分,占到产肉动物躯体的40%,肌纤维作为骨骼肌组织的主要成分,其类型的差异是影响产肉动物肌肉品质的重要因素之一。因此,骨骼肌的生长发育与产肉动物肉的产量有着密切的联系,而其生理生化特性的差异也将会直接影响到产肉动物屠宰之后肉品的质量。一般而言,动物骨骼肌肌纤维数目在胚胎发育期间基本上就已固定,出生之后,由于肌纤维的肥大,动物躯体肌肉块才表现出增大增粗。另外,动物肌肉块在生长发育过程中,其肌纤维组成类型并不是完全固定的,它们会随着骨骼肌对代谢与功能需求的改变而发生转变。骨骼肌的生长发育,以及骨骼肌肌纤维类型的发生与发展是一个非常复杂的生物学过程,受到许多信号通路与因子的调控。随着分子生物学技术的飞速发展,各种先进技术相继被应用于生物学现象的研究中,利用这些分子生物学技术很好的阐明了许多复杂生物学现象形成的分子机制。目前,骨骼肌生长发育的分子遗传调控机制取得了长足的进展,许多与骨骼肌形成发育相关的关键因子已被鉴定出来。然而,在早期研究中,人们对于骨骼肌肌纤维的研究主要集中在类型的鉴定,以及不同肌纤维类型生理生化特性的分析,对于骨骼肌肌纤维形成的具体分子遗传调控机制的研究相对较少。近年来,随着研究的不断深入,骨骼肌肌纤维形成的分子遗传调控机制也取得了突破性的进展。因此,有必要进一步对骨骼肌肌纤维类型的特性,骨骼肌肌纤维类型形成的分子机制,以及肌纤维类型与肌肉品质的关系进行全面的综述。本文首先对肌纤维的类型、特性进行了综述;进一步分别对慢型肌纤维与快型肌纤维形成的分子调控机制的研究进展进行了回顾;最后对肌纤维类型与肉品质的关系进行了讨论。总之,本综述的撰写将有助于对骨骼肌肌纤维类型形成的遗传机制的进一步了解,为将来进一步的深入研究肌纤维形成的分子机制提供参考;同时也将有助于揭示肌肉品质形成的分子遗传调控机制,为利用分子生物学技术培育高品质新品种或新品系产肉动物提供分子理论依据。     

Junctional physiology and motor nerve distribution in the fast adductor muscle of the scallop

Electrical recordings from single muscle cells in the fast portion of the scallop adductor have revealed a multiterminal distribution of motor nerves. All motor junctions appear to be of the fast designation, and several nerve fibers supply each muscle cell. The muscle fibers, by virtue of common innervation, are grouped into functional motor units. The pattern of innervation in scallops thus shares functional similarities with the motor distribution to skeletal muscle fibers of both vertebrates and arthopods.     

Phosphorylase kinase of the liver: deficiency in a girl with increased hepatic glycogen

Studies of a child with glycogenosis revealed an increased concentration of glycogen and low phosphorylase activity in her liver. Using mixtures of homogenates of the patient's liver and of normal liver, we found the low phosphorylase activity to be caused by a deficiency of phosphorylase kinase and not of hepatic phosphorylase. The fact that phosphorylase activity was restored to normal values by the addition of phosphorylase b kinase from rabbit muscle substantiates this conclusion.     

Calcium ion release in mechanically disrupted heart cells

In cardiac muscle fibers which have had their sarcolemma disrupted intracellular stores of calcium ions can be released by the same chemical stimuli which cause their release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skinned skeletal muscle fibers. These stimuli are increases in calcium or caffeine concentrations and substitution of chloride for propionate or sodium for potassium in solutions bathing the fibers.     

Cytochemical localization of lactate dehydrogenase in muscular dystrophy of the mouse

By use of phenazine methosulfate and the "ncubation mixture film method," lactate dehydrogenase activity has been demonstrated in the dystrophic muscle fibers of strain 129 mice. The results indicate that for demonstration of lactate dehydrogenase activity in dystrophic muscle fibers phenazine methosulfate is necessary. This finding is typical for the "white" muscle fibers in the normal muscle and suggests that the dystrophy affects primarily the "white" muscle fibers.     

