ArticleFrontiers in physiology2020
Changes in Gene Expression of the MCU Complex Are Induced by Electrical Stimulation in Adult Skeletal Muscle.
Article in Frontiers in physiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent advances in electroactive biomaterials and electrical stimulation for skeletal muscle regeneration: materials, strategies, and mechanistic insights.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- MCU complex: Exploring emerging targets and mechanisms of mitochondrial physiology and pathology.Journal of advanced research · 2025Review
- Energy (and Reactive Oxygen Species Generation) Saving Distribution of Mitochondria for the Activation of ATP Production in Skeletal Muscle.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The slow calcium transient triggered by low-frequency electrical stimulation (ES) in adult muscle fibers and regulated by the extracellular ATP/IP3/IP3R pathway has been related to muscle plasticity. A regulation of muscular tropism associated with the MCU has also been described. However, the role of transient cytosolic calcium signals and signaling pathways related to muscle plasticity over the regulation of gene expression of the MCU complex (MCU, MICU1, MICU2, and EMRE) in adult skeletal muscle is completely unknown. In the present work, we show that 270 0.3-ms-long pulses at 20-Hz ES (and not at 90 Hz) transiently decreased the mRNA levels of the MCU complex in mice flexor digitorum brevis isolated muscle fibers. Importantly, when ATP released after 20-Hz ES is hydrolyzed by the enzyme apyrase, the repressor effect of 20 Hz on mRNA levels of the MCU complex is lost. Accordingly, the exposure of muscle fibers to 30 μM exogenous ATP produces the same effect as 20-Hz ES. Moreover, the use of apyrase in resting conditions (without ES) increased mRNA levels of MCU, pointing out the importance of extracellular ATP concentration over MCU mRNA levels. The use of xestospongin B (inhibitor of IP3 receptors) also prevented the decrease of mRNA levels of MCU, MICU1, MICU2, and EMRE mediated by a low-frequency ES. Our results show that the MCU complex can be regulated by electrical stimuli in a frequency-dependent manner. The changes observed in mRNA levels may be related to changes in the mitochondria, associated with the phenotypic transition from a fast- to a slow-type muscle, according to the described effect of this stimulation frequency on muscle phenotype. The decrease in mRNA levels of the MCU complex by exogenous ATP and the increase in MCU levels when basal ATP is reduced with the enzyme apyrase indicate that extracellular ATP may be a regulator of the MCU complex. Moreover, our results suggest that this regulation is part of the axes linking low-frequency stimulation with ATP/IP3/IP3R.
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