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Spatial and temporal processes involved in the naturally occurring sarcomere disassembly during electric organ regeneration in the teleost Sternopygus macrurus
Author(s) -
Unguez Graciela Alexandra
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.643.5
Subject(s) - sarcomere , skeletal muscle , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , regeneration (biology) , biology , myofibril , myocyte , chemistry , biochemistry
Exciting new findings are increasing our understanding of the protein composition of sarcomeres – the highly ordered contractile units of striated muscle – and the common pathways of sarcomere assembly in both heart and skeletal muscle. Although disruption s in these pathways are implicated in muscle diseases, events involved in the disassembly of sarcomeres remain largely unknown. The electric fish S. macrurus has the unique ability to regenerate all tail tissues after amputation including skeletal muscle and the muscle ‐ derived cells of the electric organ, i.e., electrocytes. During regeneration, some muscle fibers fuse and disassemble their sarcomeres to convert into electrocytes. To study changes in the spatial and temporal expression of protein components of distinct sarcomeric regions during the muscle ‐ to ‐ electrocyte conversion, we have begun to use immunofluorescence and ultrastructural approaches. Specifically, we are using markers of the Z ‐ disk (EA53 antibody), inter ‐ Z ‐ disk region (E398P antibody), A ‐ b ands (MF20 antibody), and I ‐ bands (phalloidin stain) to describe this naturally occurring process of sarcomere disassembly during electrocyte differentiation. Our preliminary data suggest a pattern of sarcomere breakdown characterized by dissociation of the I ‐ band followed by loss of A ‐ band then Z ‐ disks structures while the inter ‐ Z ‐ disk components are conserved. This pattern of sarcomere disassembly differs from a dedifferentiation process predicted by a current model of sarcomere formation during muscle differentiation (Ehler and Gautel, Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. , 2008). Support or Funding Information The following grants funded this work: NIH SCORE Grant 1SC1GM092297‐01A1 (GAU), NSF Grant CNS‐1248109 (GAU), and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Grant 5200693. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .