The continuum of hybrid IIX/IIB fibers in normal mouse muscles: MHC isoform proportions and spatial distribution within single fibers

Although skeletal muscle fiber types are often defined as belonging to discrete categories, many muscles possess fibers with intermediate phenotypes. These hybrid fiber types can be identified by their expression of two or more myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms within the same single fiber. In mouse muscles, the most common hybrid fibers are those coexpressing the IIX and IIB MHC isoforms. In the present study, we focused on these IIX/IIB fibers from normal mouse muscles to determine the relative proportions of MHC isoforms at both the protein and mRNA levels and to examine the longitudinal distribution of isoforms within single fibers. We found that IIX/IIB hybrids represent ∼25 and 50% of the fibers in the mouse tibialis anterior and brachioradialis, respectively. The relative proportion of the IIX and IIB isoforms in these fibers spans a continuum, from predominantly IIB-like hybrids to IIX-like hybrids. Quantitative assessment of mRNA levels using real-time PCR from single fibers indicated that IIB expression dominated over IIX expression in most fibers and that a general correlation existed between mRNA isoform levels and MHC protein content. However, the match between mRNA levels and protein content was not precise. Finally, we measured MHC isoform proportions in adjacent fiber segments and discovered that ∼30% of hybrids possessed significant differences in isoform content along their length. In some instances, the muscle fiber type as defined by MHC content changed completely along the length of a fiber. This pattern of asymmetrical MHC isoform content along the length of single fibers suggests that the multiple myonuclei of a muscle fiber may express distinct myofibrillar isoforms in an uncoordinated fashion.