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Analysis of myosin heavy chain mRNA expression by RT-PCRAn assay was developed for rapid and sensitive analysis of myosin heavy chain (MHC) mRNA expression in rodent skeletal muscle. Only 2 microg of total RNA were necessary for the simultaneous analysis of relative mRNA expression of six different MHC genes. We designed synthetic DNA fragments as internal standards, which contained the relevant primer sequences for the adult MHC mRNAs type I, IIa, IIx, IIb as well as the embryonic and neonatal MHC mRNAs. A known amount of the synthetic fragment was added to each polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and yielded a product of different size than the amplified MHC mRNA fragment. The ratio of amplified MHC fragment to synthetic fragment allowed us to calculate percentages of the gene expression of the different MHC genes in a given muscle sample. Comparison with the traditional Northern blot analysis demonstrated that our reverse transcriptase-PCR-based assay was reliable, fast, and quantitative over a wide range of relative MHC mRNA expression in a spectrum of adult and neonatal rat skeletal muscles. Furthermore, the high sensitivity of the assay made it very useful when only small quantities of tissue were available. Statistical analysis of the signals for each MHC isoform across the analyzed samples showed a highly significant correlation between the PCR and the Northern signals as Pearson correlation coefficients ranged between 0.77 and 0.96 (P < 0.005). This assay has potential use in analyzing small muscle samples such as biopsies and samples from pre- and/or neonatal stages of development.
Document ID
20040172881
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wright, C.
(University of California Irvine, California 92697, United States)
Haddad, F.
Qin, A. X.
Baldwin, K. M.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)
Volume: 83
Issue: 4
ISSN: 8750-7587
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NS-33483
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal

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