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The effect of muscle ultrastructure on the force, displacement and work capacity of skeletal muscle.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface May 2024Skeletal muscle powers animal movement through interactions between the contractile proteins, actin and myosin. Structural variation contributes greatly to the variation...
Skeletal muscle powers animal movement through interactions between the contractile proteins, actin and myosin. Structural variation contributes greatly to the variation in mechanical performance observed across muscles. In vertebrates, gross structural variation occurs in the form of changes in the muscle cross-sectional area : fibre length ratio. This results in a trade-off between force and displacement capacity, leaving work capacity unaltered. Consequently, the maximum work per unit volume-the work density-is considered constant. Invertebrate muscle also varies in muscle ultrastructure, i.e. actin and myosin filament lengths. Increasing actin and myosin filament lengths increases force capacity, but the effect on muscle fibre displacement, and thus work, capacity is unclear. We use a sliding-filament muscle model to predict the effect of actin and myosin filament lengths on these mechanical parameters for both idealized sarcomeres with fixed actin : myosin length ratios, and for real sarcomeres with known filament lengths. Increasing actin and myosin filament lengths increases stress without reducing strain capacity. A muscle with longer actin and myosin filaments can generate larger force over the same displacement and has a higher work density, so seemingly bypassing an established trade-off. However, real sarcomeres deviate from the idealized length ratio suggesting unidentified constraints or selective pressures.
Topics: Animals; Muscle, Skeletal; Models, Biological; Myosins; Muscle Contraction; Actins; Sarcomeres; Biomechanical Phenomena
PubMed: 38774960
DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2023.0658 -
BMC Medical Genomics May 2024Thoracic aortic aneurysm/dissection (TAAD) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are serious autosomal-dominant diseases affecting the cardiovascular system. They are...
BACKGROUND
Thoracic aortic aneurysm/dissection (TAAD) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are serious autosomal-dominant diseases affecting the cardiovascular system. They are mainly caused by variants in the MYH11 gene, which encodes the heavy chain of myosin 11. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotype-phenotype correlation of MYH11 from a distinctive perspective based on a pair of monozygotic twins.
METHODS
The detailed phenotypic characteristics of the monozygotic twins from the early fetal stage to the infancy stage were traced and compared with each other and with those of previously documented cases. Whole-exome and Sanger sequencing techniques were used to identify and validate the candidate variants, facilitating the analysis of the genotype-phenotype correlation of MYH11.
RESULTS
The monozygotic twins were premature and presented with PDA, pulmonary hypoplasia, and pulmonary hypertension. The proband developed heart and brain abnormalities during the fetal stage and died at 18 days after birth, whereas his sibling was discharged after being cured and developed normally post follow-up. A novel variant c.766 A > G p. (Ile256Val) in MYH11 (NM_002474.2) was identified in the monozygotic twins and classified as a likely pathogenic variant according to the American College of Medical Genetics/Association for Molecular Pathology guidelines. Reviewing the reported cases (n = 102) showed that the penetrance of MYH11 was 82.35%, and the most common feature was TAAD (41.18%), followed by PDA (22.55%), compound TAAD and PDA (9.80%), and other vascular abnormalities (8.82%). The constituent ratios of null variants among the cases with TAAD (8.60%), PDA (43.8%), or compound TAAD and PDA (28.6%) were significantly different (P = 0.01). Further pairwise comparison of the ratios among these groups showed that there were significant differences between the TAAD and PDA groups (P = 0.006).
CONCLUSION
This study expands the mutational spectrum of MYH11 and provides new insights into the genotype-phenotype correlation of MYH11 based on the monozygotic twins with variable clinical features and outcomes, indicating that cryptic modifiers and complex mechanisms beside the genetic variants may be involved in the condition.
Topics: Humans; Twins, Monozygotic; Myosin Heavy Chains; Male; Genetic Association Studies; Infant, Newborn; Phenotype; Cardiac Myosins; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent; Female; Mutation; Aortic Dissection
PubMed: 38773466
DOI: 10.1186/s12920-024-01908-5 -
Nature Communications May 2024Elevated intracellular sodium Na adversely affects mitochondrial metabolism and is a common feature of heart failure. The reversibility of acute Na induced metabolic...
