Faculty Collaboration Database

Effect of 17 days of bed rest on peak isometric force and unloaded shortening velocity of human soleus fibers. Am J Physiol 1997 Nov;273(5 Pt 1):C1690-9

Date

12/31/1997

Pubmed ID

9374656

DOI

10.1152/ajpcell.1997.273.5.c1690

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0030692076 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   102 Citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of prolonged bed rest (BR) on the peak isometric force (P0) and unloaded shortening velocity (V0) of single Ca(2+)-activated muscle fibers. Soleus muscle biopsies were obtained from eight adult males before and after 17 days of 6 degrees head-down BR. Chemically permeabilized single fiber segments were mounted between a force transducer and position motor, activated with saturating levels of Ca2+, and subjected to slack length steps. V0 was determined by plotting the time for force redevelopment vs. the slack step distance. Gel electrophoresis revealed that 96% of the pre- and 87% of the post-BR fibers studied expressed only the slow type I myosin heavy chain isoform. Fibers with diameter > 100 microns made up only 14% of this post-BR type I population compared with 33% of the pre-BR type I population. Consequently, the post-BR type I fibers (n = 147) were, on average, 5% smaller in diameter than the pre-BR type I fibers (n = 218) and produced 13% less absolute P0. BR had no overall effect on P0 per fiber cross-sectional area (P0/CSA), even though half of the subjects displayed a decline of 9-12% in P0/CSA after BR. Type I fiber V0 increased by an average of 34% with BR. Although the ratio of myosin light chain 3 to myosin light chain 2 also rose with BR, there was no correlation between this ratio and V0 for either the pre- or post-BR fibers. In separate fibers obtained from the original biopsies, quantitative electron microscopy revealed a 20-24% decrease in thin filament density, with no change in thick filament density. These results raise the possibility that alterations in the geometric relationships between thin and thick filaments may be at least partially responsible for the elevated V0 of the post-BR type I fibers.

Author List

Widrick JJ, Romatowski JG, Bain JL, Trappe SW, Trappe TA, Thompson JL, Costill DL, Riley DA, Fitts RH

Author

Robert Fitts PhD Professor in the Biological Sciences department at Marquette University

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Actin Cytoskeleton
Adult
Bed Rest
Biopsy
Humans
Isometric Contraction
Male
Muscle Fibers, Skeletal
Muscle, Skeletal
Myosin Light Chains
Regression Analysis
Time Factors