Mechanisms of muscle gene regulation in the electric organ of Sternopygus macrurus.

ABSTRACT: Animals perform a remarkable diversity of movements through the coordinated mechanical contraction of skeletal muscle. This capacity for a wide range of movements is due to the presence of muscle cells with a very plastic phenotype that display many different biochemical, physiological and morphological properties. What factors influence the maintenance and plasticity of differentiated muscle fibers is a fundamental question in muscle biology. We have exploited the remarkable potential of skeletal muscle cells of the gymnotiform electric fish Sternopygus macrurus to trans-differentiate into electrocytes, the non-contractile electrogenic cells of the electric organ (EO), to investigate the mechanisms that regulate the skeletal muscle phenotype. In S. macrurus, mature electrocytes possess a

SUBMITTER: Guth R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3680507 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature