Int. J. Dev. Biol. 56: 301 - 309 (2012)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.113327lp

Vol 56, Issue 4

Sarcosin (Krp1) in skeletal muscle differentiation: gene expression profiling and knockdown experiments

Developmental Expression Pattern | Published: 23 April 2012

Leonie du Puy¹, Abdelaziz Beqqali², Helena T.A. van Tol¹, Jantine Monshouwer-Kloots², Robert Passier², Henk P. Haagsman³ and Bernard A.J. Roelen*^,1,4

¹Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, ²Department of Anatomy & Embryology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, ³Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht and ⁴Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Abstract

SARCOSIN, also named Krp1, has been identified as a protein exclusively expressed in striated muscle tissue. Here we report on the role of SARCOSIN in skeletal muscle development and differentiation. We demonstrate, by means of whole-mount in situ hybridization, that Sarcosin mRNA is expressed in the myotome part of the mature somites in mouse embryos from embryonic day 9.5 onwards. Sarcosin is not expressed in the developing heart at these embryonic stages, and in adult tissues the mRNA expression levels are five times lower in the heart than in skeletal muscle. SARCOSIN protein partially co-localizes with the M-band protein myomesin and between and below laterally fusing myofibrils in adult skeletal muscle tissue. RNA interference mediated knock-down of SARCOSIN in the C2C12 myoblast cell line appeared to be stimulatory in the early phase of differentiation, but inhibitory at a later phase of differentiation.

Keywords

mouse, skeletal muscle, sarcosin, differentiation, RNAi