Coordinate changes in C protein and myosin expression during skeletal muscle hypertrophy

In this study, two new C protein isoforms in adult rat skeletal muscle were resolved using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These isoforms migrated between previously identified fast (Cf) and slow (Cs) C protein isoforms; hence they were named intermediate C proteins (Ci1 and Ci2). Cyanogen bromide peptide mapping and Western blotting showed that the intermediate isoforms were more similar to Cs than Cf. The distribution of specific C protein and myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms was highly correlated in several hindlimb muscles, suggesting that the expression of these two thick-filament proteins is coordinated. This notion was tested by determining whether specific C protein and MHC isoforms change in parallel during muscle hypertrophy. Eight weeks after ablation of its synergists, the overloaded plantaris muscle showed significant increases in type IIa MHC and intermediate C protein, with corresponding decreases in type IIb MHC and Cf protein. These results indicate that C protein expression is linked to MHC expression during plantaris muscle hypertrophy.