Expression profile of plakin crosslinking proteins in denervated skeletal muscle of mice

Abstract

Plakin crosslinking proteins are important structural elements that are expressed in many animal tissues, especially those which require resistance to mechanical stress. The three plakin proteins most prevalent in skeletal muscle are plectin, dystonin and microtubule-actin crosslinking factor (MACF). Skeletal muscle atrophy linked to inactivity is a complex phenomenon involving widespread alteration of muscle physiology, often characterized by expression of normally repressed embryonic genes in adult muscle. We investigate the response of the plakins: plectin, dystonin and MACF to denervation-induced atrophy in mice. We found that MACF, which is expressed more abundantly during embryonic development, is upregulated following denervation both at the mRNA and protein level as assessed using qPCR and western blotting. Plectin and dystonin were both downregulated at the mRNA level but remained constant or even upregulated at the protein level, indicating their potential importance in the baseline preservation of the skeletal muscle structure following denervation-induced atrophy.