Expression of the troponin complex genes: transcriptional coactivation during myoblast differentiation and independent control in heart and skeletal muscles.

We compared the developmental regulation of the three troponin genes that encode the proteins of the Ca2+ regulatory complex in striated muscles of the Japanese quail. Nuclear run-on transcription and RNA protection analyses showed that the fast skeletal troponin I, the fast skeletal troponin T, and the slow skeletal-cardiac troponin C genes were transcriptionally coactivated and that transcripts rapidly accumulated within 6 to 12 h after the initiation of myoblast differentiation. The fast-isoform mRNAs of troponin I and troponin T were coexpressed at similar levels in different skeletal muscles, whereas the slow-cardiac troponin C mRNA varied independently and was the only one of these genes expressed in embryonic and adult heart. We conclude that these troponin genes are transcriptionally coactivated during skeletal myoblast differentiation, indicating that their transcription is under precise temporal control. However, this troponin C gene is regulated independently is specialized striated muscles.