Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “SPINAL CORD”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2025

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to Assess Changes to Trabecular Microarchitecture (Trb µArch) of the Hip

BACKGROUND . Calculated loss rates in trabecular (Trb) volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), in astronauts after return from 6-month long-duration (LD) spaceflight, are rapid relative to menopause-induced loss rates and could contribute to the observed lack of recovery. Perforations in the Trb bony struts, skeletal fragility and fractures [5] have been associated with the rapid rate of bone loss in women due to menopause. The more rapid loss rate observed in astronauts could be inducing similar, irreversible losses of trabecular connectivity as seen in cadaver studies of female skeletons. These changes are not detectable by DXA technology and would not be discovered in astronauts during scheduled, triennial DXA testing for primary osteoporosis. High-resolution-peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) of the lower leg have detected losses in Trb vBMD (vBMD) and changes in Trb microarchitecture (µArch) in astronauts immediately following routine 6-month spaceflights and continuing in some individuals for 1 or more years postflight with no signs of recovery. Resolution of these microarchitectural changes by whole body QCT, especially in the deeply embedded hip bone, is prohibitive due to excessive and unsafe radiation exposures. While HR-pQCT has sufficient resolution to study Trb µArch at safe and lower radiation exposure testing is restricted only to the lower leg and wrist. Hence, a technology to detect detrimental changes to Trb µArch in astronauts, especially of the hip, is needed to inform type and timing of countermeasures to irreversible deficits (preflight, inflight and postflight). METHODS . This HRP-funded study (2023-2027) will verify the sensitivity of a protocol for MRI scanning (on a 3T Siemens Vida) to detect changes to hip Trb µArch in persons following spinal cord injury (SCI); skeletal immobilization below the spinal lesion will serve as an analog for non-weight-bearing during spaceflight. The study period has been extended by 1 yr due to delayed Richmond IRB approval in Y1. A 3T MRI protocol will characterize serial changes in hip Trb µArch in SCI patients from time of admission at the Richmond VA Medical Center to their scheduled annual exam 12-months later. SCI patients with age, sex, and physical characteristics like ISS astronauts will be consented. The ability of 3T MRI hip scan to discriminate loss of trabecular connectivity subjects with SCI will be compared to age- and sex-matched ambulatory controls. A comparison between HR-pQCT and MRI measurements at the ankle (distal tibia) of study subjects will also be performed. A modified DXA scan analysis (3D-Shaper) will also be verified as a potential method for monitoring concurrent changes in hip Trb bone over 12-month. SIGNIFICANCE . Deliverables: a surveillance method for assessing for irreversible losses of connectivity and how skeletal changes after LD spaceflight(s) would modify the terrestrial risk of primary osteoporosis.

Spinal Cord Injury↗
NASA NTRS2025

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to Assess Changes to Trabecular Microarchitecture (Trb µArch) of the Hip

BACKGROUND . Calculated loss rates in trabecular (Trb) volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), in astronauts after return from 6-month long-duration (LD) spaceflight, are rapid relative to menopause-induced loss rates and could contribute to the observed lack of recovery. Perforations in the Trb bony struts, skeletal fragility and fractures [5] have been associated with the rapid rate of bone loss in women due to menopause. The more rapid loss rate observed in astronauts could be inducing similar, irreversible losses of trabecular connectivity as seen in cadaver studies of female skeletons. These changes are not detectable by DXA technology and would not be discovered in astronauts during scheduled, triennial DXA testing for primary osteoporosis. High-resolution-peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) of the lower leg have detected losses in Trb vBMD (vBMD) and changes in Trb microarchitecture (µArch) in astronauts immediately following routine 6-month spaceflights and continuing in some individuals for 1 or more years postflight with no signs of recovery. Resolution of these microarchitectural changes by whole body QCT, especially in the deeply embedded hip bone, is prohibitive due to excessive and unsafe radiation exposures. While HR-pQCT has sufficient resolution to study Trb µArch at safe and lower radiation exposure testing is restricted only to the lower leg and wrist. Hence, a technology to detect detrimental changes to Trb µArch in astronauts, especially of the hip, is needed to inform type and timing of countermeasures to irreversible deficits (preflight, inflight and postflight). METHODS . This HRP-funded study (2023-2027) will verify the sensitivity of a protocol for MRI scanning (on a 3T Siemens Vida) to detect changes to hip Trb µArch in persons following spinal cord injury (SCI); skeletal immobilization below the spinal lesion will serve as an analog for non-weight-bearing during spaceflight. The study period has been extended by 1 yr due to delayed Richmond IRB approval in Y1. A 3T MRI protocol will characterize serial changes in hip Trb µArch in SCI patients from time of admission at the Richmond VA Medical Center to their scheduled annual exam 12-months later. SCI patients with age, sex, and physical characteristics like ISS astronauts will be consented. The ability of 3T MRI hip scan to discriminate loss of trabecular connectivity subjects with SCI will be compared to age- and sex-matched ambulatory controls. A comparison between HR-pQCT and MRI measurements at the ankle (distal tibia) of study subjects will also be performed. A modified DXA scan analysis (3D-Shaper) will also be verified as a potential method for monitoring concurrent changes in hip Trb bone over 12-month. SIGNIFICANCE . Deliverables: a surveillance method for assessing for irreversible losses of connectivity and how skeletal changes after LD spaceflight(s) would modify the terrestrial risk of primary osteoporosis.

Risk Surveillance↗
NASA NTRS1995

Succinate dehydrogenase activity and soma size of motoneurons innervating different portions of the rat tibialis anterior

The spatial distribution, soma size and oxidative enzyme activity of gamma and alpha motoneurons innervating muscle fibres in the deep (away from the surface of the muscle) and superficial (close to the surface of the muscle) portions of the tibialis anterior in normal rats were determined. The deep portion had a higher percentage of high oxidative fibres than the superficial portion of the muscle. Motoneurons were labelled by retrograde neuronal transport of fluorescent tracers: Fast Blue and Nuclear Yellow were injected into the deep portion and Nuclear Yellow into the superficial portion of the muscle. Therefore, motoneurons innervating the deep portion were identified by both a blue fluorescent cytoplasm and a golden-yellow fluorescent nucleus, while motoneurons innervating the superficial portion were identified by only a golden-yellow fluorescent nucleus. After staining for succinate dehydrogenase activity on the same section used for the identification of the motoneurons, soma size and succinate dehydrogenase activity of the motoneurons were measured. The gamma and alpha motoneurons innervating both the deep and superficial portions were located primarily at L4 and were intermingled within the same region of the dorsolateral portion of the ventral horn in the spinal cord. Mean soma size was similar for either gamma or alpha motoneurons in the two portions of the muscle. The alpha motoneurons innervating the superficial portion had a lower mean succinate dehydrogenase activity than those innervating the deep portion of the muscle. An inverse relationship between soma size and succinate dehydrogenase activity of alpha, but not gamma, motoneurons innervating both the deep and superficial portions was observed. Based on three-dimensional reconstructions within the spinal cord, there were no apparent differences in the spatial distribution of the motoneurons, either gamma or alpha, associated with the deep and superficial compartments of the muscle. The data provide evidence for an interdependence in the oxidative capacity between a motoneuron and its target muscle fibres in two subpopulations of motoneurons from the same motor pool, i.e. the same muscle.

NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗
NASA NTRS1992

Inputs from regularly and irregularly discharging vestibular nerve afferents to secondary neurons in squirrel monkey vestibular nuclei. III. Correlation with vestibulospinal and vestibuloocular output pathways

1. A previous study measured the relative contributions made by regularly and irregularly discharging afferents to the monosynaptic vestibular nerve (Vi) input of individual secondary neurons located in and around the superior vestibular nucleus of barbiturate-anesthetized squirrel monkeys. Here, the analysis is extended to more caudal regions of the vestibular nuclei, which are a major source of both vestibuloocular and vestibulospinal pathways. As in the previous study, antidromic stimulation techniques are used to classify secondary neurons as oculomotor or spinal projecting. In addition, spinal-projecting neurons are distinguished by their descending pathways, their termination levels in the spinal cord, and their collateral projections to the IIIrd nucleus. 2. Monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) were recorded intracellularly from secondary neurons as shocks of increasing strength were applied to Vi. Shocks were normalized in terms of the threshold (T) required to evoke field potentials in the vestibular nuclei. As shown previously, the relative contribution of irregular afferents to the total monosynaptic Vi input of each secondary neuron can be expressed as a %I index, the ratio (x100) of the relative sizes of the EPSPs evoked by shocks of 4 x T and 16 x T. 3. Antidromic stimulation was used to type secondary neurons as 1) medial vestibulospinal tract (MVST) cells projecting to spinal segments C1 or C6; 2) lateral vestibulospinal tract (LVST) cells projecting to C1, C6; or L1; 3) vestibulooculo-collic (VOC) cells projecting both to the IIIrd nucleus and by way of the MVST to C1 or C6; and 4) vestibuloocular (VOR) neurons projecting to the IIIrd nucleus but not to the spinal cord. Most of the neurons were located in the lateral vestibular nucleus (LV), including its dorsal (dLV) and ventral (vLV) divisions, and adjacent parts of the medial (MV) and descending nuclei (DV). Cells receiving quite different proportions of their direct inputs from regular and irregular afferents were intermingled in all regions explored. 4. LVST neurons are restricted to LV and DV and show a somatotopic organization. Those destined for the cervical and thoracic cord come from vLV, from a transition zone between vLV and DV, and to a lesser extent from dLV. Lumbar-projecting neurons are located more dorsally in dLV and more caudally in DV. MVST neurons reside in MV and in the vLV-DV transition zone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS).

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
NASA NTRS1994

Human autonomic rhythms: vagal cardiac mechanisms in tetraplegic subjects

1. We studied eight young men (age range: 20-37 years) with chronic, clinically complete high cervical spinal cord injuries and ten age-matched healthy men to determine how interruption of connections between the central nervous system and spinal sympathetic motoneurones affects autonomic cardiovascular control. 2. Baseline diastolic pressures and R-R intervals (heart periods) were similar in the two groups. Slopes of R-R interval responses to brief neck pressure changes were significantly lower in tetraplegic than in healthy subjects, but slopes of R-R interval responses to steady-state arterial pressure reductions and increases were comparable. Plasma noradrenaline levels did not change significantly during steady-state arterial pressure reductions in tetraplegic patients, but rose sharply in healthy subjects. The range of arterial pressure and R-R interval responses to vasoactive drugs (nitroprusside and phenylephrine) was significantly greater in tetraplegic than healthy subjects. 3. Resting R-R interval spectral power at respiratory and low frequencies was similar in the two groups. During infusions of vasoactive drugs, low-frequency R-R interval spectral power was directly proportional to arterial pressure in tetraplegic patients, but was unrelated to arterial pressure in healthy subjects. Vagolytic doses of atropine nearly abolished both low- and respiratory-frequency R-R interval spectral power in both groups. 4. Our conclusions are as follows. First, since tetraplegic patients have significant levels of low-frequency arterial pressure and R-R interval spectral power, human Mayer arterial pressure waves may result from mechanisms that do not involve stimulation of spinal sympathetic motoneurones by brainstem neurones. Second, since in tetraplegic patients, low-frequency R-R interval spectral power is proportional to arterial pressure, it is likely to be mediated by a baroreflex mechanism. Third, since low-frequency R-R interval rhythms were nearly abolished by atropine in both tetraplegic and healthy subjects, these rhythms reflect in an important way rhythmic firing of vagal cardiac motoneurones.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1999

Firing behavior of vestibular neurons during active and passive head movements: vestibulo-spinal and other non-eye-movement related neurons

The firing behavior of 51 non-eye movement related central vestibular neurons that were sensitive to passive head rotation in the plane of the horizontal semicircular canal was studied in three squirrel monkeys whose heads were free to move in the horizontal plane. Unit sensitivity to active head movements during spontaneous gaze saccades was compared with sensitivity to passive head rotation. Most units (29/35 tested) were activated at monosynaptic latencies following electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral vestibular nerve. Nine were vestibulo-spinal units that were antidromically activated following electrical stimulation of the ventromedial funiculi of the spinal cord at C1. All of the units were less sensitive to active head movements than to passive whole body rotation. In the majority of cells (37/51, 73%), including all nine identified vestibulo-spinal units, the vestibular signals related to active head movements were canceled. The remaining units (n = 14, 27%) were sensitive to active head movements, but their responses were attenuated by 20-75%. Most units were nearly as sensitive to passive head-on-trunk rotation as they were to whole body rotation; this suggests that vestibular signals related to active head movements were cancelled primarily by subtraction of a head movement efference copy signal. The sensitivity of most units to passive whole body rotation was unchanged during gaze saccades. A fundamental feature of sensory processing is the ability to distinguish between self-generated and externally induced sensory events. Our observations suggest that the distinction is made at an early stage of processing in the vestibular system.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1994

Head-Down Tilt with Balanced Traction as a Model for Simulating Spinal Acclimation to Microgravity

Astronauts experience total body height increases of 4 to 7 cm in microgravity. Thus, stretching of the spinal cord, nerve roots, and muscular and ligamentous tissues may be responsible for the hyperreflexia, back pain, and muscular atrophy associated with exposure to microgravity. Axial compression of the spine makes 6 deg. head-down tilt (HDT) an unsuitable model for spinal acclimation to microgravity. However, this axial compression may be counteracted by balanced traction consisting of 10% body weight (sin 6 deg. = 0.1) applied to the legs. Six healthy male subjects underwent 3 days each of 60 HDT with balanced traction and horizontal bed rest (HBR), with a 2 week recovery period between treatments. Total body and spine length, lumbar disc height, back pain, erector spinae intramuscular pressure, and ankle joint torque were measured before, during and after each treatment. Total body and spine (processes of L5 - C7) lengths increased significantly more during HDT with balanced traction (22 +/- 8 mm and 25 +/- 8 mm, respectively) than during HBR (16 +/- 4 mm and 14 +/- 9 mm, respectively). Back and leg pain were significantly greater during HDT with balanced traction than during HBR. The distance between the lower end plate of L4 and the upper endplate of S1, as measured by sonography, increased significantly in both treatments to the same degree (2.9 +/- 1.9 mm, HDT with balanced traction; 3.3 +/- 1.5 mm, HBR). Intramuscular pressure of the erector spinae muscles and maximal ankle joint torque were unaltered with both models. While neither model increased height to the magnitude observed in microgravity, HDT with balanced traction may be a better model for simulating the body lengthening and back pain experienced in microgravity.

Ballard, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Contribution of oxygen-sensitive neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla to hypoxic cerebral vasodilatation in the rat

1. We sought to determine whether hypoxic stimulation of neurons of the rostral ventrolateral reticular nucleus (RVL) would elevate regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in anaesthetized paralysed rats. 2. Microinjection of sodium cyanide (NaCN; 150-450 pmol) into the RVL rapidly (within 1-2 s), transiently, dose-dependently and site-specifically elevated rCBF1 measured by laser Doppler flowmetry, by 61.3 +/- 22.1% (P < 0.01), increased arterial pressure (AP; +30 +/- 8 mmHg; P < 0.01)1 and triggered a synchronized 6 Hz rhythm of EEG activity. 3. Following cervical spinal cord transection, NaCN and also dinitrophenol (DNP) significantly (P < 0.05) elevated rCBF and synchronized the EEG but did not elevate AP; the response to NaCN was attenuated by hyperoxia and deepening of anaesthesia. 4. Electrical stimulation of NaCN-sensitive sites in the RVL in spinalized rats increased rCBF measured autoradiographically with 14C iodoantipyrine (Kety method) in the mid-line thalamus (by 182.3 +/- 17.2%; P < 0.05) and cerebral cortex (by 172.6 +/- 15.6%; P < 0.05) regions, respectively, directly or indirectly innervated by RVL neurons, and in the remainder of the brain. In contrast regional cerebral glucose utilization (rCGU), measured autoradiographically with 14C-2-deoxyglucose (Sokoloff method), was increased in proportion to rCBF in the mid-line thalamus (165.6 +/- 17.8%, P < 0.05) but was unchanged in the cortex. 5. Bilateral electrolytic lesions of NaCN sensitive sites of RVL, while not altering resting rCBF or the elevation elicited by hypercarbia (arterial CO2 pressure, Pa,CO2, approximately 69 mmHg), reduced the vasodilatation elicited by normocapnic hypoxaemia (arterial O2 pressure, Pa,O2, approximately 27 mmHg) by 67% (P < 0.01) and flattened the slope of the Pa,O2-rCBF response curve. 6. We conclude that the elevation of rCBF produced in the cerebral cortex by hypoxaemia is in large measure neurogenic, mediated trans-synaptically over intrinsic neuronal pathways, and initiated by excitation of oxygen sensitive neurons in the RVL.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2001

Crosstalk between p38, Hsp25 and Akt in spinal motor neurons after sciatic nerve injury

