期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2007
卷号:104
期号:6
页码:1835-1840
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0604893104
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:The lack of myostatin promotes growth of skeletal muscle, and blockade of its activity has been proposed as a treatment for various muscle-wasting disorders. Here, we have examined two independent mouse lines that harbor mutations in the myostatin gene, constitutive null (Mstn-/-) and compact (Berlin High Line, BEHc/c). We report that, despite a larger muscle mass relative to age-matched wild types, there was no increase in maximum tetanic force generation, but that when expressed as a function of muscle size (specific force), muscles of myostatin-deficient mice were weaker than wild-type muscles. In addition, Mstn-/- muscle contracted and relaxed faster during a single twitch and had a marked increase in the number of type IIb fibers relative to wild-type controls. This change was also accompanied by a significant increase in type IIB fibers containing tubular aggregates. Moreover, the ratio of mitochondrial DNA to nuclear DNA and mitochondria number were decreased in myostatin-deficient muscle, suggesting a mitochondrial depletion. Overall, our results suggest that lack of myostatin compromises force production in association with loss of oxidative characteristics of skeletal muscle.