Morphology and myofiber composition of skeletal musculature of the forelimb in young and aged wild type and myostatin null mice

Elashry, M. I., Otto, A., Matsakas, A., El-Morsy, S. E. and Patel, K. (2009) Morphology and myofiber composition of skeletal musculature of the forelimb in young and aged wild type and myostatin null mice. Rejuvenation Research, 12 (4). pp. 269-281. ISSN 1549-1684 doi: 10.1089/rej.2009.0870

Abstract/Summary

Most current research into therapeutic approaches to muscle diseases involves the use of the mouse as an experimental model. Furthermore, a major strategy to alleviate myopathic symptoms through enhancing muscle growth and regeneration is to inhibit the action of myostatin (Mstn), a transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) family member that inhibits muscle growth. Presently, however, no study has expanded the morphological analysis of mouse skeletal muscle beyond a few individual muscles of the distal hindlimb, through which broad conclusions have been based. Therefore, we have initially undertaken an expansive analysis of the skeletal musculature of the mouse forelimb and highlighted the species-specific differences between equivalent muscles of the rat, another prominently used experimental model. Subsequently, we examined the musculature of the forelimb in both young and old adult wild-type (mstn(+/+)) and myostatin null (mstn(-/-)) mice and assessed the potential beneficial and detrimental effects of myostatin deletion on muscle morphology and composition during the aging process. We showed that: (1) the forelimb muscles of the mouse display a more glycolytic phenotype than those of the rat; (2) in the absence of myostatin, the induced myofiber hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and glycolytic conversion all occur in a muscle-specific manner; and, importantly, (3) the loss of myostatin significantly alters the dynamics of postnatal muscle growth and impairs age-related oxidative myofiber conversion.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/9597
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR)
Uncontrolled Keywords	FIBER-TYPE, DEFICIENT MICE, CONTRACTILE PROPERTIES, MUSCLE, REGENERATION, PROLONGED ABSENCE, MDX MICE, SLOW, GENE, RAT, GROWTH
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