We present evidence for an unexplored inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-mediated Ca2+ signaling pathway in skeletal muscle. RT-PCR methods confirm expression of all three known isotypes of the inositol trisphosphate receptor in cultured rodent muscle. Confocal microscopy of cultured mouse muscle, doubly labeled for inositol receptor type 1 and proteins of known distribution, reveals that the receptors are localized to the I band of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and this staining is continuous with staining of the nuclear envelope region. These results suggest that the receptors are positioned to mediate a slowly propagating Ca2+ wave that follows the fast Ca2+ transient upon K+ depolarization. This slow wave, imaged using fluo-3, resulted in an increase in nucleoplasmic Ca2+ lasting tens of seconds, but not contraction; the slow wave was blocked by both the inositol trisphosphate receptor inhibitor 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate and the phospholipase C inhibitor U-73122. To test the hypothesis that these slow Ca2+ signals are involved in signal cascades leading to regulation of gene expression, we assayed for early effects of K+ depolarization on mitogen-activated protein kinases, specifically extracellular-signal related kinases 1 and 2 and the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB). Within 30-60 seconds following depolarization, phosphorylation of both the kinases and CREB was evident and could be inhibited by 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate. These results suggest a signaling system mediated by Ca2+ and inositol trisphosphate that could regulate gene expression in muscle cells.
Insulin‐regulated GLUT4 traffic has been widely explored, but the role of calcium and ROS signaling in this process is poorly understood. We studied insulin‐induced GLUT4 traffic in GLUT4myc skeletal muscle cells. Insulin‐induced exofacial exposure of myc epitope, glucose uptake and Akt activation were independent of extracellular calcium. The intracellular calcium chelator BAPTA‐AM inhibited Akt, p70S6K and ERK1 activation but not p‐ERK2. p‐ERK1/2 was inhibited by 2‐APB, an IP 3 R inhibitor. Cytosol directed parvalbumin reduced insulin‐dependent exposure of myc. Moreover, ryanodine and 2‐ APB partly inhibited myc exposure with an additive effect. The calcium ionophore ionomycin induced an increase in extracellular exposure of myc and was additive to insulin. In myotubes maintained in calcium‐free media, the effect of insulin was totally inhibited by ionomycin. Insulin increased H 2 O 2 production measured with the cytosolic molecular sensor HyPer which was inhibited by NAC. p47 subunit of NADP(H)ox labeled differentiated myotubes. Both antioxidant agents, NAC and trolox partly reduced the externalization of myc as did the NADP(H)ox inhibitor apocynin and overexpression of catalase. These data suggest that insulin induces an increase in NADP(H)ox‐dependent H 2 O 2 production and RyR/IP 3 R calcium channels activation to foster GLUT4 translocation. FONDAP 15010006, FONDECYT 3110170
Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) receptors (IP(3)Rs) drive calcium signals involved in skeletal muscle excitation-transcription coupling and plasticity; IP(3)R subtype distribution and downstream events evoked by their activation have not been studied in human muscle nor has their possible alteration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We studied the expression and localization of IP(3)R subtypes in normal and DMD human muscle and in normal (RCMH) and dystrophic (RCDMD) human muscle cell lines. In normal muscle, both type 1 IP(3)Rs (IP(3)R1) and type 2 IP(3)Rs (IP(3)R2) show a higher expression in type II fibers, whereas type 3 IP(3)Rs (IP(3)R3) show uniform distribution. In DMD biopsies, all fibers display a homogeneous IP(3)R2 label, whereas 24 +/- 7% of type II fibers have lost the IP(3)R1 label. RCDMD cells show 5-fold overexpression of IP(3)R2 and down-regulation of IP(3)R3 compared with RCMH cells. A tetanic stimulus induces IP(3)-dependent slow Ca(2+) transients significantly larger and faster in RCDMD cells than in RCMH cells as well as significant ERK1/2 phosphorylation in normal but not in dystrophic cells. Excitation-driven gene expression was different among cell lines; 44 common genes were repressed in RCMH cells and expressed in RCDMD cells or vice versa. IP(3)-dependent Ca(2+) release may play a significant role in DMD pathophysiology.
