Temporal differences in the induction of dihydropyridine receptor subunits and ryanodine receptors during skeletal muscle development.
The expression of the dihydropyridine (DHP) and ryanodine receptors in skeletal muscle was investigated during development of rat myotubes in culture as well as during embryonic and postnatal development in the rat. Through the use of specific gene probes, antibodies and radioligand binding ([3H]PN 200-110 (DHP) and [3H]ryanodine), we identified a significant difference between the time course of appearance of the DHP receptor and the ryanodine receptor during muscle development. Although the number of DHP receptors dramatically increased at early stages of development (up to day 7 in tissue culture and day 20 postnatal), increase in the ryanodine receptor density occurred comparatively later at day 10 in culture and day 30 postnatal. This process was associated with parallel changes in the expression of the mRNA encoding the alpha 1, alpha 2, and beta subunits of the DHP receptor and the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor. The genes encoding the DHP receptor subunits were activated in a temporally distinct transcript appeared and plateaued first, at the onset of myoblast fusion and day 16 embryonic. This was followed closely by an increase in expression of the mRNAs for alpha 1 and alpha 2 subunits which coincided with the sharp rise in the DHP receptor density. Ryanodine receptor gene expression was induced well after the DHP receptor gene expression had plateaued. The temporal appearance of the polypeptides comprising the DHP receptor subunits and the ryanodine receptor paralleled the induction of the genes encoding these receptors. These results imply that gene expression is a major mechanism that contributes to the regulation of DHP and ryanodine receptor numbers during muscle development. The temporal differences in the induction of the genes encoding the DHP receptor subunits and the ryanodine receptor suggests that these genes are under the control of distinct endogenous factors. These differences in expression of the DHP receptor and the ryanodine receptor may contribute to the different mechanisms of excitation-contraction coupling in immature versus adult skeletal muscle.