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Biomedical subjects

G A Klug

Publications and source records attributed to G A Klug.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Chronic low frequency stimulation reduces myosin phosphorylation in rabbit fast twitch muscle.

The effect of 1-12 days of electrical stimulation (10 Hz) on the ability to phosphorylate the P-light chain of myosin was studied in rabbit tibialis anterior muscle. Myosin phosphorylation was induced by exposure of the stimulated muscle and that of the contralateral leg to a single conditioning stimulus train (5 Hz) for 25 s via the motor nerve. Isometric tension was measured as were the myosin light chain composition and the activities of the enzymes responsible for phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. A computer simulation of the potential effect of a stimulation-induced disruption of Ca2+ metabolism on phosphorylation was also performed. Chronic stimulation for as little as 1 day eliminated light chain phosphorylation and reduced the myosin light chain kinase activity by approximately 36%. Conversely, phosphatase activity and light chain composition were unaffected. The model demonstrated that a slight depression in the magnitude of the Ca2+ transient could potentially attenuate phosphorylation. The data suggest that phosphorylation of myosin is extremely sensitive to prolonged muscle activity. Furthermore, it appears more likely that this sensitivity is related to regulation of intracellular free Ca2+ than to the other elements of the calmodulin-dependent system for myosin phosphorylation examined.

Animals

Muscle fatigue: conduction or mechanical failure?

It is well documented that repeated voluntary activity or electrical stimulation of skeletal muscle results in a decline in force production or power output. However, the precise physiological causes of "muscle fatigue" are not yet well understood. It is conceivable that the mechanism(s) may lie either in the conduction of action potentials in the central and peripheral nervous systems or in the transformation of the electrical event into mechanical force production by the muscle itself. In fact, none of the components of the electrical pathway from generation of impulses in the brain to their conduction over the neuron and the excitable membranes of the muscle can as yet be ruled out as potential contributors to the fatigue process. Relative to that on conduction failure, more information exists concerning the possibility that a defect in the excitation contraction coupling process in skeletal muscle, e.g., intracellular acidosis, inadequate supply of energy for contraction, or a disruption in Ca2+ homeostasis may also be significant in compromising force production following sustained activity. Despite this, the amount of conflicting data derived from these experiments has hindered the resolution of this question. In the future more attention must be given to such issues as the type of activity used to elicit fatigue and the fiber composition of the muscles studied. This is imperative as these factors clearly impact the nature of correlations between the biochemical and physiological events in muscle that are required to support prospective fatigue mechanisms.

Animals

Prolonged exercise induces structural changes in SR Ca(2+)-ATPase of rat muscle.

Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) isolated from the deep red portion of the gastrocnemius muscle of Sprague-Dawley rats after a single bout of prolonged exercise was shown to have depressed Ca(2+)-stimulated Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity over a temperature range of 15 to 42.5 degrees C when compared to SR obtained from control muscle. Inclusion of the calcium ionophore, A23187, failed to restore the depressed ATPase activity from SR of exercised muscle to control values, but it did normalize the stimulatory effect of temperature on ATPase activity. This depression was also manifested as an increased activation energy when the data were converted to an Arrhenius plot. SR vesicles from both groups showed no differences or discontinuities in plots of steady-state fluorescence anisotropy. When the binding characteristics of the fluorescent probe, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), were analyzed, SR vesicles prepared from exercised muscle displayed a 40% reduction in binding capacity with no apparent change in Kd. These findings support the conclusion that a single bout of exercise induces a structural change in the Ca(2+)-ATPase protein of rat red gastrocnemius muscle that is not a direct result of gross lipid alterations or increased muscle temperature.

Animals

The relationship between plasma free fatty acids and liver mitochondrial function in vivo.

P/O ratio, state 3 and 4 respiration rates, and acceptor control index (ACI) were assessed in rat liver mitochondria following an overnight fast and single bout of treadmill exercise of 30-180 min. P/O was unaffected by fasting and 30 min of exercise; however, ACI was reduced because of an increase in state 4 respiration. Fasting, followed by running for 1 h or more decreased P/O approx. 40% and ACI by 50%, an effect that could be attributed to a reduction in state 3 respiration. The decrease in P/O was reversed 15 min after the cessation of exercise, whereas ACI remained depressed. All these functional alterations were mimicked by incubation of isolated mitochondria with palmitate and reversed by washing them with albumin. No direct correlation between plasma free fatty acids and the alterations in mitochondrial respiration was apparent. These data demonstrate that the decrease in the normal coupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in liver mitochondria produced by fasting/exercise is reversed rapidly in vivo. Furthermore, it is apparent that, if fatty acids act as a regulatory agent under these conditions, they do not do so solely on the basis of their plasma concentration.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Effects of exercise of varying duration on sarcoplasmic reticulum function.

Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ uptake and Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activity were examined in muscle homogenates and the purified SR fraction of the superficial and deep fibers of the gastrocnemius and vastus muscles of the rat after treadmill runs of 20 or 45 min or to exhaustion (avg time to exhaustion 140 min). Vesicle intactness and cross-contamination of isolated SR were estimated using a calcium ionophore and mitochondrial and sarcolemmal marker enzymes, respectively. Present findings confirm previously reported fiber-type specific depression in the initial rate and maximum capacity of Ca2+ uptake and altered ATPase activity after exercise. Depression of the Ca2+-stimulated ATPase activity of the enzyme was evident after greater than or equal to 20 min of exercise in SR isolated from the deep fibers of these muscles. The lowered ATPase activity was followed by a depression in the initial rate of Ca2+ uptake in both muscle homogenates and isolated SR fractions after greater than or equal to 45 min of exercise. Maximum Ca2+ uptake capacity was lower in isolated SR only after exhaustive exercise. Ca2+ uptake and Ca2+-sensitive ATPase activity were not affected at any duration of exercise in SR isolated from superficial fibers of these muscles; however, the Mg2+-dependent ATPase activity was increased after 45 min and exhaustive exercise bouts. The alterations in SR function could not be attributed to disrupted vesicles or differential contamination in the SR from exercise groups and were reinforced by similar changes in Ca2+ uptake in crude muscle homogenates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Factors influencing the development and maintenance of aerobic fitness: lessons applicable to the fibrositis syndrome.

Exercise may have therapeutic benefits in the treatment of fibrositis/fibromyalgia. However, little is known concerning what type of exercise best serves patients with this condition, their capacity for exercise or the identity of the physiological or psychological alterations elicited by increased activity that might be responsible for the positive effects. We discuss these issues from the perspective of the classical responses reported in healthy subjects. In addition, since the benefits of exercise programs are dependent upon continual participation. strategies for initiating activity and maximizing compliance are discussed.

Adaptation, Physiological

Relationship between parvalbumin content and the speed of relaxation in chronically stimulated rabbit fast-twitch muscle.

The time courses of changes in parvalbumin (PA) content, isometric twitch tension, and half-relaxation time (1/2 RT) were studied in rabbit tibialis anterior muscle following chronic 10 Hz nerve stimulation of 1-21 days. Up to 5 days stimulation had no effect on PA content, but it induced a slight (10-15%) increase in the 1/2 RT. This change occurred together with the previously observed 50% decrease in Ca2+-uptake by the SR (Leberer et al. 1987). While prolonged stimulation produced no further decrease in the Ca2+-uptake by the SR, PA content declined after 5 days of stimulation. The reduction in PA content was accompanied by a progressive lengthening of the 1/2 RT. However, the increase in 1/2 RT was particularly pronounced after PA had fallen below 50% of its normal value. A 90% reduction in PA coincided with a 60% increase in the 1/2 RT. By this time the staircase phenomenon, normally observed in fast-twitch muscle, was completely abolished. Although the changes in PA content and 1/2 RT were not linearly related, these results suggest that PA plays an important role in the relaxation process of mammalian fast-twitch muscle.

Animals

Decrease in myosin light chain kinase activity of rabbit fast muscle by chronic stimulation.

Analysis of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) activity in tibialis anterior muscles of the rabbit revealed that chronic stimulation at a frequency of 10 Hz for 24 h per day reduced the enzyme activity in a time-dependent manner. Since fast twitch muscle contains significantly more myosin light chain kinase than slow twitch muscle, the observed reductions are consistent with the type of fast-to-slow transformation observed for other type-specific muscle characteristics. The present data also indicate that the stimulation-induced decrease in MLCK activity precedes the fast-to-slow conversion of the myosin molecule as judged by pyrophosphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Animals