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Myosin isoforms and fibre types in limb muscles of Australian marsupials: adaptations to hopping and non-hopping locomotion

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Abstract

Using immunohistochemistry and SDS-PAGE, we studied the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) composition and fibre type distribution of hindlimb muscles of hopping and non-hopping Australian marsupials. We showed that hindlimb muscles of a bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus, order Peramelomorphia) and a small macropodoid, the brushtail bettong (Bettongia penicillata) expressed four MyHCs, slow, 2a, 2x and 2b, and had the corresponding fibre types as other macropods reported earlier. The fastest and most powerful 2b fibres predominated in most bettong hindlimb muscles, but were absent in the gastrocnemius and the flexor digitorum profundus, which are involved in elastic strain energy saving during hopping. The gastrocnemius of four large macropodids also showed little or no 2b MyHC, whereas this isoform was abundant in their tibialis anterior, which is not involved in elastic energy saving. In contrast, 2b MyHC predominated in the gastrocnemius of four non-hopping marsupials. These results suggest that absence of 2b fibres may be a general feature of macropodoid muscles involved in elastic energy saving. Large eutherians except llamas and pigs also have no 2b fibres. We hypothesize that 2x and 2a fibres perform better than 2b fibres in the storage and recovery of kinetic energy during locomotion in both marsupials and eutherians.

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Abbreviations

Add:

Adductor magnus

Bicep:

Biceps femoris

Caud:

Caudofemoralis

Cocc:

Coccygeus

Edl:

Extensor digitorum longus

Fdp:

Flexor digitorum profundus

Gas:

Gastrocnemius

mAbs:

Monoclonal antibodies

MyHC:

Myosin heavy chain

Sem:

Semitendinosus

Sol:

Soleus

Ta:

Tibialis anterior

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. WWHZ is a recipient of the Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Scholarship of the University of Sydney. We thank Prof. Terry Dawson and Dr Koa Webster of the University of NSW, Dr Kerry Withers of the University of Southern Queensland, Dr Stephen MacLeod of Macquarie University-Sydney, Dr Peter Runham of the University of Western Australia, and David Blyde of the Western Plains Zoo, NSW, for providing tissue samples. The experiments were done with the approval of the Animal Ethics Review Committee of the University of Sydney and comply with the current laws governing animal experimentation in Australia.

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  1. Discipline of Physiology and the Bosch Institute, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney, Bldg F13, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Wendy W. H. Zhong, Christine A. Lucas & Joseph F. Y. Hoh

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  1. Wendy W. H. Zhong
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  2. Christine A. Lucas
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  3. Joseph F. Y. Hoh
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Correspondence to Joseph F. Y. Hoh.

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Communicated by I.D. Hume.

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Zhong, W.W.H., Lucas, C.A. & Hoh, J.F.Y. Myosin isoforms and fibre types in limb muscles of Australian marsupials: adaptations to hopping and non-hopping locomotion. J Comp Physiol B 178, 47–55 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-007-0198-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-007-0198-8

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