Restoration of junctional tetrads in dysgenic myotubes by dihydropyridine receptor cDNA.

Excitation-contraction coupling was restored in primary cultures of dysgenic myotubes by transfecting the cells with an expression plasmid encoding the rabbit skeletal muscle dihydropyridine receptor. Dishes containing normal, dysgenic, and transfected myotubes were fixed, freeze-fractured, and replicated for electron microscopy. Numerous small domains in the surface membrane of normal myotubes contain ordered arrays of intramembrane particles in groups of four (tetrads). The disposition of tetrads in the arrays is consistent with alternate positioning of tetrads relative to the underlying feet of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Dysgenic myotubes have no arrays of tetrads. Some myotubes from successfully transfected cultures have arrays of tetrads with spacings equal to those found in normal myotubes. Thus the dihydropyridine receptor appears to be needed for the formation of tetrads and their association with the sarcoplasmic reticulum feet. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that each tetrad is composed of four dihydropyridine receptors.     

Coordinated development of myofibrils, sarcoplasmic reticulum and transverse tubules in normal and dysgenic mouse skeletal muscle, in vivo and in vitro.

We studied the development of transverse (T)-tubules and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in relationship to myofibrillogenesis in normal and dysgenic (mdg/mdg) mouse skeletal muscle by immunofluorescent labeling of specific membrane and myofibrillar proteins. At E16 the development of the myofibrils and membranes in dysgenic and normal diaphragm was indistinguishable, including well developed myofibrils, a delicate network of T-tubules, and a prominent SR which was not yet cross-striated. In diaphragms of E18 dysgenic mice, both the number and size of muscle fibers and myofibrillar organization were deficient in comparison to normal diaphragms, as previously reported. T-tubule labeling was abnormal, showing only scattered tubules and fragments. However, many muscle fibers displayed cross striation of sarcomeric proteins and SR comparable to normal muscle. In cultured myotubes, cross-striated organization of sarcomeric proteins proceeded essentially in two stages: first around the Z-line and later in the A-band. Sarcomeric organization of the SR coincided with the first stage, while the appearance of T-tubules in the mature transverse orientation occurred infrequently, only after A-band maturation. In culture, myofibrillar and membrane organization was equivalent in normal and dysgenic muscle at the earlier stage of development, but half as many dysgenic myotubes reached the later stage as compared to normal. We conclude that the mdg mutation has little effect on the initial stage of membrane and myofibril development and that the deficiencies often seen at later stages result indirectly from the previously described absence of dihydropyridine receptor function in the mutant.     

Formation of triads without the dihydropyridine receptor alpha subunits in cell lines from dysgenic skeletal muscle

Muscular dysgenesis (mdg/mdg), a mutation of the skeletal muscle dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) alpha 1 subunit, has served as a model to study the functions of the DHPR in excitation-contraction coupling and its role in triad formation. We have investigated the question of whether the lack of the DHPR in dysgenic skeletal muscle results in a failure of triad formation, using cell lines (GLT and NLT) derived from dysgenic (mdg/mdg) and normal (+/+) muscle, respectively. The lines were generated by transfection of myoblasts with a plasmid encoding a Large T antigen. Both cell lines express muscle-specific proteins and begin organization of sarcomeres as demonstrated by immunocytochemistry. Similar to primary cultures, dysgenic (GLT) myoblasts show a higher incidence of cell fusion than their normal counterparts (NLT). NLT myotubes develop spontaneous contractile activity, and fluorescent Ca2+ recordings show Ca2+ release in response to depolarization. In contrast, GLTs show neither spontaneous nor depolarization-induced Ca2+ transients, but do release Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in response to caffeine. Despite normal transverse tubule (T-tubule) formation, GLT myotubes lack the alpha 1 subunit of the skeletal muscle DHPR, and the alpha 2 subunit is mistargeted. Nevertheless, the ryanodine receptor (RyR) frequently develops its normal, clustered organization in the absence of both DHPR alpha subunits in the T-tubules. In EM, these RyR clusters correspond to T-tubule/SR junctions with regularly spaced feet. These findings provide conclusive evidence that interactions between the DHPR and RyR are not involved in the formation of triad junctions or in the normal organization of the RyR in the junctional SR.     