Exercise produces oxidants from a variety of intracellular sources, including NADPH oxidases (NOX) and mitochondria. Exercise-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) are beneficial, and the amount and location of these ROS is important to avoid muscle damage associated with oxidative stress. We discuss here some of the evidence that involves ROS production associated with skeletal muscle contraction and the potential oxidative stress associated with muscle contraction. We also discuss the potential role of H2O2 produced after NOX activation in the regulation of glucose transport in skeletal muscle. Finally, we propose a model based on evidence for the role of different populations of mitochondria in skeletal muscle in the regulation of ATP production upon exercise. The subsarcolemmal population of mitochondria has the enzymatic and metabolic components to establish a high mitochondrial membrane potential when fissioned at rest but lacks the capacity to produce ATP. Calcium entry into the mitochondria will further increase the metabolic input. Upon exercise, subsarcolemmal mitochondria will fuse to intermyofibrillar mitochondria and will transfer the mitochondria membrane potential to them. These mitochondria are rich in ATP synthase and will subsequentially produce the ATP needed for muscle contraction in long-term exercise. These events will optimize energy use and minimize mitochondria ROS production.
Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of motoneurons (MNs), and despite progress, there is no effective treatment. A large body of evidence shows that astrocytes expressing ALS-linked mutant proteins cause non-cell autonomous toxicity of MNs. Although MNs innervate muscle fibers and ALS is characterized by the early disruption of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and axon degeneration, there are controversies about whether muscle contributes to non-cell-autonomous toxicity to MNs. In this study, we generated primary skeletal myotubes from myoblasts derived from ALS mice expressing human mutant SOD1 G93A (termed hereafter mutSOD1). Characterization revealed that mutSOD1 skeletal myotubes display intrinsic phenotypic and functional differences compared to control myotubes generated from non-transgenic (NTg) littermates. Next, we analyzed whether ALS myotubes exert non-cell-autonomous toxicity to MNs. We report that conditioned media from mutSOD1 myotubes (mutSOD1-MCM), but not from control myotubes (NTg-MCM), induced robust death of primary MNs in mixed spinal cord cultures and compartmentalized microfluidic chambers. Our study further revealed that applying mutSOD1-MCM to the MN axonal side in microfluidic devices rapidly reduces mitochondrial axonal transport while increasing Ca2 + transients and reactive oxygen species (i.e., H 2 O 2 ). These results indicate that soluble factor(s) released by mutSOD1 myotubes cause MN axonopathy that leads to lethal pathogenic changes.
Increasing evidence suggests that nongenomic effects of testosterone and anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) operate concertedly with genomic effects. Classically, these responses have been viewed as separate and independent processes, primarily because nongenomic responses are faster and appear to be mediated by membrane androgen receptors, whereas long-term genomic effects are mediated through cytosolic androgen receptors regulating transcriptional activity. Numerous studies have demonstrated increases in intracellular Ca2+ in response to AAS. These Ca2+ mediated responses have been seen in a diversity of cell types, including osteoblasts, platelets, skeletal muscle cells, cardiac myocytes and neurons. The versatility of Ca2+ as a second messenger provides these responses with a vast number of pathophysiological implications. In cardiac cells, testosterone elicits voltage-dependent Ca2+ oscillations and IP3Rmediated Ca2+ release from internal stores, leading to activation of MAPK and mTOR signaling that promotes cardiac hypertrophy. In neurons, depending upon concentration, testosterone can provoke either physiological Ca2+ oscillations, essential for synaptic plasticity, or sustained, pathological Ca2+ transients that lead to neuronal apoptosis. We propose therefore, that Ca2+ acts as an important point of crosstalk between nongenomic and genomic AAS signaling, representing a central regulator that bridges these previously thought to be divergent responses. Keywords: Androgens, Ca2+, cardiac myocytes, heart, genomic, neurons, nongenomic, skeletal muscle cells, testosterone, Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Intracellular Calcium Signaling, Physiological Implications
Tetanic electrical stimulation induces two separate calcium signals in rat skeletal myotubes, a fast one, dependent on Cav 1.1 or dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs) and ryanodine receptors and related to contraction, and a slow signal, dependent on DHPR and inositol trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) and related to transcriptional events. We searched for slow calcium signals in adult muscle fibers using isolated adult flexor digitorum brevis fibers from 5–7-wk-old mice, loaded with fluo-3. When stimulated with trains of 0.3-ms pulses at various frequencies, cells responded with a fast calcium signal associated with muscle contraction, followed by a slower signal similar to one previously described in cultured myotubes. Nifedipine inhibited the slow signal more effectively than the fast one, suggesting a role for DHPR in its onset. The IP3R inhibitors Xestospongin B or C (5 µM) also inhibited it. The amplitude of post-tetanic calcium transients depends on both tetanus frequency and duration, having a maximum at 10–20 Hz. At this stimulation frequency, an increase of the slow isoform of troponin I mRNA was detected, while the fast isoform of this gene was inhibited. All three IP3R isoforms were present in adult muscle. IP3R-1 was differentially expressed in different types of muscle fibers, being higher in a subset of fast-type fibers. Interestingly, isolated fibers from the slow soleus muscle did not reveal the slow calcium signal induced by electrical stimulus. These results support the idea that IP3R-dependent slow calcium signals may be characteristic of distinct types of muscle fibers and may participate in the activation of specific transcriptional programs of slow and fast phenotype.
Abstract Background Vitamin C plays key roles in cellular homeostasis, functioning as a potent antioxidant and a positive regulator of cell differentiation. In skeletal muscle, the vitamin C/sodium co-transporter SVCT2 is preferentially expressed in oxidative slow fibers. SVCT2 is up-regulated during the early fusion of primary myoblasts and decreases during initial myotube growth, indicating the relevance of vitamin C uptake via SVCT2 for early skeletal muscle differentiation and fiber-type definition. However, our understanding of SVCT2 expression and function in adult skeletal muscles is still limited. Results In this study, we demonstrate that SVCT2 exhibits an intracellular distribution in chicken slow skeletal muscles, following a highly organized striated pattern. A similar distribution was observed in human muscle samples, chicken cultured myotubes, and isolated mouse myofibers. Immunohistochemical analyses, combined with biochemical cell fractionation experiments, reveal a strong co-localization of SVCT2 with intracellular detergent-soluble membrane fractions at the central sarcomeric M-band, where it co-solubilizes with sarcoplasmic reticulum proteins. Remarkably, electrical stimulation of cultured myofibers induces the redistribution of SVCT2 into a vesicular pattern. Conclusions Our results provide novel insights into the dynamic roles of SVCT2 in different intracellular compartments in response to functional demands.
Cells have developed a variety of mechanisms to keep free calcium ion concentrations at very low levels in the cytosol. These mechanisms allow transient increases in cell calcium concentrations to be used as signals to trigger a variety of cellular processes, gene expression being one of them. Skeletal muscle relies on nerve activity both for contraction and also for the expression of genes related to pathways that include survival and the plastic changes required for adaptation to exercise. A particular pathway that involves Cav1.1 as a voltage sensor for nerve activity, pannexin-1 channels to release ATP to the extracellular milieu, purinergic P2Y receptors to link the signal via G protein to PI3 kinase and phospholipase C, will finally give rise to slow, long-lasting calcium transients in the nuclear region that can be linked to either expression or repression of a variety of genes. This mechanism appears to be the basis of fast to slow muscle fiber transition.