Expression of chloride channel 1 mRNA in cultured myogenic cells: a marker of myotube maturation.
The chloride channel CIC-1 is required to maintain a normal excitability of mature muscle fibers; its blockade leads to hyperexcitability, the hallmark of the disease myotonia. In mouse and rat myotubes, representing the embryonic stage of muscle, CIC-1 mRNA is not detectable by Northern blotting. From neonatal to adult, CIC-1 expression increases at least fourfold. Using RT-PCR and hybridization on cultured myotubes we found CIC-1 mRNA at a level of 0.4-1.1% of that in mature mouse muscle, and < or = 0.01% in myoblasts, at stages when desmin mRNA levels are already high. The level of CIC-1 mRNA is thus a sensitive and specific indicator of the maturation of skeletal muscle cells.
Developmental Biology Unit, University of Bielefeld, Germany.
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Bardouille
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Vullhorst
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Jockusch
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015870:Gene Expression; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
C086321:CLC-1 channel; D018118:Chloride Channels; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger