Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-CELL PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 278, Issue 6, Pages C1108-C1115Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/ajpcell.2000.278.6.C1108
Keywords
water channel; transgenic mice; muscular dystrophy; AQP4; orthogonal array
Categories
Funding
- NHLBI NIH HHS [HL-60288] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDDK NIH HHS [DK-35124, DK-43840] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
It has been proposed that aquaporin-4 (AQP4), a water channel expressed at the plasmalemma of skeletal muscle cells, is important in normal muscle physiology and in the pathophysiology of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. To test this hypothesis, muscle water permeability and function were compared in wild-type and AQP4 knockout mice. Immunofluorescence and freeze-fracture electron microscopy showed AQP4 protein expression in plasmalemma of fast-twitch skeletal muscle fibers of wild-type mice. Osmotic water permeability was measured in microdissected muscle fibers from the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and fractionated membrane vesicles from EDL homogenates. With the use of spatial-filtering microscopy to measure osmotically induced volume changes in EDL fibers, half times (t(1/2)) for osmotic equilibration (7.5-8.5 s) were not affected by AQP4 deletion. Stopped-flow light-scattering measurements of osmotically induced volume changes in plasmalemma vesicles also showed no significant differences in water permeability. Similar water permeability, yet similar to 90% decreased AQP4 protein expression was found in EDL from mdx mice that lack dystrophin. Skeletal muscle function was measured by force generation in isolated EDL, treadmill performance time, and in vivo muscle swelling in response to water intoxication. No differences were found in EDL force generation after electrical stimulation [42 +/- 2 (wild-type) vs. 41 +/- 2 (knockout) g/s], treadmill performance time (22 vs. 26 min; 29 m/min, 13 degrees incline), or muscle swelling (2.8 vs. 2.9% increased water content at 90 min after intraperitoneal water infusion). Together these results provide evidence against a significant role of AQP4 in skeletal muscle physiology in mice.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available