%0 Journal Article
%T Characterisation of the sarcomeric myosin heavy chain multigene family in the laboratory guinea pig
%A Daniel P Tonge
%A Simon W Jones
%A Ronald G Bardsley
%A Tim Parr
%J BMC Molecular Biology
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2199-11-52
%X The purpose of this study was to characterise the multigenic structure of the sarcomeric MHC family in the guinea pig, and to design and validate specific oligonucleotide primers to enable the assessment of the predominant adult-muscle associated MHC mRNAs in relevant disease models.Using a combination of ligase-mediated rapid amplification of 5' and 3' cDNA ends (RACE) and bioinformatics, mRNAs to the four main skeletal-muscle isoforms of MHC were determined. Specific oligonucleotide primers were designed, and following verification of their specificity, found to successfully determine the expression of each MHC mRNA independently.Because of their utilisation in the in vivo modelling of disease, there is a requirement to develop molecular methods that accurately differentiate the different MHC mRNAs in the guinea pig to enable rapid profiling of muscle composition in appropriate disease models. The methods developed here are suitable for the characterisation of muscle MHC expression at the molecular level from animal tissue samples and biopsy material. The publication of these specific oligonucleotide primers for the guinea pig MHC variants will enable researchers to rapidly and accurately quantify acute changes in MHC mRNA expression in either developmental or in guinea pig disease models where a marker of altered skeletal muscle function is required.Skeletal muscle tissue is able to adapt to various stimuli including neuronal, hormonal, mechanical and nutritional signals [1]. Termed "plasticity", this process of adaption is made possible, in part, by the existence of multiple isoforms of myosin heavy chain (MHC), which comprise a family of molecular motors able to modulate the speed of skeletal muscle contraction [1]. The sarcomeric MHC family consists of at least eleven isoforms, eight of which are encoded by distinct genes located in two multigenic regions on two separate chromosomes [2]. Six genes are encoded by a 300 - 600 Kb segment on human and mouse chromo
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2199/11/52