Sarco(Endo)Plasmic Reticulum Ca2+ Pump and Metabolic Enzyme Expression in Rabbit Fast‐type and Slow‐type Denervated Skeletal Muscles

Recent reports by d'Albis et al. have shown that denervation of 8-day-old rabbit fast-twitch muscle (gastrocnemius) leads to the transformation of the muscle towards a slow phenotype but the changes towards slow-type myosin isoforms and contractile properties of the muscle were temporally uncoordinated. We analysed the time course of the effects of denervation of the gastrocnemius on the expression of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump isoforms (SERCA) and on the metabolic state of the muscle. Northern-blot analysis showed a rapid loss of the fast Ca2+ pump isoform (SERCA 1) mRNA from the denervated gastrocnemius which became of the oxidative type. The changes observed were complete as early as 35 days post-natal, i.e at the time when changes in contractile properties were previously observed. Denervation of the slow-twitch soleus led to a 50% decrease in the level of the slow Ca2+ pump isoform (SERCA 2) mRNA and was without effect on the metabolic state of the muscle. These findings extend previous results suggesting that in rabbit, continuous innervation is required for differentiation of fast-twitch muscles but is not an absolute requirement for differentiation of the slow-twitch muscle.