Int. J. Dev. Biol. 35: 53 - 56 (1991)

Vol 35, Issue 1

Species- and muscle type-dependence of perinatal isomyosin transitions

Published: 1 March 1991

A D'Albis, C Janmot and R Couteaux

Laboratory of Physicochemical Biology, CNRS associate unit 1131, University Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.

Abstract

The progressive transition from developmental to adult myosin isoforms during perinatal development was quantified in four muscles (diaphragm, gastrocnemius medialis, masseter and tongue) of four mammals (guinea-pig, hamster, rabbit and rat). It was observed that the timing of transition varied for each muscle, and differed according to the mammal as well. This suggests that the synthesis of adult myosin isoforms may be partly related to the specialized contractile function of a given muscle in a given species.