In vitro studies of skeletal muscle membranes

Summary Sarcolemmal membranes were prepared from slow-twitch (red) and fasttwitch (white) skeletal muscle of the rat. A sensitive adenylate cyclase assay was used and basal, fluoride- and catecholamine-stimulated activities measured. The greaterin vivo sensitivity of red muscle to the effects of catecholamines correlates, in the present study, with approximately a twofold stimulation of its sarcolemmal adenylate cyclase with isoproterenol (10 m). The white muscle enzyme, on the other hand, is only minimally stimulated (20%) at the same concentration of -adrenergic agonist. Fast-twitch muscle is known to be physiologically insensitive to catecholaminein vivo.A course of sciatic nerve denervation was followed to further distinguish these two metabolic types of skeletal muscle and their respective adenylate cyclases. The slow-twitch muscle enzyme activities were completely and permanently lost on denervation. The white muscle enzyme, however, recovered almost completely after an initial reduction in specific activity the first week. Interestingly, the NaF-stimulated activity lagged behind both the basal and hormone-stimulated activities of the white muscle enzyme, in returning to control levels. The activities of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase were evaluated in homogenates of the two muscle types in innervated rats and following denervation, in order to further define the neural influence on skeletal muscle cyclic nucleotide metabolism.The results suggest that the motor nerve may regulate some of the metabolic properties of slow-twitch muscle (which may involve cyclic AMP) by controlling the responsiveness of its sarcolemmal-bound adenylate cyclase system.Presented in part at the 60th Annual Meeting, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, April, 1976, Anaheim, California.