Fas and Fas ligand interaction induces apoptosis in inflammatory myopathies: CD4+ T cells cause muscle cell injury directly in polymyositis. (1/4591)

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the involvement of the Fas/Fas ligand (Fas/FasL) system in the inflammatory myopathies. METHODS: Frozen muscle sections obtained from 7 patients with polymyositis (PM), 4 patients with dermatomyositis (DM), and 3 controls were studied by immunochemistry. Apoptosis was detected by DNA electrophoresis and in situ labeling using the TUNEL method. RESULTS: Fas was detected on muscle fibers and infiltrating mononuclear cells (MNC) in 6 PM patients and 2 DM patients. FasL was expressed mainly on CD4+ T cells and some CD8+ T cells, and on macrophages surrounding Fas-positive muscles in 4 PM patients and 1 DM patient. In 3 of the 5 patients with FasL-positive MNC, the TUNEL method showed that both invaded myonuclei and MNC underwent apoptosis. Chromosomal DNA from the muscle tissue of these patients showed ladder formation. CONCLUSION: Fas/FasL is involved in muscle cell apoptosis in at least 2 of the inflammatory myopathies, PM and DM. Although CD8+-mediated cytotoxicity is thought to be the main mechanism of muscle injury in PM, our data suggest that CD4+ T cells also directly cause muscle cell damage.  (+info)

Plectin is a linker of intermediate filaments to Z-discs in skeletal muscle fibers. (2/4591)

Plectin is a versatile linker protein which is associated with various types of cytoskeletal components and/or filaments including intermediate filaments, and its deficiency causes the disruption of myofibrils, or muscular dystrophy. To better understand the functional role of plectin in skeletal muscle fibers, we have examined the topological and structural relationships of plectin to intermediate filaments and Z-discs in rat diaphragm muscles by confocal and immunoelectron microscopy. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that plectin was colocalized with desmin at the periphery of Z-discs. This plectin localization around Z-discs was constantly maintained irrespective of the contracted or extended state of the muscle fibers, suggesting either direct or indirect association of plectin with Z-discs. Immunogold labeling in skinned muscle fibers clearly demonstrated that plectin-labeled fine threads linked desmin intermediate filaments to Z-discs and connected intermediate filaments to each other. These results indicate that through plectin threads desmin intermediate filaments form lateral linkages among adjacent Z-discs, preventing individual myofibrils from disruptive contraction and ensuring effective force generation.  (+info)

Calcitonin gene-related peptide decreases expression of acetylcholinesterase in mammalian myotubes. (3/4591)

Nerve-derived trophic factors are known to modulate expression of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in skeletal muscle fibers, yet the precise identity of these factors remains elusive. In the present study, we treated mouse C2 myotubes with calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Compared to non-treated myotubes, cell-associated AChE activity levels were decreased by approximately 60% after 48 h of treatment. A parallel reduction in AChE total protein levels was also observed as determined by Western blot analysis. The reduction in AChE activity was due to a decrease in the levels of the G1 molecular form and to an elimination of G1. By contrast, levels of secreted AChE remained unchanged following CGRP treatment. Finally, the overall decrease in AChE activity was accompanied by a reduction in AChE transcripts which could not be attributed to changes in the transcriptional rate of the ACHE gene.  (+info)

Nitric oxide inhibits cardiac energy production via inhibition of mitochondrial creatine kinase. (4/4591)

Nitric oxide biosynthesis in cardiac muscle leads to a decreased oxygen consumption and lower ATP synthesis. It is suggested that this effect of nitric oxide is mainly due to the inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme, cytochrome c oxidase. However, this work demonstrates that nitric oxide is able to inhibit soluble mitochondrial creatine kinase (CK), mitochondrial CK bound in purified mitochondria, CK in situ in skinned fibres as well as the functional activity of mitochondrial CK in situ in skinned fibres. Since mitochondrial isoenzyme is functionally coupled to oxidative phosphorylation, its inhibition also leads to decreased sensitivity of mitochondrial respiration to ADP and thus decreases ATP synthesis and oxygen consumption under physiological ADP concentrations.  (+info)

Ca2+ and cross-bridge-induced changes in troponin C in skinned skeletal muscle fibers: effects of force inhibition. (5/4591)

