Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Meat Safety and Quality » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262378
Title: Growth and development of skeletal muscle in mu-calpain knockout mice

Author
item Kemp, Caroline
item Oliver, William
item Wheeler, Tommy
item CHISHTI, A - Tufts University
item KOOHMARAIE, MOHAMMAD - Former ARS Employee

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/2/2011
Publication Date: 3/17/2011
Citation: Kemp, C.M., Oliver, W.T., Wheeler, T.L., Chishti, A.H., Koohmaraie, M. 2011. Growth and development of skeletal muscle in mu-calpain knockout mice [abstract]. FASEB Journal. 25:707.6.

Interpretive Summary: Not required.

Technical Abstract: The calpain system has been identified as a potential candidate in muscle growth and development due to its role in a variety of cellular processes such as cytoskeletal remodeling and myogenesis. The objective of this study was to evaluate growth and development of skeletal muscle in mu-calpain knockout mice (KO) compared to wild type C57/BL6 mice (WT). At 3, 5, 10, 20, and 30 weeks of age, WT and KO mice (n=6) were sacrificed and extensor digitorum longus (EDL), tibialis anterior (TA), quadriceps, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles were quantitatively dissected. Body composition was evaluated by proximal analysis on WT and KO mice (n = 6) for each age group. Muscle weights and total RNA, DNA, and protein were unaffected by genotype. At 30 weeks, there was an increased potential for protein synthesis and muscle hypertrophy in the KO mice as indicated by the increased protein:DNA (P = 0.0349) and RNA:DNA (P = 0.016). This is reflected in the body composition analysis, which showed KO mice had increased protein content at the expense of lipid content at 30 weeks (P = 0.0102). These data suggest the calpain system is involved in muscle growth and appears to be involved in muscle wasting at 30 weeks of age.