Distribution and Expression of Vimentin and Desmin in Broiler Pectoralis major Affected by the Growth-Related Muscular Abnormalities

Abstract

Desmin (DES) and Vimentin (VIM) exert an essential role in maintaining muscle cytoarchitecture and since are considered reliable markers for muscle regeneration, their expression has been extensively investigated in dystrophic muscles. Thus, exhibiting features similar to those of human dystrophic muscles, the present study aimed at assessing the distribution of VIM and DES proteins and the expression of the corresponding genes in Pectoralis major muscles affected by white striping (WS), wooden breast (WB), and spaghetti meat (SM) abnormalities as well as in those having macroscopically normal appearance (NORM). For this purpose, 20 Pectoralis major muscles (5/group) were collected from the same flock of fast-growing broilers to perform immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and gene expression. Immunohistochemical analyses showed an increased number of fibers immunoreactive to both VIM and DES in WS and WB, while only a few immunoreactive fibers were observed in NORM. Concerning the protein level, if compared with NORM, a 55% increase in VIM content was found in WB affected cases (P < 0.05) thus suggesting the development of intense regenerative processes in an early-stage within these muscles. The significantly higher amount of DES (+53%) found in WS might be attributed to a progression of the regenerative processes that require its synthesis to preserve the structural organization of the developing fibers. On the other hand, significantly lower VIM and DES contents were found in SM. About gene expression, VIM mRNA levels gradually increased from the NORM to the SM group, with significantly higher gene expressions in WB and SM samples compared to the NORM group (P = 0.009 for WB vs. NORM and P = 0.004 for SM vs. NORM). Similarly, the expression of DES gene showed an increase from the NORM to WB group (P = 0.05). Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that intense regenerative processes take place in both WB and WS muscles although a different progression of regeneration might be hypothesized. On the other hand, the lack of correspondence between VIM gene expression and its protein product observed in SM suggests that VIM may also exert a role in the development of the SM phenotype.

Fiber Metabolism, Procollagen and Collagen Type III Immunoreactivity in Broiler Pectoralis Major Affected by Muscle Abnormalities

“…On the other hand, when compared to NORM, the 10% increase in the CSA of the fibers observed in WS and SM after reacting to α-GPD may be explained by considering the intense regenerative processes taking place in these muscles. Indeed, although the occurrence of muscle regeneration has been demonstrated to occur in WS, WB, and SM muscles, a different progression of this condition has been recently hypothesized, with WS being considered at a later stage of regeneration when compared to WB [13]. The findings of the present study seem to support this hypothesis-WS, seems to be in an advanced step of regeneration in which the diameter of the regenerated fibers is similar to that of the pre-existing ones and thus larger.…”

“…Twenty PM muscles were collected 3 hours post-mortem from the same flock of fast-growing broilers farmed and slaughtered under commercial conditions (Ross 308, males, 45 day-olds slaughtered at 3.0 kg live weight). The PM (5 per group) were classified according to their macroscopic features as NORM, WS, WB, or SM following the criteria adopted in our previous studies [13]. In detail, in order to avoid any interference, we did not consider muscles that were concurrently affected by more than one defect (i.e., combined WS/WB and WS/SM), and only severe cases were sampled.…”

“…Samples for histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses were excised from the superficial section of the cranial portion of the PM according to the procedure described in our previous study [13], quickly frozen in isopentane (cooled with liquid nitrogen), and stored at −80 • C until processing. Serial cross-sections (10 µm thick) were cut on a cryostat microtome at −20 • C and mounted on poly-L-lysine-coated glass slides (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA).…”

Characterization of Pectoralis Major Muscle Satellite Cell Population Heterogeneity, Macrophage Density, and Collagen Infiltration in Broiler Chickens Affected by Wooden Breast

“…proteomic gene expression profiles in which dysregulation of various metabolic and muscle maintenance pathways have been observed (Mutryn et al, 2015;Abasht et al, 2016;Soglia et al, 2016Soglia et al, , 2019Kuttappan et al, 2017;Brothers et al, 2019;Greene et al, 2019).…”

Altered Sarcomeric Structure and Function in Woody Breast Myopathy of Avian Pectoralis Major Muscle

“…The proper assembly and organization of the basic contractile units in each myofibril have critical roles in the morphology and, most importantly, the function of muscle fibers. It is also important to note that the structure and mechanical function of the sarcomere can feedback on the growth and adaptation of the muscle structure/function, with significant contacts between the cytoskeleton and signaling pathways involved in the maintenance of the cellular structure (e.g., titin in the sarcomere, Lange et al, 2005; vimentin and desmin in the cytoskeleton, Paulin and Li, 2004;Soglia et al, 2020); dystrophin in the dystroglycan complex (Rahimov and Kunkel, 2013). It is therefore relevant to gain more knowledge regarding the structural characteristics and function of the contractile apparatus in the woody breast muscle, since it will help us to understand how this myopathy influences muscle function in vivo, and cast light on mechanisms underlying the muscle dystrophy disease development in general.…”