title: Gene Expression Profiling in Slow-Type Calf Soleus Muscle of 30 Days Space-Flown Mice.
abstract: Microgravity exposure as well as chronic disuse are two main causes of skeletal muscle atrophy in animals and humans. The antigravity calf soleus is a reference postural muscle to investigate the mechanism of disuse-induced maladaptation and plasticity of human and rodent (rats or mice) skeletal musculature. Here, we report microgravity-induced global gene expression changes in space-flown mouse skeletal muscle and the identification of yet unknown disuse susceptible transcripts found in soleus (a mainly slow phenotype) but not in extensor digitorum longus (a mainly fast phenotype dorsiflexor as functional counterpart to soleus). Adult C57Bl/N6 male mice (n = 5) flew aboard a biosatellite for 30 days on orbit (BION-M1 mission, 2013), a sex and age-matched cohort were housed in standard vivarium cages (n = 5), or in a replicate flight habitat as ground control (n = 5). Next to disuse atrophy signs (reduced size and myofiber phenotype I to II type shift) as much as 680 differentially expressed genes were found in the space-flown soleus, and only 72 in extensor digitorum longus (only 24 genes in common) compared to ground controls. Altered expression of gene transcripts matched key biological processes (contractile machinery, calcium homeostasis, muscle development, cell metabolism, inflammatory and oxidative stress response). Some transcripts (Fzd9, Casq2, Kcnma1, Ppara, Myf6) were further validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Besides previous reports on other leg muscle types we put forth for the first time a complete set of microgravity susceptible gene transcripts in soleus of mice as promising new biomarkers or targets for optimization of physical countermeasures and rehabilitation protocols to overcome disuse atrophy conditions in different clinical settings, rehabilitation and spaceflight.
authors.affiliation: Center for Space Medicine Berlin, Neuromuscular Group, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Vegetative Anatomy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gambara
authors.affiliation: Center for Space Medicine Berlin, Neuromuscular Group, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Vegetative Anatomy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salanova
authors.affiliation: Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy.|Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciciliot
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furlan
authors.affiliation: Center for Space Medicine Berlin, Neuromuscular Group, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Vegetative Anatomy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutsmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Space Medicine Berlin, Neuromuscular Group, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Vegetative Anatomy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schiffl
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Genomics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ungethuem
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Pompeo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Volpe
authors.affiliation: Centre for Space Medicine, Department for Physiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanns-Christian
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Gunga
authors.affiliation: Center for Space Medicine Berlin, Neuromuscular Group, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Vegetative Anatomy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blottner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D018657:Muscle Fibers, Slow-Twitch / Q000378:metabolism*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013026:Space Flight; D013997:Time Factors; D014893:Weightlessness / Q000009:adverse effects