Functionally significant allelic variation in myosin light chain composition in a tropical cichlid

Identification of carbonylated protein in frozen rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets and development of protein oxidation during frozen storage

Frozen storage of fish is known to enhance lipid oxidation, resulting in the development of an unpleasant rancid taste and odor. Frozen storage of fish is also known to reduce protein solubility, and proteins are expected to be oxidatively modified; however, these oxidative mechanisms are poorly understood. Generally, protein oxidation leads to a wide range of modifications; the most studied being the formation of carbonyl groups. The present work shows, by UV spectrophometric determination of protein carbonyl groups in rainbow trout muscle, that storage at -20 degrees C resulted in a 2-fold increase in protein carbonylation compared to storage at -30 or -80 degrees C. Furthermore, low-salt-soluble proteins in fish that were either fresh or stored for 3 years at -80 degrees C were found to have similar extents of carbonylation. Proteome analysis and two-dimensional immunoblotting of rainbow trout low-salt- and high-salt-soluble proteins gave a detailed description of the protein carbonylation pattern. Several carbonylated proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS, such as nucleoside diphosphate kinase, adenylate kinase, pyruvate kinase, actin, creatine kinase, tropomyosin, myosin light chains 1 and 2, and myosin heavy chain. Furthermore, the results showed a reduced solubility of nucleoside diphosphate kinase in fish stored at -20 degrees C for 2 years compared to fish stored at -80 degrees C. It was observed that low-abundant proteins could be relatively more carbonylated than high-abundant proteins, thereby indicating that some proteins are more susceptible to oxidation than others, due to either their cellular localization, amino acid sequence, or biochemical function.

Influence of myosin isoforms on contractile properties of intact muscle fibers from Rana pipiens

The myosin heavy chain (MHC) and myosin light chain (MLC) isoforms in skeletal muscle of Rana pipiens have been well characterized. We measured the force-velocity (F-V) properties of single intact fast-twitch fibers from R. pipiens that contained MHC types 1 or 2 (MHC1 or MHC2) or coexpressed MHC1 and MHC2 isoforms. Velocities were measured between two surface markers that spanned most of the fiber length. MHC and MLC isoform content was quantified after mechanics analysis by SDS-PAGE. Maximal shortening velocity (V(max)) and velocity at half-maximal tension (V(P 50)) increased with percentage of MHC1 (%MHC1). Maximal specific tension (P(o)/CSA, where P(o) is isometric tension and CSA is fiber cross-sectional area) and maximal mechanical power (W(max)) also increased with %MHC1. MHC concentration was not significantly correlated with %MHC1, indicating that the influence of %MHC1 on P(o)/CSA and W(max) was due to intrinsic differences between MHC isoforms and not to concentration. The MLC3-to-MLC1 ratio was not significantly correlated with V(max), V(P 50), P(o)/CSA, or W(max). These data demonstrate the powerful relationship between MHC isoforms and F-V properties of the two most common R. pipiens fiber types.

Identification of myosin light chains in Rana pipiens skeletal muscle and their expression patterns along single fibres

Isoforms of myosin heavy chain (MHC) and myosin light chain (MLC) influence contractile kinetics of skeletal muscle. We previously showed that the four major skeletal muscle fibre types in Rana pipiens (type 1, type 2, type 3 and tonic; amphibian nomenclature) contain four unique MHC isoforms. In the present study we defined the MLCs expressed in each of these R. pipiens fibre types. The MLC composition of single MHC-typed fibres was determined from western blots using a panel of monoclonal MLC antibodies. A total of seven MLCs were identified, including four types of MLC1, two of MLC2 and a single MLC3. Twitch fibre types (types 1, 2 and 3) expressed MLC1f and MLC2f, while tonic fibres contained a unique set of isoforms, MLC1Ta, MLC1Tb and MLC2T. MLC3 was expressed primarily in type 1, type 1-2 and type 2 fibres. Surprisingly, some frogs displayed a striking pattern of MLC expression where a unique isoform of MLC1 (MLC1x) was coexpressed along with the normal MLC1 isoform(s) in all fibre types. MLC1x was either expressed in all fibres of a given frog or was completely absent. The intraspecific polymorphism in MLC1 expression is likely to have a genetic basis, but is unlikely to be caused by allelic variation. The ratio of MLC3/MLC1 increased in direct proportion to the percentage of type 1 MHC, but was only weakly correlated. The variability in MLC3/MLC1 within a fibre type was extremely large. Both the MHC isoform and MLC3/MLC1 ratio varied significantly between 1 mm segments along the length of fibres. For all segments combined, MLC3/MLC1 increased with the percentage of type 1 MHC, but the correlation between segments was weaker than between fibres.