Parvalbumin in skeletal muscles of teleost (Tinca tinca L. and Misgurnus fossilis L.). Histochemical and immunohistochemical study.

Musculatures of two fish species belonging to the suborder Cyprinoidei were examined histochemically and immunohistochemically for demonstration of mATP-ase activity and parvalbumin content, respectively. The tench lateral musculature shows a typical "acid reversal" picture of mATP-ase activity--red fibres are alkali labile, acid stable and white and white fibres are alkali stable, acid labile. In the pond loach a superficial layer of musculature is composed of alkali--and acid stable red fibres. This alkaline stability of the red fibres caused the classical "acid reversal" picture impossible to obtain. For immunohistochemical reaction a monoclonal antibody specific for parvalbumin II component of the Carp muscles (Pv Carp II) was used. Immunohistochemical results gave evidence that lateral musculatures of the two species examined possessed parvalbumin II component entirely in the fast-contracting fibres--intermediate and white. This results correlate with mATP-ase activity in the tench musculature and did not correlate in the pond loach with respect to mATP-ase alkali stable red muscle fibres in the fish. We conclude that fish muscles mATP-ase activity not always correlates with parvalbumin content in the opposite to mammalian muscles where such correlation seems to be obvious.