Distribution and quantification of ACh receptors and innervation in diaphragm muscle of normal and mdg mouse embryos

Muscular dysgenesis (mdg) in the mouse is an autosomal recessive mutation, expressed in the homozygous state (in vivo and in vitro) as an absence of skeletal muscle contraction. The distribution of acetylcholine receptors (ACh R) in the diaphragms of phenotypically normal and dysgenic (mdg/mdg) embryos was studied from the 14th to 19th day of gestation by binding of 125I-alpha-bungarotoxin to the muscle, followed by autoradiography of longitudinally sectioned hemidiaphragms and/or of isolated muscle fibers. Localization of ACh R at putative motor end-plate regions begins 14 to 15 days in utero in both normal and dysgenic diaphragms. The distribution of high ACh R density patches is aberrantly scattered beyond the normal innervation pattern in dysgenic diaphragms. Isolated mutant fibers possess (1) multiple ACh R clusters, up to five per single fiber, (2) larger clusters of more variable morphology and variable receptor density than normal clusters, and (3) higher levels of extrajunctional receptors than normal fibers. These autoradiographic results correlate well with higher total level of toxin binding sites per diaphragm and per milligram protein in dysgenic vs normal muscle, as quantified from gamma counting of sucrose density gradient isolation of 125I-toxin-ACh R complexes. The dispersed distribution of ACh R patches on dysgenic muscle may be correlated with extensive phrenic nerve branching as demonstrated by silver impregnation technique. We suggest that the aberrant ACh R cluster distribution is a result of multiple innervation of single fibers from the branched nerve terminals. Possible causes of the excessive nerve branching in the mutant are discussed in light of generalized nerve sprouting found in paralyzed muscle.     

Molecular architecture of membranes involved in excitation-contraction coupling of cardiac muscle

Peripheral couplings are junctions between the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and the surface membrane (SM). Feet occupy the SR/SM junctional gap and are identified as the SR calcium release channels, or ryanodine receptors (RyRs). In cardiac muscle, the activation of RyRs during excitation-contraction (e-c) coupling is initiated by surface membrane depolarization, followed by the opening of surface membrane calcium channels, the dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs). We have studied the disposition of DHPRs and RyRs, and the structure of peripheral couplings in chick myocardium, a muscle that has no transverse tubules. Immunolabeling shows colocalization of RyRs and DHPRs in clusters at the fiber's periphery. The positions of DHPR and RyR clusters change coincidentally during development. Freeze-fracture of the surface membrane reveals the presence of domains (junctional domains) occupied by clusters of large particles. Junctional domains in the surface membrane and arrays of feet in the junctional gap have similar sizes and corresponding positions during development, suggesting that both are components of peripheral couplings. As opposed to skeletal muscle, membrane particles in junctional domains of cardiac muscle do not form tetrads. Thus, despite their proximity to the feet, they do not appear to be specifically associated with them. Two observations establish the identify of the structurally identified feet arrays/junctional domain complexes with the immunocytochemically defined RyRs/DHPRs coclusters: the concomitant changes during development and the identification of feet as the cytoplasmic domains of RyRs. We suggest that the large particles in junctional domains of the surface membrane represent DHPRs. These observations have two important functional consequences. First, the apposition of DHPRs and RyRs indicates that most of the inward calcium current flows into the restricted space where feet are located. Secondly, contrary to skeletal muscle, presumptive DHPRs do not show a specific association with the feet, which is consistent with a less direct role of charge movement in cardiac than in skeletal e-c coupling.     

Disease expression in +-/+- ----mdg/mdg mouse chimeras: evidence for an extramuscular component in the pathogenesis of both dysgenic abnormal diaphragm innervation and skeletal muscle 16 S acetylcholinesterase deficiency

Homozygous mdg/mdg mice die at birth and express a syndrome of abnormalities, the most striking of which is a gross failure of skeletal muscle development. Recently, additional abnormalities in the development of nerve-muscle relationships have been recognized; in particular, on muscle fibers within the diaphragm, motor end plates are inappropriately dispersed and, in all muscles, there is a paucity of the 16 S form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). These abnormalities could result entirely as secondary consequences of the primary muscle defect or from expression of the mdg defect in additional cell types, e.g., motor neurons. To determine if the muscle genotype alone is responsible for these defects in dysgenic mice, chimeras composed of both dysgenic and normal cells have been investigated. Different glucosephosphate isomerase variants existed in the mdg/mdg and normal cells comprising these chimeras and the mutant, normal, or mosaic genotypes of chimera diaphragm and skeletal muscle was estimated by measuring the relative proportions of each isozyme. In two chimeras, the diaphragm innervation pattern was revealed by AChE cytochemistry and in both, discrete regions of abnormally dispersed and normally restricted motor end-plate zones were observed. No correlation between these patterns of innervation and the assessed genotype of the muscle fibers existing in each area was observed. The relative 16 S AChE content in the limbs of four chimeras was found to range from 2.5 to 42.0%. Here also, no correlation between 16 S AChE content and the muscle genotype was observed. The results of these investigations are not consistent with a model of mdg/mdg pathogenesis in which only the skeletal muscle is primarily affected; an extramuscular deficiency responsible for at least part of the full mdg/mdg syndrome is therefore suggested.     

Dihydropyridine receptor alpha subunits in normal and dysgenic muscle in vitro: expression of alpha 1 is required for proper targeting and distribution of alpha 2

We have studied the subcellular distribution of the alpha 1 and alpha 2 subunits of the skeletal muscle dihydropyridine (DHP) receptor with immunofluorescence labeling of normal and dysgenic (mdg) muscle in culture. In normal myotubes both alpha subunits were localized in clusters associated with the T-tubule membranes of longitudinally as well as transversely oriented T-tubules. The DHP receptor-rich domains may represent the sites where triad junctions with the sarcoplasmic reticulum are being formed. In cultures from dysgenic muscle the alpha 1 subunit was undetectable and the distribution patterns of the alpha 2 subunit were abnormal. The alpha subunit did not form clusters nor was it discretely localized in the T-tubule system. Instead, alpha 2 was found diffusely distributed in parts of the T-system, in structures in the perinuclear region and in the plasma membrane. These results suggest that an interaction between the two alpha subunits is required for the normal distribution of the alpha 2 subunit in the T-tubule membranes. Spontaneous fusion of normal non-muscle cells with dysgenic myotubes resulted in a regional expression of the alpha 1 polypeptide near the foreign nuclei, thus defining the nuclear domain of a T-tubule membrane protein in multi-nucleated muscle cells. Furthermore, the normal intracellular distribution of the alpha 2 polypeptide was restored in domains containing a foreign "rescue" nucleus; this supports the idea that direct interactions between the DHP receptor alpha 1 and alpha 2 subunits are involved in the organization of the junctional T-tubule membranes.     

Coordinated development of myofibrils, sarcoplasmic reticulum and transverse tubules in normal and dysgenic mouse skeletal muscle, in vivo and in vitro

We studied the development of transverse (T)-tubules and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in relationship to myofibrillogenesis in normal and dysgenic (mdg/mdg) mouse skeletal muscle by immunofluorescent labeling of specific membrane and myofibrillar proteins. At E16 the development of the myofibrils and membranes in dysgenic and normal diaphragm was indistinguishable, including well developed myofibrils, a delicate network of T-tubules, and a prominent SR which was not yet cross-striated. In diaphragms of E18 dysgenic mice, both the number and size of muscle fibers and myofibrillar organization were deficient in comparison to normal diaphragms, as previously reported. T-tubule labeling was abnormal, showing only scattered tubules and fragments. However, many muscle fibers displayed cross striation of sarcomeric proteins and SR comparable to normal muscle. In cultured myotubes, cross-striated organization of sarcomeric proteins proceeded essentially in two stages: first around the Z-line and later in the A-band. Sarcomeric organization of the SR coincided with the first stage, while the appearance of T-tubules in the mature transverse orientation occurred infrequently, only after A-band maturation. In culture, myofibrillar and membrane organization was equivalent in normal and dysgenic muscle at the earlier stage of development, but half as many dysgenic myotubes reached the later stage as compared to normal. We conclude that the mdg mutation has little effect on the initial stage of membrane and myofibril development and that the deficiencies often seen at later stages result indirectly from the previously described absence of dihydropyridine receptor function in the mutant.     

Charge movement and Ca2+ release in normal and dysgenic foetal myotubes.

Intramembrane charge movement and Ca2+ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum was studied in foetal skeletal muscle cells from normal and mutant mice with 'muscular dysgenesis' (mdg/mdg). It was shown that: 1) unlike normal myotubes, in dysgenic myotubes membrane depolarization did not evoke calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum; 2) when all ionic currents are pharmacologically suppressed, membrane depolarization produced an asymmetric intramembrane charge movement in both normal and dysgenic myotubes. The relationship between the membrane potential and the amount of charge movement in these muscles could be expressed by a two-state Boltzmann equation; 3) the maximum amount of charge movement associated with depolarization (Qon max) in normal and in dysgenic myotubes was 6.3 +/- 1.4 nC/microF (n = 6) and 1.7 +/- 0.3 nC/microF (n = 6) respectively; 4) nifedipine (1-20 microM) applied to the bath reduced Qon max by about 40% in normal muscle cells. In contrast, the drug had no significant effect on the charge movement of dysgenic myotubes; and 5) the amount of nifedipine-resistant charge movement in normal and in dysgenic myotubes was 3.5 nC/microF (n = 3) and 1.7 nC/microF 1 maximum (n = 3), respectively.     

Electrical properties of normal and dysgenic mouse skeletal muscle in culture

Electrical properties of normal and dysgenic mouse skeletal muscle were studied by intracellular recording from embryonic cells developing in vitro. Passive membrane constants were determined from records of transmembrane potential responses to hyperpolarizing pulses of current using two types of analyses, assuming the tubes to be finite cylinders: the off transient and steady state analyses. The following properties of normal and dysgenic fibers were also studied. (a) membrane potentials (b) acetylcholine sensitivity (c) α-Bungarotoxin binding and (d) maximum rate of rise, overshoot and one-half fall time of the action potential. Rare electrotonic coupling between fibroblasts and myotubes was noted. An anomalous type of rectification Was observed in some fibers in which the transmembrane potential responses possessed under and overshoots. These responses may have affected the values of membrane constants as derived by the off transient analysis. In all parameters studied, including membrane constants derived by the steady state analysis, the cultured mouse cells resembled adult denervated mammalian muscle rather than innervated muscle. There were no differences between normal and dysgenic fibers with respect to any of the parameters studied. Dysgenic fibers did not contract although they displayed passive and active membrane properties like those in normal, non-dysgenic fibers.     

A genetic model for the study of abnormal nerve-muscle interactions at the level of excitation-contraction coupling: the mutation muscular dysgenesis

Excitation-contraction in muscle fibers are coupled through a complex mechanism involving multiproteic components located at a specialized cellular site, the triadic junction. Triads in normal muscle fiber result from the apposition of sarcoplasmic reticulum citernae and T-tubule and possess strikingly organized ultrastructural elements, bridging both types of membranes, the "junctional feet". Muscular dysgenesis in the mouse is characterized by total muscle inactivity in the developing skeletal muscles due to excitation-contraction uncoupling. Triads have been found to be disorganized with no "junctional feet" and dihydropyridine (DHP) binding sites are decreased with no slow Ca2+ currents, suggesting a basic defect in the excitation-contraction coupling machinery itself. We may hypothesize that muscular dysgenesis results in a marked defect in a functional protein involved in the morphogenesis of the triad and/or directly involved in Ca2+ release for contraction.     