Elevated intracellular sodium Na adversely affects mitochondrial metabolism and is a common feature of heart failure. The reversibility of acute Na induced metabolic changes is evaluated in Langendorff perfused rat hearts using the Na/K ATPase inhibitor ouabain and the myosin-uncoupler para-aminoblebbistatin to maintain constant energetic demand. Elevated Na decreases Gibb's free energy of ATP hydrolysis, increases the TCA cycle intermediates succinate and fumarate, decreases ETC activity at Complexes I, II and III, and causes a redox shift of CoQ to CoQH, which are all reversed on lowering Na to baseline levels. Pseudo hypoxia and stabilization of HIF-1α is observed despite normal tissue oxygenation. Inhibition of mitochondrial Na/Ca-exchange with CGP-37517 or treatment with the mitochondrial ROS scavenger MitoQ prevents the metabolic alterations during Na elevation. Elevated Na plays a reversible role in the metabolic and functional changes and is a novel therapeutic target to correct metabolic dysfunction in heart failure.
Topics: Animals; Rats; Mitochondria, Heart; Sodium; Male; Myocardium; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; Heart Failure; Adenosine Triphosphate; Citric Acid Cycle; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Organophosphorus Compounds; Sodium-Calcium Exchanger; Ubiquinone; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase; Oxidation-Reduction; Succinic Acid
PubMed: 38769288
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48474-z -
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual... May 2024To determine whether development of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) differs between extraocular muscles (EOMs) and other skeletal muscles.
PURPOSE
To determine whether development of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) differs between extraocular muscles (EOMs) and other skeletal muscles.
METHODS
Mouse EOMs, diaphragm, and tibialis anterior (TA) were collected at postnatal day (P)0, P3, P7, P10, P14, and P21, and 12 weeks. Whole muscles were stained with α-bungarotoxin, anti-neurofilament antibody, and slow or fast myosin heavy chain antibody, and imaged with a confocal microscope. Images were quantified using Imaris software.
RESULTS
NMJs in the EOMs show a unique pattern of morphological development compared to diaphragm and TA. At P0, diaphragm and TA NMJs were oval plaques; EOM single NMJs were long, thin rods. NMJs in the three muscle types progress to mature morphology at different rates. At all ages, EOM single NMJs were larger, especially relative to myofiber size. The inferior oblique and inferior rectus muscles show delayed single NMJ development compared to other EOMs. NMJs on multiply-innervated fibers in the EOMs vary widely in size, and there were no consistent differences between muscles or over time. Incoming motor nerves formed complex branching patterns, dividing first into superficial and deep branches, each of which branched extensively over the full width of the muscle. Motor axons that innervate multiply-innervated fibers entered the muscle with the axons that innervate singly-innervated fibers, then extended both proximally and distally. EOM NMJs had more subsynaptic nuclei than skeletal muscle NMJs throughout development.
CONCLUSIONS
EOMs show a unique pattern of NMJ development and have more subsynaptic nuclei than other muscles, which may contribute to the exquisite control of eye movements.
Topics: Animals; Neuromuscular Junction; Oculomotor Muscles; Mice; Muscle, Skeletal; Microscopy, Confocal; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Myosin Heavy Chains; Animals, Newborn; Female
PubMed: 38767908
DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.5.28 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... May 2024Stereocilia are unidirectional F-actin-based cylindrical protrusions on the apical surface of inner ear hair cells and function as biological mechanosensors of sound and...
Live-cell single-molecule fluorescence microscopy for protruding organelles reveals regulatory mechanisms of MYO7A-driven cargo transport in stereocilia of inner ear hair cells.
Stereocilia are unidirectional F-actin-based cylindrical protrusions on the apical surface of inner ear hair cells and function as biological mechanosensors of sound and acceleration. Development of functional stereocilia requires motor activities of unconventional myosins to transport proteins necessary for elongating the F-actin cores and to assemble the mechanoelectrical transduction (MET) channel complex. However, how each myosin localizes in stereocilia using the energy from ATP hydrolysis is only partially understood. In this study, we develop a methodology for live-cell single-molecule fluorescence microscopy of organelles protruding from the apical surface using a dual-view light-sheet microscope, diSPIM. We demonstrate that MYO7A, a component of the MET machinery, traffics as a dimer in stereocilia. Movements of MYO7A are restricted when scaffolded by the plasma membrane and F-actin as mediated by MYO7A's interacting partners. Here, we discuss the technical details of our methodology and its future applications including analyses of cargo transportation in various organelles.
PubMed: 38766013
DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.04.590649 -
ELife May 2024Hibernation is a period of metabolic suppression utilized by many small and large mammal species to survive during winter periods. As the underlying cellular and...
Hibernation is a period of metabolic suppression utilized by many small and large mammal species to survive during winter periods. As the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood, our study aimed to determine whether skeletal muscle myosin and its metabolic efficiency undergo alterations during hibernation to optimize energy utilization. We isolated muscle fibers from small hibernators, and and larger hibernators, and . We then conducted loaded Mant-ATP chase experiments alongside X-ray diffraction to measure resting myosin dynamics and its ATP demand. In parallel, we performed multiple proteomics analyses. Our results showed a preservation of myosin structure in and during hibernation, whilst in and , changes in myosin metabolic states during torpor unexpectedly led to higher levels in energy expenditure of type II, fast-twitch muscle fibers at ambient lab temperatures (20 °C). Upon repeating loaded Mant-ATP chase experiments at 8 °C (near the body temperature of torpid animals), we found that myosin ATP consumption in type II muscle fibers was reduced by 77-107% during torpor compared to active periods. Additionally, we observed Myh2 hyper-phosphorylation during torpor in , which was predicted to stabilize the myosin molecule. This may act as a potential molecular mechanism mitigating myosin-associated increases in skeletal muscle energy expenditure during periods of torpor in response to cold exposure. Altogether, we demonstrate that resting myosin is altered in hibernating mammals, contributing to significant changes to the ATP consumption of skeletal muscle. Additionally, we observe that it is further altered in response to cold exposure and highlight myosin as a potentially contributor to skeletal muscle non-shivering thermogenesis.
Topics: Animals; Hibernation; Energy Metabolism; Skeletal Muscle Myosins; Ursidae; Adenosine Triphosphate; Muscle, Skeletal; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Proteomics
PubMed: 38752835
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.94616 -
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity Jul 2024Chronic pain is a heavily debilitating condition and a huge socio-economic burden, with no efficient treatment. Over the past decade, the gut microbiota has emerged as...
Chronic pain is a heavily debilitating condition and a huge socio-economic burden, with no efficient treatment. Over the past decade, the gut microbiota has emerged as an important regulator of nervous system's health and disease states. Yet, its contribution to the pathogenesis of chronic somatic pain remains poorly documented. Here, we report that male but not female mice lacking Myosin1a (KO) raised under single genotype housing conditions (KO-SGH) are predisposed to develop chronic pain in response to a peripheral tissue injury. We further underscore the potential of MYO1A loss-of-function to alter the composition of the gut microbiota and uncover a functional connection between the vulnerability to chronic pain and the dysbiotic gut microbiota of KO-SGH males. As such, parental antibiotic treatment modifies gut microbiota composition and completely rescues the injury-induced pain chronicity in male KO-SGH offspring. Furthermore, in KO-SGH males, this dysbiosis is accompanied by a transcriptomic activation signature in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) macrophage compartment, in response to tissue injury. We identify CD206CD163 and CD206CD163 as the main subsets of DRG resident macrophages and show that both are long-lived and self-maintained and exhibit the capacity to monitor the vasculature. Consistently, in vivo depletion of DRG macrophages rescues KO-SGH males from injury-induced chronic pain underscoring a deleterious role for DRG macrophages in a Myo1a-loss-of function context. Together, our findings reveal gene-sex-microbiota interactions in determining the predisposition to injury-induced chronic pain and point-out DRG macrophages as potential effector cells.
Topics: Animals; Female; Male; Mice; Chronic Pain; Dysbiosis; Ganglia, Spinal; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Macrophages; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Myosin Type I
PubMed: 38710336
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.05.010 -
Scientific Reports May 2024Within the bloodstream, monocytes must traverse the microvasculature to prevent leukostasis, which is the entrapment of monocytes within the confines of the...
Within the bloodstream, monocytes must traverse the microvasculature to prevent leukostasis, which is the entrapment of monocytes within the confines of the microvasculature. Using the model cell line, THP-1, and VCAM-1 coated channels to simulate the microvasculature surface, we demonstrate that monocytes predominantly adopt an amoeboid phenotype, which is characterized by the formation of blebs. As opposed to cortical actin flow in leader blebs, cell movement is correlated with myosin contraction at the cell rear. It was previously documented that cofilin-1 promotes cortical actin turnover at leader bleb necks in melanoma cells. In monocytes, our data suggest that cofilin-1 promotes the local upregulation of myosin contractility through actin cytoskeleton remodeling. In support of this concept, cofilin-1 is found to localize to a single cell edge. Moreover, the widespread upregulation of myosin contractility was found to inhibit migration. Thus, monocytes within the microvasculature may avoid entrapment by adopting an amoeboid mode of migration.
Topics: Humans; Actin Cytoskeleton; Actins; Cell Movement; Cofilin 1; Monocytes; Myosins; THP-1 Cells; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1
PubMed: 38702365
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60971-1 -
PloS One 2024Myogenesis is regulated mainly by transcription factors known as Myogenic Regulatory Factors (MRFs), and the transcription is affected by epigenetic modifications....
Myogenesis is regulated mainly by transcription factors known as Myogenic Regulatory Factors (MRFs), and the transcription is affected by epigenetic modifications. However, the epigenetic regulation of myogenesis is poorly understood. Here, we focused on the epigenomic modification enzyme, PHF2, which demethylates histone 3 lysine 9 dimethyl (H3K9me2) during myogenesis. Phf2 mRNA was expressed during myogenesis, and PHF2 was localized in the nuclei of myoblasts and myotubes. We generated Phf2 knockout C2C12 myoblasts using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and analyzed global transcriptional changes via RNA-sequencing. Phf2 knockout (KO) cells 2 d post differentiation were subjected to RNA sequencing. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that Phf2 KO impaired the expression of the genes related to skeletal muscle fiber formation and muscle cell development. The expression levels of sarcomeric genes such as Myhs and Mybpc2 were severely reduced in Phf2 KO cells at 7 d post differentiation, and H3K9me2 modification of Mybpc2, Mef2c and Myh7 was increased in Phf2 KO cells at 4 d post differentiation. These findings suggest that PHF2 regulates sarcomeric gene expression via epigenetic modification.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line; Epigenesis, Genetic; Gene Knockout Techniques; Histone Demethylases; Histones; MEF2 Transcription Factors; Muscle Development; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Myoblasts; Myosin Heavy Chains; Sarcomeres; Transcription Factors; Transcription, Genetic
PubMed: 38701072
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301690 -
Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters May 2024Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common gynecological cancers. Herein, we aimed to define the role of specific myosin family members in EC because this protein...
BACKGROUND
Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common gynecological cancers. Herein, we aimed to define the role of specific myosin family members in EC because this protein family is involved in the progression of various cancers.
METHODS
Bioinformatics analyses were performed to reveal EC patients' prognosis-associated genes in patients with EC. Furthermore, colony formation, immunofluorescence, cell counting kit 8, wound healing, and transwell assays as well as coimmunoprecipitation, cycloheximide chase, luciferase reporter, and cellular thermal shift assays were performed to functionally and mechanistically analyze human EC samples, cell lines, and a mouse model, respectively.
RESULTS
Machine learning techniques identified MYH14, a member of the myosin family, as the prognosis-associated gene in patients with EC. Furthermore, bioinformatics analyses based on public databases showed that MYH14 was associated with EC chemoresistance. Moreover, immunohistochemistry validated MYH14 upregulation in EC cases compared with that in normal controls and confirmed that MYH14 was an independent and unfavorable prognostic indicator of EC. MYH14 impaired cell sensitivity to carboplatin, paclitaxel, and progesterone, and increased cell proliferation and metastasis in EC. The mechanistic study showed that MYH14 interacted with MYH9 and impaired GSK3β-mediated β-catenin ubiquitination and degradation, thus facilitating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Sesamolin, a natural compound extracted from Sesamum indicum (L.), directly targeted MYH14 and attenuated EC progression. Additionally, the compound disrupted the interplay between MYH14 and MYH9 and repressed MYH9-regulated Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The in vivo study further verified sesamolin as a therapeutic drug without side effects.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein, we identified that EC prognosis-associated MYH14 was independently responsible for poor overall survival time of patients, and it augmented EC progression by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Targeting MYH14 by sesamolin, a cytotoxicity-based approach, can be applied synergistically with chemotherapy and endocrine therapy to eventually mitigate EC development. This study emphasizes MYH14 as a potential target and sesamolin as a valuable natural drug for EC therapy.
Topics: Humans; Female; Endometrial Neoplasms; Myosin Heavy Chains; Animals; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; Cell Line, Tumor; beta Catenin; Mice; Cell Proliferation; Mice, Nude; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Signal Transduction; Prognosis; Antineoplastic Agents; Middle Aged; Naphthoquinones
PubMed: 38698330
DOI: 10.1186/s11658-024-00583-9