Phosphorylase a activity in uterine muscle: stimulation by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

Injection of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid into spayed rats or its use in phosphorylase extraction increases the activity of glycogen-phosphorylase a in uterine smooth muscle tissue. Since the total phosphorylase activity is not increased, the increase in phosphorylase a appears to result from a conversion of inactive phosphorylase b to the active form of the enzyme.     

Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene expression in normal and diseased human muscle

A probe for the 5' end of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene was used to study expression of the gene in normal human muscle, myogenic cell cultures, and muscle from patients with DMD. Expression was found in RNA from normal fetal muscle, adult cardiac and skeletal muscle, and cultured muscle after myoblast fusion. In DMD muscle, expression of this portion of the gene was also revealed by in situ RNA hybridization, particularly in regenerating muscle fibers.     

Histochemical and functional correlations in anterior horn neurons of the cat spinal cord

The histochemical reaction for phosphorylase is completely lost from anterior horn neurons rich in phosphorylase within 72 hours after proximal or distal axonal section. Using this new type of axonal reaction as a marking technique in the anterior horn of the seventh lumbar spinal cord segment of the cat, we demonstrated that (i) alpha motor neurons of slow twitch motor units, like those of fast twitch motor units, are rich in phosphorylase and poor in succinate dehydrogenase, and (ii) interneurons and Renshaw neurons are rich in succinate dehydrogenase and poor in phosphorylase. Gamma motor neurons, because of their small size, are considered to be rich in succinate dehydrogenase and poor in phosphorylase. Thus, anterior horn neurons capable of higher firing frequencies (Renshaw neurons, interneurons, and gamma motor neurons) are richer in mitochondrial oxidative enzyme activity as marked by succinate dehydrogenase. Those firing at lower frequencies (both types of alpha motor neurons) are richer in phosphorylase activity and glycogen content and, thus, apparently better equipped for anaerobic glycolysis.     

长白山野猪和东北民猪骨骼肌组织学特性比较

采用石蜡切片技术和光学显微数字成像方法观察长白山野猪和东北民猪骨骼肌组织的肌纤维形态特点,分别对两品种各30头供试猪40日龄时背最长肌、股二头肌、股四头肌和三角肌组织的肌纤维直径和密度进行显微测定和分析。结果表明:在4种骨骼肌组织中,东北民猪的肌纤维直径均显著大于长白山野猪的肌纤维直径(P<0.05),其肌纤维密度均显著低于长白山野猪的肌纤维密度(P<0.05)。在同品种内,不同性别猪的同一种骨骼肌组织之间肌纤维的直径和密度差异不显著(P>0.05);在不同品种间,同性别猪同一种组织之间肌纤维的直径和密度差异显著(P<0.05);长白山野猪和东北民猪的肌纤维直径和密度间均呈显著负相关。可见,至40日龄时,猪骨骼肌肌纤维直径和密度的生长发育受品种效应的影响较大,而受性别效应的影响差异不显著。     

High-resolution chromosome sorting and DNA spot-blot analysis assign McArdle's syndrome to chromosome 11

A rapid gene-mapping system uses a high-resolution, dual-laser sorter to identify genes from separate human chromosomes prepared with a new stain combination. This system was used to sort 21 unique chromosome types onto nitrocellulose filter papers. Several labeled gene probes hybridized to the sorted chromosomal DNA types predicted by their previous chromosome assignments. The skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylase gene was then mapped to a portion of chromosome 11 by spot blotting normal and translocated chromosomes.     

Regenerative calcium release within muscle cells

Free calcium appears to trigger the release of stored calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skinned skeletal muscle fibers immersed in solutions with a low concentration of magnesium ion.     

Targeted myostatin loss-of-function mutation increases type Ⅱ muscle fibers in Meishan pigs

Myostatin(MSTN) is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth and development. The skeletal muscle in MSTN^–/–mice is significantly hypertrophied, with muscle fiber type II increasing significantly while muscle fiber type I decreasing.However, it is still not clear how the skeletal muscle types change in MSTN^–/– pigs, and how the mechanism for MSTN regulates fiber types, especially in large animals like pigs. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the compositi...     

Human skeletal muscle: properties of the "chemically skinned%" fiber

A "skinning%" procedure is described for irreversibly disrupting the sarcolemmal membrane of human skeletal muscle and allowing calcium and other diffusible solutes (such as adenosine triphosphate) access to the myofilament space. Single skinned fibers give isometric tensions of about 1.5 kilograms per square centimeter when exposed to ionized calcium event after 1 to 2 weeks of storage at 5 degrees C. For up to 5 days the preparation will sequester and, under appropriate conditions (anion substitution, caffeine addition, or magnesium withdrawal), release calciumn. The regulation of intracellular calcium distribution and the calcium-induced activation of the contractile proteins are discussed and related to the morphology of humnan fibers and to similar processes occurring on other muscle preparations.     

Bone marrow stromal cells generate muscle cells and repair muscle degeneration

Bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) have great potential as therapeutic agents. We report a method for inducing skeletal muscle lineage cells from human and rat general adherent MSCs with an efficiency of 89%. Induced cells differentiated into muscle fibers upon transplantation into degenerated muscles of rats and mdx-nude mice. The induced population contained Pax7-positive cells that contributed to subsequent regeneration of muscle upon repetitive damage without additional transplantation of cells. These MSCs represent a more ready supply of myogenic cells than do the rare myogenic stem cells normally found in muscle and bone marrow.     

Experimental transformation of muscle fiber properties in lobster

Like the chelipeds, the claw closer muscles of the adult lobster are asymmetric (dipmorphic). In the crusher claw the closer muscle is composed entirely of slow fibers, and in the cutter claw it has 65 to 75 percent fast fibers and 25 to 35 percent slow fibers. While claw placement in the adult is essentially random, it can be demonstrated in two ways that the muscle fiber properties are not genetically fixed: (i) if one claw is removed in the fourth and early fifth stages, the remaining closer muscle develops all slow muscle fibers, and (ii) if the animals are raised in smooth-bottomed containers, both claws can become cutter types, having closer muscles with more than 50 percent fast fibers. Thus, as in vertebrate skeletal muscle, the properties of lobster closer muscle fibers can be transformed by various experimental manipulations.     

Tension transients in single isolated smooth muscle cells

Tension transients were recorded in a single smooth muscle cell. The transient contains a linear elastic response and a biphasic recovery that appear to originate from the cross-bridges. A comparison of transients in smooth and fast skeletal muscle fibers suggests that the cross-bridge in smooth muscle is more compliant than the cross-bridge in striated muscle and that transitions between several cross-bridge states occur more slowly in smooth muscle than in striated muscle.     

Mechanisms of adaptation in a predator-prey arms race: TTX-resistant sodium channels

Populations of the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis have evolved geographically variable resistance to tetrodotoxin (TTX) in a coevolutionary arms race with their toxic prey, newts of the genus Taricha. Here, we identify a physiological mechanism, the expression of TTX-resistant sodium channels in skeletal muscle, responsible for adaptive diversification in whole-animal resistance. Both individual and population differences in the ability of skeletal muscle fibers to function in the presence of TTX correlate closely with whole-animal measures of TTX resistance. Demonstration of individual variation in an essential physiological function responsible for the adaptive differences among populations is a step toward linking the selective consequences of coevolutionary interactions to geographic and phylogenetic patterns of diversity.     

Microcirculation: loss of an enzyme activity in chickens with hereditary muscular dystrophy

Histochemical localization of an alkalinie phosphatase, with (alpha)-naphthyl phosphate used as substrate, shows that activity in breast muscle from normal chickens is restricted to the microvasculature. In chickens with hereditary muscular dystrophy, this enzyme activity disappears from capillaries and small arterioles before degeneraction of muscle fibers is detectable. This loss is retarded in myopathic chickens that have received oxygen therapy.