Changes in skeletal troponin C (sTnC) structure during thin filament activation by Ca2+ and strongly bound cross-bridge states were monitored by measuring the linear dichroism of the 5' isomer of iodoacetamidotetramethylrhodamine (5'IATR), attached to Cys98 (sTnC-5'ATR), in sTnC-5'ATR reconstituted single skinned fibers from rabbit psoas muscle. To isolate the effects of Ca2+ and cross-bridge binding on sTnC structure, maximum Ca2+-activated force was inhibited with 0.5 mM AlF4- or with 30 mM 2,3 butanedione-monoxime (BDM) during measurements of the Ca2+ dependence of force and dichroism. Dichroism was 0.08 +/- 0.01 (+/- SEM, n = 9) in relaxing solution (pCa 9.2) and decreased to 0.004 +/- 0.002 (+/- SEM, n = 9) at pCa 4.0. Force and dichroism had similar Ca2+ sensitivities. Force inhibition with BDM caused no change in the amplitude and Ca2+ sensitivity of dichroism. Similarly, inhibition of force at pCa 4.0 with 0.5 mM AlF4- decreased force to 0.04 +/- 0.01 of maximum (+/- SEM, n = 3), and dichroism was 0.04 +/- 0.03 (+/- SEM, n = 3) of the value at pCa 9.2 and unchanged relative to the corresponding normalized value at pCa 4.0 (0.11 +/- 0.05, +/- SEM; n = 3). Inhibition of force with AlF4- also had no effect when sTnC structure was monitored by labeling with either 5-dimethylamino-1-napthalenylsulfonylaziridine (DANZ) or 4-(N-(iodoacetoxy)ethyl-N-methyl)amino-7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD). Increasing sarcomere length from 2.5 to 3.6 microm caused force (pCa 4.0) to decrease, but had no effect on dichroism. In contrast, rigor cross-bridge attachment caused dichroism at pCa 9.2 to decrease to 0.56 +/- 0.03 (+/- SEM, n = 5) of the value at pCa 9. 2, and force was 0.51 +/- 0.04 (+/- SEM, n = 6) of pCa 4.0 control. At pCa 4.0 in rigor, dichroism decreased further to 0.19 +/- 0.03 (+/- SEM, n = 6), slightly above the pCa 4.0 control level; force was 0.66 +/- 0.04 of pCa 4.0 control. These results indicate that cross-bridge binding in the rigor state alters sTnC structure, whereas cycling cross-bridges have little influence at either submaximum or maximum activating [Ca2+].  (+info)

The effect of thin filament activation on the attachment of weak binding cross-bridges: A two-dimensional x-ray diffraction study on single muscle fibers. (6/4591)

To study possible structural changes in weak cross-bridge attachment to actin upon activation of the thin filament, two-dimensional (2D) x-ray diffraction patterns of skinned fibers from rabbit psoas muscle were recorded at low and high calcium concentration in the presence of saturating concentrations of MgATPgammaS, a nucleotide analog for weak binding states. We also studied 2D x-ray diffraction patterns recorded under relaxing conditions at an ionic strength above and below 50 mM, because it had been proposed from solution studies that reducing ionic strength below 50 mM also induces activation of the thin filament. For this project a novel preparation had to be established that allows recording of 2D x-ray diffraction patterns from single muscle fibers instead of natural fiber bundles. This was required to minimize substrate depletion or product accumulation within the fibers. When the calcium concentration was raised, the diffraction patterns recorded with MgATPgammaS revealed small changes in meridional reflections and layer line intensities that could be attributed in part to the effects of calcium binding to the thin filament (increase in I380, decrease in first actin layer line intensity, increase in I59) and in part to small structural changes of weakly attached cross-bridges (e.g., increase in I143 and I72). Calcium-induced small-scale structural rearrangements of cross-bridges weakly attached to actin in the presence of MgATPgammaS are consistent with our previous observation of reduced rate constants for attachment and detachment of cross-bridges with MgATPgammaS at high calcium. Yet, no evidence was found that weakly attached cross-bridges change their mode of attachment toward a stereospecific conformation when the actin filament is activated by adding calcium. Similarly, reducing ionic strength to less than 50 mM does not induce a transition from nonstereospecific to stereospecific attachment.  (+info)

