Premium
Expression of myogenic factors in skeletal muscle and electric organ of Torpedo californica
Author(s) -
Neville Craig M.,
Schmidt Jakob
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(92)80647-y
Subject(s) - myod , myogenin , myf5 , torpedo , acetylcholine receptor , skeletal muscle , biology , myogenic regulatory factors , acetylcholine , myocyte , microbiology and biotechnology , receptor , endocrinology , myogenesis , biochemistry
Fish electric organ is a skeletal muscle homolog in which many muscle‐specific genes are inhibited while acetylcholine receptor is expressed at high levels. The molecular mechanisms underlying this discoordinate regulation have not yet been explored. We have obtained partial sequences for MyoD, myogenin, and myf5 from Torpedo californica and have measured their mRNAs in several organs, using ribonuclease protection. We have found that MyoD and myf5 are expressed at comparable levels in muscle and electric organ, whereas myogenin transcripts could not be detected in either tissue. Acetylcholine receptor α subunit mRNA, on the other hand, is two orders or magnitude more abundant in electric tissue. We conclude that neither the loss of contractile proteins from, nor the enhanced expression of acetylcholine receptor genes in, the differentiating electrocyte is a simple consequence of the abundance of myogenic factor messages.