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Published as doi: 10.1096/fj.06-6474fje.
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(The FASEB Journal. 2006;20:2540.)
© 2006 FASEB

Evidence of post-transcriptional regulation in the maintenance of a partial muscle phenotype by electrogenic cells of S. macrurus

Heriberto Cuellar, Jung A. Kim and Graciela A. Unguez1

Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

1Correspondence: Department of Biology, Foster Hall, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. E-mail: gunguez{at}nmsu.edu

SPECIFIC AIMS

Electrocytes, the current-producing cells of electric organs (EOs) in electric fish, are unique in that they derive from striated muscle and they possess biochemical characteristics of both muscle and nonmuscle cells. The manifestation of a partial muscle phenotype in the protein composition of the mature EO is an intriguing problem in our current understanding of the regulation of gene expression that brings about the skeletal muscle program. Given the role that transcriptional regulation plays in the activation of the myogenic program in vertebrates, we examined the expression patterns of several genes associated with multiple functions of skeletal muscle in mature electrocytes of S. macrurus. We characterized the expression of muscle genes {alpha}-actin, {alpha}-AChR, desmin, muscle creatine kinase (MCK), myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms, titin, tropomyosin, and troponin at the transcript and protein levels.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

1. Mature electrocytes transcribe the {alpha}-actin, {alpha}-AChR, desmin, muscle creatine kinase, slow MHC, fast MHC, titin, tropomyosin, and troponin genes

2. Mature electrocytes do not retain the muscle proteins MCK, slow MHC, fast MHC, tropomyosin, and troponin

3. We identified 168 distinct transcripts and 128 cDNAs of unknown function from a random selection of EO cDNAs
This cDNA sequence data corroborated the detection of {alpha}-actin, desmin, fast-MHC, slow-MHC, MCK, and titin transcripts obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization.

CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE

We hypothesized that the EO phenotype might be coupled to changes in the expression of select muscle genes at the transcription level. However, these data underscore the contribution of gene regulatory mechanisms that may be transcriptionally independent in the maintenance of the muscle-like phenotype of EO. These data provide a resource for the generation of probes that can be used to study the changes in gene transcription that may occur during the conversion of skeletal muscle to EO in S. macrurus, as well as in other electric fish species. Identifying the molecular processes involved in maintaining a partial muscle program has significant implications in understanding the plasticity of striated muscle as it relates to tissue homeostasis and evolution of novel cell types.


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  		Figure 1. Schematic Diagram.

FOOTNOTES

To read the full text of this article, go to http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/doi/10.1096/fj.06-6474fje




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J. A. Kim, C. Laney, J. Curry, and G. A. Unguez
Expression of myogenic regulatory factors in the muscle-derived electric organ of Sternopygus macrurus
J. Exp. Biol., July 1, 2008; 211(13): 2172 - 2184.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article
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