Myosin heavy chain and sarcoplasmic reticulum protein isoforms in functionally overloaded cat plantaris muscle fibers. Talmadge, Robert J., Roland R. Roy, Gordon R. Chalmers, and V. Reggie Edgerton. Department of Physiological Science and Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA, 90095-1527
APStracts 2:0536A, 1995.
To determine if the adaptations in myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform expression following functional overload (FO) are accompanied by commensurate adaptations in protein isoforms responsible for relaxation (sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase, SERCA and phospholamban, PHL) in single muscle fibers, the isoforms of MHC and SERCA, and the presence or absence of PHL were determined for cat plantaris fibers 3 months after FO. In control plantaris, the relative MHC isoform composition was 23% type I, 21% type IIa, and 56% type IIb. FO resulted in a shift toward slower isoforms (33% type I, 44% type IIa, and 23% type IIb). In the deep region of the plantaris, the proportions of type I MHC and hybrid MHC fibers (containing both type I and II MHCs) were 40% and 200% greater in FO cats, respectively. FO resulted in a 47% increase in the proportion of fibers containing only the slow SERCA isoform, SERCA2, and a 41% increase in the proportion of fibers containing PHL. The proportions of fibers containing type I MHC, SERCA2, and PHL in control and FO plantaris were linearly correlated. These data show that adaptations in MHC isoform expression are accompanied by commensurate adaptations in sarcoplasmic reticulum protein isoforms in single muscle fibers after FO.

Received 19 May 1995; accepted in final form 27 November 1995.
APS Manuscript Number A518-5.
Article publication pending Journal of Applied Physiology.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 8 December 95