TYPE AND REGIONAL DIVERSITY IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF MYOSIN HEAVY-CHAINS IN CHICKEN INTRAFUSAL MUSCLE-FIBERS

Background: Chicken intrafusal fibers were classified on the basis of their myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition, which was compared to that of mammalian nuclear bag and nuclear chain types. Methods: Immunoreactivities of intrafusal fibers from leg muscles of 8-week-old chickens were evaluated in serial cross-sections after incubation with monoclonal antibodies against slow-twitch, slow-tonic, or fast-twitch MHC and fast muscle C-protein. Results: Four categories of slow intrafusal fiber could be distinguished on the basis of differential expression of slow-twitch and slow-tonic MHC. Segregation into types was most evident at the motor axon supplied pole, followed by the sensory region of the equator. Fiber types were least distinct at the juxtaequator where sensory and motor axons meet. Intrafusal fibers negative for slow myosins reacted with anti-fast myosins. Fast fibers were best viewed as a single group without subdivisions. Immunostaining for fast muscle C-protein paralleled in large part reactivities for neonatal/fast MHC, indicating that proteins other than MHC are useful fiber type markers. Conclusions: Despite regional changes along the length of intrafusal fibers and some variation within fiber types, the concept of separate MHC-based fiber types was valid as long as typing of fibers was restricted to the proximal polar region. Comparisons of MHC profiles revealed similarities between chicken fast intrafusal fibers and mammalian nuclear chain fibers and between some chicken slow intrafusal fibers and mammalian nuclear bag fibers. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.