Model-independent analysis of the orientation of fluorescent probes with restricted mobility in muscle fibers. (7/4591)

The orientation of proteins in ordered biological samples can be investigated using steady-state polarized fluorescence from probes conjugated to the protein. A general limitation of this approach is that the probes typically exhibit rapid orientational motion ("wobble") with respect to the protein backbone. Here we present a method for characterizing the extent of this wobble and for removing its effects from the available information about the static orientational distribution of the probes. The analysis depends on four assumptions: 1) the probe wobble is fast compared with the nanosecond time scale of its excited-state decay; 2) the orientational distributions of the absorption and emission transition dipole moments are cylindrically symmetrical about a common axis c fixed in the protein; 3) protein motions are negligible during the excited-state decay; 4) the distribution of c is cylindrically symmetrical about the director of the experimental sample. In a muscle fiber, the director is the fiber axis, F. All of the information on the orientational order of the probe that is available from measurements of linearly polarized fluorescence is contained in five independent polarized fluorescence intensities measured with excitation and emission polarizers parallel or perpendicular to F and with the propagation axis of the detected fluorescence parallel or perpendicular to that of the excitation. The analysis then yields the average second-rank and fourth-rank order parameters ( and ) of the angular distribution of c relative to F, and and , the average second-rank order parameters of the angular distribution for wobble of the absorption and emission transition dipole moments relative to c. The method can also be applied to other cylindrically ordered systems such as oriented lipid bilayer membranes and to processes slower than fluorescence that may be observed using longer-lived optically excited states.  (+info)

A repetitive mode of activation of discrete Ca2+ release events (Ca2+ sparks) in frog skeletal muscle fibres. (8/4591)

1. Ca2+ release events (Ca2+ 'sparks'), which are believed to arise from the opening of a sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release channel or a small cluster of such channels that act as a release unit, have been measured in single, frog (Rana pipiens) skeletal muscle fibres. 2. Under conditions of extremely low rates of occurrence of Ca2+ sparks we observed, within individual identified triads, repetitive Ca2+ release events which occurred at a frequency more than 100-fold greater than the prevailing average event rate. Repetitive sparks were recorded during voltage-clamp test depolarizations after a brief (0.3-2 s) repriming interval in fibres held at 0 mV and in chronically depolarized, 'notched' fibres. 3. These repetitive events are likely to arise from the re-opening of the same SR Ca2+ release channel or release unit operating in a repetitive gating mode ('rep-mode'), rather than from the random activation of multiple, independent channels or release units within a triad. A train of rep-mode events thus represents a series of Ca2+ sparks arising from a single location within the fibre. Rep-mode events are activated among different triads in a random manner after brief repriming. The frequency of repetitive events among all identified events during voltage-clamp depolarization to 0 mV after brief repriming was 3.9 +/- 1.3 %. The occurrence of repetitive events was not related to exposure of the fibre to laser illumination. 4. The events observed within a rep-mode train exhibited a relatively uniform amplitude. Analysis of intervals between identified events in triads exhibiting rep-mode trains indicated similar variations of fluorescence as in neighbouring, quiescent triads, suggesting there was not a significant number of small, unidentified events at the triads exhibiting rep-mode activity. 5. The distribution of rep-mode interspark intervals exhibited a paucity of events at short intervals, consistent with the need for recovery from inactivation before activation of the next event in a repetitive train. The mean interspark interval of repetitive sparks during voltage-clamp depolarizations was 88 +/- 5 ms, and was independent of membrane potential. 6. The individual Ca2+ sparks within a rep-mode train were similar in average amplitude and spatiotemporal extent to singly occurring sparks, suggesting a common mechanism for termination of the channel opening(s) underlying both types of events. The average properties of the sparks did not vary during a train. The relative amplitude of a spark within a rep-mode was not correlated with its rise time. 7. Repetitive Ca2+ release events represent a mode of gating of SR Ca2+ release channels which may be significant during long depolarizations and which may be influenced by the biochemical state of the SR ryanodine receptor Ca2+ release channels.  (+info)