Indirect myosin immunocytochemistry for the identification of fibre types in equine skeletal muscle.

The research paper explores how the use of indirect myosin immunocytochemistry can help in identifying fibre types in equine skeletal muscle. The authors compare this technique with the traditional histochemical ATPase technique, revealing a coexistence of myosin heavy chains in individual equine muscle fibres. The research, however, didn’t succeed in subdividing type II fibres.

Introduction

• The histochemical ATPase method is a well-known technique for muscle fibre typing. This method was initially defined by Brooke and Kaiser in 1970.
• The researchers highlighted that there have been difficulties in subdividing type II fibres using the conventional histochemical ATPase technique.

Objective of the Study

• The research aimed to investigate if indirect myosin immunocytochemistry – using anti-slow (5-4D), anti-fast (1A10) and anti-fast red (5-2B) monoclonal antibodies with cross-reactions for type I, II and IIa fibres across several species – could successfully identify three fibre types in equine skeletal muscle.

Methodology

• To evaluate the effectiveness of both techniques, fibre type composition and fibre size data obtained from them were contrasted.

Findings

• The results indicated that different myosin heavy chains could coexist in single equine muscle fibres.
• Through immunocytochemistry, type I and type II fibres were successfully identified, but the subdivision of type II fibres could not be achieved.
• On comparison, the percentage of type I and type II fibres showed no significant difference between both the techniques, but the monoclonal antibodies 1A10 and 5-4D were found reactive with a few fibres.