Neural regulation of parvalbumin expression in mammalian skeletal muscle

Parvalbumin was purified from rabbit fast skeletal muscle and used to raise antibodies in sheep. Subsequently, a sensitive 'sandwich' enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay permitted quantification of parvalbumin in homogenates of embryonic, maturing, innervated, denervated and chronically stimulated skeletal muscles of the rabbit. High concentrations of parvalbumin were detected in various adult fast-twitch muscles of the rabbit (700-1200 micrograms/g of muscle), whereas slow-twitch muscles contained negligible concentrations (3-5 micrograms/g of muscle). Parvalbumin was not detectable in embryonic-rabbit muscles (21, 25, 28 days of gestation), either presumptive fast- or slow-twitch. However, parvalbumin concentrations did increase during postnatal development in presumptive fast-twitch muscles. Thus the onset of parvalbumin synthesis appears to be correlated with the neonatal-to-adult transition of motor-neuron activity [Navarrete & Vrbová (1983) Dev. Brain Res. 8, 11-19]. The increase of parvalbumin in maturing, presumptive fast-twitch muscle was suppressed by denervation. In the adult rabbit, denervation of the tibialis anterior muscle caused a reduction of parvalbumin to a level normally found in slow-twitch muscles. In contrast, the already low levels of parvalbumin in maturing and adult slow-twitch soleus muscle were unaffected by denervation. Chronic low-frequency stimulation of adult fast-twitch muscle resulted in a rapid reduction of parvalbumin to a level normally found in slow-twitch muscle. These data support the hypothesis that the expression of parvalbumin is under positive control of fast-type motor-neuron activity.