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Is fiber-type composition related to daily jaw muscle activity during postnatal development?

G E J Langenbach1, T van Wessel, P Brugman

  • 1Department of Functional Anatomy, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Universiteit van Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. g.e.langenbach@amc.uva.nl

Cells, Tissues, Organs
|December 20, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Muscle fiber type development in rabbits is not primarily driven by daily activity levels. Other factors appear more influential in determining muscle composition during growth.

Area of Science:

  • Muscle physiology
  • Developmental biology
  • Animal models

Background:

  • Muscle fiber-type composition influences muscle activity.
  • It is hypothesized that muscle activity and fiber-type composition are interdependent during development and in individual variations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between muscle fiber-type composition and daily activity in developing rabbits.
  • To determine if changes in fiber-type composition correlate with changes in daily activity during postnatal development.
  • To examine individual variations in fiber-type composition and their relation to daily muscle activity.

Main Methods:

  • Examined masseter and digastric muscles of 23 New Zealand White rabbits (young, juvenile, adult).
  • Assessed muscle phenotype via myosin heavy chain content.
  • Quantified daily activity by counting total daily activity bursts.

Main Results:

  • The masseter showed a significant increase in fast-type fibers and activity bursts during development.
  • The digastric muscle exhibited no significant changes in fiber types or activity bursts.
  • No significant correlations were found between fiber types and daily burst numbers within muscles across age groups.

Conclusions:

  • Activity-related influences appear to be of minor importance in determining muscle fiber-type composition during development.
  • Other factors are likely dominant in shaping fiber-type composition during postnatal growth.
Abstract

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