Abstract
The myosin heavy chain (MHC)-based fibre composition of adult rat adductor magnus (AM) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles was investigated using single fibre analysis. Microelectrophoresis performed on single fibre fragments demonstrated a predominance of pure fast MHC-based fibre types (expressing only one fast MHC). Most of the fibres analysed from both the AM (72%) and TA (50%) were pure type IIB (expressing only MHCIIb). Pure type IID fibres (expressing only MHCIId) were also abundant in AM (20%) and TA (18%). In addition, hybrid fibres coexpressing MHCIIb and MHCIId in varying proportions (fibre types IIBD and IIDB) were found, as well as fibres coexpressing MHCIId and MHCIIa with a predominance of MHCIId (type IIDA) and some C fibres (coexpressing MHCI and MHCIIa in varying proportions). Considered altogether, these data reflect the dynamic nature of adult skeletal muscle fibres and indicate a continuum of MHC-based fibre types in normal rat muscle with transitions in the order IIB ↔ IIBD ↔ IIDB ↔ IID ↔ IIDA ↔ IIAD ↔ IIA ↔ IIC ↔ IC ↔ I.
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Staron, R.S., Pette, D. The continuum of pure and hybrid myosin heavy chain-based fibre types in rat skeletal muscle. Histochemistry 100, 149–153 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00572901
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00572901