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Figure 3 | BMC Biology

Figure 3

From: MST1, a key player, in enhancing fast skeletal muscle atrophy

Figure 3

MST1 deficiency protects fast- but not slow-dominant skeletal muscles against denervation-induced atrophy. Sciatic denervation was performed on three- to five-month-old adult WT and MST1 KO mice littermates. Three pairs of WT and MST1 KO mice were sacrificed at Day 7 after denervation and the other three pairs were examined at Dday 14. A. Mass of denervated gastrocnemius muscles from MST1 deficient mice remained at 79.18% ± 1.73% (on Day 7) and 67.14% ± 2.37% (on Day 14) of the contralateral muscles, both of which were significantly higher than 64.83% ± 2.01% and 53.53% ± 1.09% in WT mice, respectively. B. Seven and 14 days after denervation, mass of denervated TA muscles from MST1 KO mice remained at 74.43% ± 1.36% and 66.35% ± 2.56% of contralateral levels, whereas WT TA muscle mass remained at 64.47% ± 2.4% and 50.81% ± 2.5%, respectively. C. Representative images of α-laminin staining on contralateral and denervated TA muscle cryosections, indicating myofiber size was better preserved in MST1 deficient TA muscles at Day 14 after denervation. D. Fourteen days after denervation, averaged myofiber cross-sectional area of denervated TA muscle decreased to 71.61% ± 5.11% of the contralateral level in MST1 KO mice and 55.56% ± 0.87% in WT mice. E and F. TA myofiber size distribution showed a suppressed leftward shift in MST1 deficient TA muscles (F) 14 days after denervation, indicating less atrophy compared with WT muscles (E). G. Fourteen days after denervation, WT soleus muscle mass remained at 82.78% ± 5.32% of contralateral and MST1 deficient soleus muscle mass remained at 76.43% ± 2.45% of its contralateral level. H. Representative images of MHC I staining on contralateral and post-denervated Day 14 soleus muscles from WT and MST1 KO mice. WT and MST1 deficient soleus muscles developed similar level of atrophy 14 days after denervation. I. The ratio of slow-to-fast fiber content was significantly higher in MST1 deficient contralateral soleus muscles than that of WT muscles. 14 days after denervation, the ratios of slow-to-fast fiber content in WT and MST1 deficient soleus muscle were both increased. * P < 0.05 compared with wild type by two-tailed Student's test.

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