Regulation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration and meat quality in pigs

The meat quality of pigs is essentially dependent on the rate and intensity of energy metabolism after slaughter. The major cellular processes in muscle cells are regulated by the Ca2+ concentration in the cytoplasm, stimulating different energy consuming ATPases. The most essential regulator of the Ca2+ concentration is the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) with its membranes, the SR Ca2+ ATPase (Ca2+ pump), and the calcium release channel (CRC). Defects of one or more of these elements will be of influence on the metabolism and ultimately on the meat quality. This is widely investigated in pigs with a mutated CRC. However, pigs without a mutation in the CRC also show a wide variability in their meat quality, dependent on other factors e.g. stress or season of the year. The variability in meat quality in these "normal" pigs is at least partly a result of differences in SR Ca2+ transport and the resulting metabolism.