Role of Ryanodine Receptors in the Assembly of Calcium Release Units in Skeletal Muscle

Abstract. In muscle cells, excitation–contraction (e–c) coupling is mediated by “calcium release units,” junctions between the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and exterior membranes. Two proteins, which face each other, are known to functionally interact in those structures: the ryanodine receptors (RyRs), or SR calcium release channels, and the dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs), or L-type calcium channels of exterior membranes. In skeletal muscle, DHPRs form tetrads, groups of four receptors, and tetrads are organized in arrays that face arrays of feet (or RyRs). Triadin is a protein of the SR located at the SR–exterior membrane junctions, whose role is not known. We have structurally characterized calcium release units in a skeletal muscle cell line (1B5) lacking Ry₁R. Using immunohistochemistry and freeze-fracture electron microscopy, we find that DHPR and triadin are clustered in foci in differentiating 1B5 cells. Thin section electron microscopy reveals numerous SR–exterior membrane junctions lacking foot structures (dyspedic). These results suggest that components other than Ry₁Rs are responsible for targeting DHPRs and triadin to junctional regions. However, DHPRs in 1B5 cells are not grouped into tetrads as in normal skeletal muscle cells suggesting that anchoring to Ry₁Rs is necessary for positioning DHPRs into ordered arrays of tetrads. This hypothesis is confirmed by finding a “restoration of tetrads” in junctional domains of surface membranes after transfection of 1B5 cells with cDNA encoding for Ry₁R.     

Creatine phosphokinase activity in dysgenic (mdg/mdg) mouse muscle

The specific activity of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) was measured in the muscle of mdg/mdg and control embryos of 14-18 days' gestation. CPK specific activity values were similar in mutant and normal embryos at the earliest stages examined (14-15 days). However, after 15 1/2 days, the specific activity of the enzyme in the mdg/mdg embryos was approximately 50% lower than in the controls. The dysgenic and normal muscle extracts exhibited comparable stability after storage at -85 C. CPK activity levels in the muscle of adult heterozygotes (+/mdg) and wild-type (+/+) controls were found to be statistically identical. The findings suggest that the mdg mutation does not have a primary or direct effect on CPK activity.     

Rescue of excitation-contraction coupling in dysgenic muscle by addition of fibroblasts in vitro

Muscular dysgenesis (mdg) in mice causes the failure of excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling in skeletal muscle. Cultured dysgenic muscle fails to contract upon depolarization, lacks typical muscle ultrastructure, including normal triads, and lacks functional voltage-dependent slow calcium channels. We show that normal rodent fibroblasts and 3T3 fibroblasts "rescue" dysgenic myotubes, reestablishing contractions (i.e., E-C coupling), normal ultrastructure, and functional slow calcium channels. These results support the finding that the expression of the slow calcium channel is affected in the mdg mutation and that this protein is essential for E-C coupling. Additionally, fibroblast rescue provides a system for examining the mechanisms of heterotypic cellular influence on cell function.     

The muscular dysgenesis mutation in mice leads to arrest of the genetic program for muscle differentiation

Muscular dysgenesis (mdg) is a mutation in mice which causes the failure of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle. Although the sarcolemma, the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and the contractile apparatus all maintain nearly normal function, sarcolemmal depolarization fails to cause calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Recently, the primary genetic defect in this mutation was shown to be located in the structural gene for the dihydropyridine receptor. We have examined the developmental expression from Fetal Day 15 onward, in normal and mutant muscle, of several unidentified genes as well as genes which are known markers of muscle differentiation. We find that the majority of mRNA sequences are found at similar concentrations in normal and dysgenic muscles at birth. Many differentiation-related genes also are expressed at normal levels early during myogenesis in mutant mice. However, as late fetal development progresses in dysgenic muscle, the mRNA concentrations for these genes fail to undergo the rapid rise which is characteristic of normal muscle. Several additional, unidentified genes, which normally would be down-regulated during development, remain expressed at a high level in dysgenic muscle. Thus, the primary absence of a functional dihydropyridine receptor appears to prevent the changes in gene expression which are necessary for maturation of skeletal muscle.     

