The effect of load on the phenotype of the developing rat soleus muscle

In newborn Wistar rats the load on the soleus muscle was reduced by removing the tibialis anterior (TA) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles. Eighteen days later the soleus muscles were removed from both the operated and control legs and examined physiologically and histologically. The time course of twitch contraction of the soleus on the operated side was not significantly different from that of control muscles, but the muscles developed less tension. The decreased tension was consistent with a smaller number of muscle fibres. Histochemical and immunocytochemical examination showed that in the operated muscle, fewer fibres reacted with an antibody against slow myosin, while the number of fibres that reacted for alkali-preincubated ATPase, indicative of neonatal or adult fast myosin, was increased. Some fibres expressed both types of myosin. These findings suggest that a reduced load delays the phenotypic expression of slow myosin isoform in the developing soleus muscle.