The structure of individually identified neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in mouse lateral gastrocnemius (LG) muscles was studied on 2 or more occasions over 3-6 months. Presynaptic motor nerve terminals and their underlying acetylcholine receptors were stained in living animals with the fluorescent dye 4-(4-diethylaminostyryl)-N-methylpyridinium iodide) and tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-co...

The form, function and fibre-type profiles of the ilio-marsupialis muscles, branches of which insert on to the skin of the nipples and pouch, have been investigated in the small dasyurid marsupial Sminthopsis douglasi. Single fibres from the branches of muscles associated with unsuckled nipples in non-lactating females and with both unsuckled and suckled nipples at four stages during the 70-day...

Smaller diaphragmatic motor unit potentials (MUPs) compared to MUPs of limb muscles lead to the hypothesis that diaphragmatic muscle fibers, being the generators of MUPs, might be also smaller. We compared autopsy samples of costal diaphragm and vastus lateralis of healthy men with respect to fibers' size and expression of slow myosin heavy chain isoform (MyHC-1) and fast 2A isoform (MyHC-2A). ...

Fast muscles of rodents characteristically differ from their slow-twitch counterparts by exhibiting high levels of G4, i.e., the tetrameric acetylcholinesterase (AChE) molecular form. Converging evidence suggests that this additional G4 pool is specifically regulated by the type of activity actually performed by the muscle. This hypothesis was tested by studying the effect of a chronic increase...

The glycosylation of dystroglycan is required for its function as a high-affinity laminin receptor, and loss of dystroglycan glycosylation results in congenital muscular dystrophy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the functional defects in slow- and fast-twitch muscles of glycosylation-deficient Large(myd) mice. While a partial alteration in glycosylation of dystroglycan in heterozy...

Twitch fiber bundles from a slow (soleus) and a fast (extensor digitorum longus) mammalian muscle after mild chemical treatment were activated with calcium and relaxed in calcium-free solution. Like the electrically activated whole muscles, the force-velocity relationship was such that, at each relative load, the steady speed of shortening for the fast fibers was about two times greater than th...

In previous efforts to characterize sarcoplasmic reticulum function in human muscles, it has not been possible to distinguish the relative contributions of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers. In this study, we have used light scattering and 45Ca to monitor Ca accumulation by the sarcoplasmic reticulum of isolated, chemically skinned human muscle fibers in the presence and absence of oxalate. Ox...

Numerous studies have reported alterations in skeletal muscle properties and phenotypes in response to various stimuli such as exercise, unloading, and gene mutation. However, a shift in muscle fiber phenotype from fast twitch to slow twitch is not completely induced by stimuli. This limitation is hypothesized to result from the epigenetic differences between muscle types. The main purpose of t...