Skeletal muscle phenotype affects fasting-induced mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation flexibility in cold-acclimated ducklings.

Starvation is particularly challenging for endotherms that remain active in cold environments or during winter. The aim of this study was to determine whether fasting-induced mitochondrial coupling flexibility depends upon the phenotype of skeletal muscles. The rates of oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial efficiency were measured in pectoralis (glycolytic) and gastrocnemius (oxidative) muscles from cold-acclimated ducklings (Cairina moschata). Pyruvate and palmitoyl-l-carnitine were used in the presence of malate as respiratory substrates. Plasma metabolites, skeletal muscle concentrations of triglycerides, glycogen and total protein and mitochondrial levels of oxidative phosphorylation complexes were also quantified. Results from ad libitum fed ducklings were compared with those from ducklings that were fasted for 4 days. During the 4 days of nutritional treatment, birds remained in the cold, at 4°C. The 4 days of starvation preferentially affected the pectoralis muscles, inducing an up-regulation of mitochondrial efficiency, which was associated with a reduction of both total muscle and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation protein, and with an increase of intramuscular lipid concentration. By contrast, fasting decreased the activity of oxidative phosphorylation but did not alter the coupling efficiency and protein expression of mitochondria isolated from the gastrocnemius muscles. Hence, the adjustment of mitochondrial efficiency to fasting depends upon the muscle phenotype of cold-acclimated birds. Furthermore, these results suggest that the reduced cost of mitochondrial ATP production in pectoralis muscles may trigger lipid storage within this tissue and help to sustain an important metabolic homeostatic function of skeletal muscles, which is to maintain levels of amino acids in the circulation during the fast.

Ontogeny of muscle bioenergetics in Adelie penguin chicks (Pygoscelis adeliae).

The ontogeny of pectoralis muscle bioenergetics was studied in growing Adélie penguin chicks during the first month after hatching and compared with adults using permeabilized fibers and isolated mitochondria. With pyruvate-malate-succinate or palmitoyl-carnitine as substrates, permeabilized fiber respiration markedly increased during chick growth (3-fold) and further rose in adults (1.4-fold). Several markers of muscle fiber oxidative activity (cytochrome oxidase, citrate synthase, hydroxyl-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase) increased 6- to 19-fold with age together with large rises in intermyofibrillar (IMF) and subsarcolemmal (SS) mitochondrial content (3- to 5-fold) and oxidative activities (1.5- to 2.4-fold). The proportion of IMF relative to SS mitochondria increased with chick age but markedly dropped in adults. Differences in oxidative activity between mitochondrial fractions were reduced in adults compared with hatched chicks. Extrapolation of mitochondrial to muscle respirations revealed similar figures with isolated mitochondria and permeabilized fibers with carbohydrate-derived but not with lipid-derived substrates, suggesting diffusion limitations of lipid substrates with permeabilized fibers. Two immunoreactive fusion proteins, mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) and optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), were detected by Western blots on mitochondrial extracts and their relative abundance increased with age. Muscle fiber respiration was positively related with Mfn2 and OPA1 relative abundance. Present data showed by two complementary techniques large ontogenic increases in muscle oxidative activity that may enable birds to face thermal emancipation and growth in childhood and marine life in adulthood. The concomitant rise in mitochondrial fusion protein abundance suggests a role of mitochondrial networks in the skeletal muscle processes of bioenergetics that enable penguins to overcome harsh environmental constraints.

Nuclear defects in skeletal muscle from a Dynamin 2-linked centronuclear myopathy mouse model.

Dynamin 2 (DNM2) is a key protein of the endocytosis and intracellular membrane trafficking machinery. Mutations in the DNM2 gene cause autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy (CNM) and a knock-in mouse model expressing the most frequent human DNM2 mutation in CNM (Knock In-Dnm2R465W/+) develops a myopathy sharing similarities with human disease. Using isolated muscle fibres from Knock In-Dnm2R465W/+ mice, we investigated number, spatial distribution and morphology of myonuclei. We showed a reduction of nuclear number from 20 weeks of age in Tibialis anterior muscle from heterozygous mice. This reduction is associated with a decrease in the satellite cell content in heterozygous muscles. The concomitant reduction of myonuclei number and cross-section area in the heterozygous fibres contributes to largely maintain myonuclear density and volume of myonuclear domain. Moreover, we identified signs of impaired spatial nuclear distribution including alteration of distance from myonuclei to their nearest neighbours and change in orientation of the nuclei. This study highlights reduction of number of myonuclei, a key regulator of the myofiber size, as a new pathomechanism underlying muscle atrophy in the dominant centronuclear myopathy. In addition, this study opens a new line of investigation which could prove particularly important on satellite cells in dominant centronuclear myopathy.

Thyroid status affects membranes susceptibility to free radicals and oxidative balance in skeletal muscle of Muscovy ducklings (Cairina moschata).

Thyroid hormones (TH) are major contributor to oxidative stress in mammals because they (1) stimulate reactive oxygen species generation (ROS), (2) impair antioxidant defenses, and (3) increase the susceptibility to free radicals of most tissues. Unlike mammals, THs seem to diminish mitochondrial ROS while they have limited effect on the antioxidant machinery in birds. However, how THs modify the susceptibility to ROS has never been explored in an avian model, and very little is known about their effect on oxidative balance in birds. Therefore, the objective of our study was to examine the effect of chronic pharmacological hypo- and hyperthyroidism on (i) the susceptibility of mitochondrial membranes to ROS; and (ii) the level of oxidative stress assessed by measuring oxidative damage to lipids, nucleic acids and proteins in the gastrocnemius muscle of ducklings. We show that hypothyroidism had no effect on the susceptibility of mitochondrial membranes to free radicals. Hypothyroid ducklings had lower oxidized lipids (-31%) and DNA (-25%) but a similar level of protein carbonylation relative to controls. Conversely, mitochondrial membranes of hyperthyroid ducklings exhibited higher unsaturation (+12%) and peroxidation (+31%) indexes than in controls indicating a greater susceptibility to free radicals. However, hyperthyroid ducklings exhibited more oxidative damages on proteins (+67%) only, whereas lipid damages remained unchanged, and there was a slight reduction (-15%) in damages to DNA compared to euthyroid controls. Our results indicate that birds and mammals present fundamental differences in their oxidative stress response to thyroid status.