Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Rabbit skeletal myosin isoenzymes from fetal, fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles

Nature volume 280, pages 321–323 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

IT is generally accepted that myosin in vertebrate fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles is structurally1–4 and immunochemically5–8 distinct and exists in several isoenzymatic forms9–14. The nature of myosin in developing mammalian skeletal muscles is controversial. Some authors15,16 consider it to be identical to adult fast-twitch myosin on the basis of light-chain composition and histochemistry. Others8 suggest that it may be a mixture of fast-twitch and slow-twitch myosins. Still others4,17 maintain it is a distinct fetal form of myosin differing in primary structure from adult myosins. In this report we show that (1) myosin in both neonatal and adult fast-twitch muscles of the rabbit exists in three electrophoretically distinct isoenzymatic forms which differ in light-chain composition, and (2) the two-dimensional peptide map of the heavy chains of neonatal muscle myosin is distinct from maps of both fast-twitch and slow-twitch myosins. These results clearly establish the existence of fetal myosin isoenzymes in developing mammalian muscles and resolve apparent contradictions in the literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lowey, S. & Risby, D. Nature 234, 81–85 (1971).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sarker, S., Sréter, F. A. & Gergely, J. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68, 946–950 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Jean, D. H., Guth, L. & Albers, R. W. Expl Neurol. 38, 458–471 (1973).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sréter, F. A., Balint, M. & Gergely, J. Devl Biol. 46, 317–325 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gröschel-Stewart, U. & Doniach, D. Immunology 17, 981–994 (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Arndt, I. & Pepe, F. A. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 23, 159–169 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lutz, H., Ermini, M. & Jenny, E. Histochemistry 57, 223–235 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Gauthier, G. F., Lowey, S. & Hobbs, A. W. Nature 274, 25–29 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hoh, J. F. Y., McGrath, P. A. & White, R. I. Biochem. J. 157, 87–95 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Holt, J. C. & Lowey, S. Biochemistry 16, 4398–4402 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Trayer, H. R., Winstanley, M. A. & Trayer, I. P. FEBS Lett. 83, 141–144 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Wagner, P. D. FEBS Lett. 81, 81–85 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hoh, J. F. Y. FEBS Lett. 90, 297–300 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Weeds, A. Nature 274, 417–418 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Pelloni-Müeller, G., Ermini, M. & Jenny, E. FEBS Lett. 67, 68–74 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Rubinstein, N. A. & Kelly, A. M. Devl Biol. 62, 473–485 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Huszar, G. Nature new Biol. 240, 260–264 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hoh, J. F. Y., McGrath, P. A. & Hale, P. T. J. molec. cell. Cardiol. 10, 1053–1076 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Hoh, J. F. Y., Yeoh, G. P. S., Thomas, M. A. W. & Higginbottom, L. FEBS Lett. 97, 330–334 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Takahashi, M. & Tonomura, Y. J. Biochem. 78, 1123–1133 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Jablecki, C. & Kaufman, S. J. biol. Chem. 248, 1056–1062 (1973).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. John, H. A. FEBS Lett. 39, 278–282 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Syrovy, I. & Gutmann, E. Pflügers Arch. ges. Physiol. 369, 85–89 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Starr, R. L. & Offer, G. W. J. molec. Biol. 81, 17–31 (1973).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Pope, B. J., Wagner, P. D. & Weeds, A. G. J. molec. Biol. 109, 470–473 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Whalen, R. G., Butler-Browne, G. S. & Gros, F. J. molec. Biol. 126, 415–431 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Hoh, J. F. Y. FEBS Lett. 98, 267–270 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    J. F. Y. HOH & G. P. S. YEOH

Authors
  1. J. F. Y. HOH
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. P. S. YEOH
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

HOH, J., YEOH, G. Rabbit skeletal myosin isoenzymes from fetal, fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles. Nature 280, 321–323 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/280321a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/280321a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing