Stretching and electrical stimulation reduce the accumulation of MyoD, myostatin and atrogin-1 in denervated rat skeletal muscle

• Published in: Journal of muscle research and cell motility Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 45 - 57
• Main Authors: Russo, Thiago L, Peviani, Sabrina M, Durigan, João L. Q, Gigo-Benato, Davilene, Delfino, Gabriel B, Salvini, Tania F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01.07.2010; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Anatomy; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Biology; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit - biosynthesis; Electric Stimulation; gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Histology; Life Sciences; Male; Morphology; Muscle atrophy; Muscle Denervation; Muscle Proteins - biosynthesis; Muscle Stretching Exercises; Muscle, Skeletal - innervation; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; Muscular Atrophy - metabolism; MyoD Protein - biosynthesis; Myostatin - biosynthesis; Nerve injury; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules - biosynthesis; Original Paper; Proteomics; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Rehabilitation; skeletal muscle; SKP Cullin F-Box Protein Ligases - biosynthesis; Tripartite Motif Proteins; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases - biosynthesis; Nerve injury; Muscle atrophy; Rehabilitation; Gene expression; Skeletal muscle
• ISSN: 0142-4319; 1573-2657
• DOI: 10.1007/s10974-010-9203-z

Denervation causes muscle atrophy and incapacity in humans. Although electrical stimulation (ES) and stretching (St) are commonly used in rehabilitation, it is still unclear whether they stimulate or impair muscle recovery and reinnervation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of ES and St, alone and combined (ES + St), on the expression of genes that regulate muscle mass (MyoD, Runx1, atrogin-1, MuRF1 and myostatin), on muscle fibre cross-sectional area and excitability, and on the expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) in denervated rat muscle. ES, St and ES + St reduced the accumulation of MyoD, atrogin-1 and MuRF1 and maintained Runx1 and myostatin expressions at normal levels in denervated muscles. None of the physical interventions prevented muscle fibre atrophy or N-CAM expression in denervated muscles. In conclusion, although ES, St and ES + St changed gene expression, they were insufficient to avoid muscle fibre atrophy due to denervation.