Bortolotto, Susan Kate (2000) A study of biochemical and physiological properties of normal and functionally impaired skeletal muscles. PhD thesis, Victoria University of Technology.

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to increase our understanding of the diversity and plasticity of skeletal muscle by using (i) normal and functionally impaired rat muscles from normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats, (ii) single, skinned fibre preparations, and (iii) a combination of biochemical [SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analyses of Myosin Heavy Chain (MHC) isoform composition in single fibres and whole muscle homogenates] and physiological (single fibre measurements of contractile activation characteristics and caffeine thresholds for contraction) methods. From the beginning of this work it became clear, however, that the number of different protocols used for electrophoretic separation of MHC isoforms was almost as high as the number of studies using this method. Furthermore, all gel systems described so far in the literature proved to have a relatively low reproducibility in this and other laboratories. Finally, there was no published study in which the impact of changing different electrophoretic parameters on MHC isoform separation was examined in a systematic manner. Thus, some efforts had to be also directed towards closing this knowledge gap.

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