Muscular dysgenesis: a model system for studying skeletal muscle development

Muscular dysgenesis, caused by an autosomal recessive lethal mutation (mdg) in mice, is characterized by an absence of contraction of skeletal muscle. A historical review of the investigation of this disorder is presented. The early studies of the morphological and physiological aspects of the disorder in vivo and in vitro presented evidence for dysfunction in the skeletal muscle excitation-contraction (E-C) system, and thus suggested that skeletal muscle was the primary target of dysfunction in dysgenesis. Subsequent evidence, including the phenomenon of rescue (restoration of contraction) of dysgenic muscle in culture by spinal cord cells, argued for involvement of the nervous system in the disorder. Experiments demonstrating that dysgenic muscle lacks the slow calcium current associated with E-C coupling, and the protein (the dihydropyridine receptor) also associated with such coupling, led to the discovery of the probable site of the mutation: the gene for the alpha 1 subunit of the dihydropyridine receptor. The neuronal involvement hypothesis was further countered by several lines of evidence, including the phenomenon of fusion of nonmyogenic normal cells with dysgenic myotubes in cocultures of normal cells and dysgenic muscle. The use of the mutant as a model for studying the development of normal skeletal muscle is discussed and future avenues of research are explored.     

The structure of calsequestrin in triads of vertebrate skeletal muscle: a deep-etch study

We have examined the structure of calsequestrin in three-dimensional images from deep-etched rotary-replicated freeze fractures of skeletal muscle fibers. We selected a fast-acting muscle because the sarcoplasmic reticulum has an orderly disposition and is rich in internal membranes. Calsequestrin forms a network in the center of the terminal cisternae and is anchored to the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane, with preference for the junctional portion. The anchorage is responsible for maintaining calsequestrin in the region of the sarcoplasmic reticulum close to the calcium-release channels, and it corroborates the finding that calsequestrin and the spanning protein of the junctional feet may interact with each other in the junctional membrane. Anchoring filaments may be composed of a protein other than calsequestrin.     

Abnormal enwrapment of intramuscular axons by distal Schwann cells with defective basal lamina in the muscular dysgenic mouse embryo

In the muscular dysgenic (mdg/mdg) mouse embryo, both muscle and nerve are affected early during embryogenesis, from Embryonic Day 13 (E13). We now find that the mutation affects not only the degree of differentiation of the muscle and the pattern of motor innervation but also the relationship between Schwann cell and axon. We studied the sciatic nerve of normal and mdg/mdg embryos between E13 and E18 at the ultrastructural level. We found that in mdg/mdg nerve, (1) Schwann cells do not totally enwrap the growing axons in their most distal part, close to the growth cone, and (2) the terminal Schwann cells do not correctly surround the nerve endings and seal the corresponding synaptic contacts. Moreover, both types of mutant Schwann cell lack a normal electron-dense basal lamina. We found that there is an excess of axons relative to the Schwann cell population in the intramuscular portions of the mdg/mdg sciatic nerve. Our observations point toward a possible defect of the mechanism of migration and maturation of Schwann cells. Such a defect may in turn affect primarily or secondarily the mutual influences between Schwann cell and axon and lead to some or all of the major abnormalities observed in the mdg/mdg neuromuscular system, namely, multifocal polyinnervation, immature axon-myotube contacts, and abnormal T-tubule-sarcoplasmic reticulum junctions.     

Muscular dysgenesis in mice: a model system for studying excitation-contraction coupling

Muscular dysgenesis (mdg) is a lethal autosomal, recessive mutation of mice. Skeletal muscle from dysgenic mice is paralyzed due to the failure of excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling. Considerable evidence indicates that this failure results from the absence of a specific gene product, the alpha 1 subunit of the skeletal muscle receptor for dihydropyridine calcium channel modifiers. This dihydropyridine receptor is hypothesized to function in E-C coupling of normal skeletal muscle as the voltage sensor that triggers calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and thereby causes contraction. The skeletal muscle dihydropyridine receptor is also postulated to function as the ion channel responsible for a slowly activating, dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium current (Islow). Dysgenic skeletal muscle lacks Islow but expresses, at low levels, a distinctly different dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium current (Idys). The channel protein underlying Idys is incapable of serving as a voltage sensor for E-C coupling. Studies using dysgenic skeletal muscle have provided significant insight into the role of dihydropyridine receptors in E-C coupling.