The p38 stress-activated protein kinase pathway is involved in regulation of phosphorylation of Hsp25, which in turn regulates actin filament dynamic in non-neuronal cells. We report that p38, Hsp25 and Akt signaling pathways were specifically activated in spinal motor neurons after sciatic nerve axotomy. The activation of the p38 kinase was required for induction of Hsp25 expression. Furthermore, Hsp25 formed a complex with Akt, a member of PI-3 kinase pathway that prevents neuronal cell death. Together, our observations implicate Hsp25 as a central player in a complex system of signaling that may both promote regeneration of nerve fibers and prevent neuronal cell death in the injured spinal cord.

NASA Discipline Developmental Biology↗
NASA NTRS2001

Vestibulospinal control of reflex and voluntary head movement

Secondary canal-related vestibulospinal neurons respond to an externally applied movement of the head in the form of a firing rate modulation that encodes the angular velocity of the movement, and reflects in large part the input "head velocity in space" signal carried by the semicircular canal afferents. In addition to the head velocity signal, the vestibulospinal neurons can carry a more processed signal that includes eye position or eye velocity, or both (see Boyle on ref. list). To understand the control signals used by the central vestibular pathways in the generation of reflex head stabilization, such as the vestibulocollic reflex (VCR), and the maintenance of head posture, it is essential to record directly from identified vestibulospinal neurons projecting to the cervical spinal segments in the alert animal. The present report discusses two key features of the primate vestibulospinal system. First, the termination morphology of vestibulospinal axons in the cervical segments of the spinal cord is described to lay the structural basis of vestibulospinal control of head/neck posture and movement. And second, the head movement signal content carried by the same class of secondary vestibulospinal neurons during the actual execution of the VCR and during self-generated, or active, rapid head movements is presented.

Review, Tutorial↗
NASA NTRS2002

The retinoic acid signaling pathway regulates anterior/posterior patterning in the nerve cord and pharynx of amphioxus, a chordate lacking neural crest

Amphioxus, the closest living invertebrate relative of the vertebrates, has a notochord, segmental axial musculature, pharyngeal gill slits and dorsal hollow nerve cord, but lacks neural crest. In amphioxus, as in vertebrates, exogenous retinoic acid (RA) posteriorizes the embryo. The mouth and gill slits never form, AmphiPax1, which is normally downregulated where gill slits form, remains upregulated and AmphiHox1 expression shifts anteriorly in the nerve cord. To dissect the role of RA signaling in patterning chordate embryos, we have cloned the single retinoic acid receptor (AmphiRAR), retinoid X receptor (AmphiRXR) and an orphan receptor (AmphiTR2/4) from amphioxus. AmphiTR2/4 inhibits AmphiRAR-AmphiRXR-mediated transactivation in the presence of RA by competing for DR5 or IR7 retinoic acid response elements (RAREs). The 5' untranslated region of AmphiTR2/4 contains an IR7 element, suggesting possible auto- and RA-regulation. The patterns of AmphiTR2/4 and AmphiRAR expression during embryogenesis are largely complementary: AmphiTR2/4 is strongly expressed in the cerebral vesicle (homologous to the diencephalon plus anterior midbrain), while AmphiRAR expression is high in the equivalent of the hindbrain and spinal cord. Similarly, while AmphiTR2/4 is expressed most strongly in the anterior and posterior thirds of the endoderm, the highest AmphiRAR expression is in the middle third. Expression of AmphiRAR is upregulated by exogenous RA and completely downregulated by the RA antagonist BMS009. Moreover, BMS009 expands the pharynx posteriorly; the first three gill slit primordia are elongated and shifted posteriorly, but do not penetrate, and additional, non-penetrating gill slit primordia are induced. Thus, in an organism without neural crest, initiation and penetration of gill slits appear to be separate events mediated by distinct levels of RA signaling in the pharyngeal endoderm. Although these compounds have little effect on levels of AmphiTR2/4 expression, RA shifts pharyngeal expression of AmphiTR2/4 anteriorly, while BMS009 extends it posteriorly. Collectively, our results suggest a model for anteroposterior patterning of the amphioxus nerve cord and pharynx, which is probably applicable to vertebrates as well, in which a low anterior level of AmphiRAR (caused, at least in part, by competitive inhibition by AmphiTR2/4) is necessary for patterning the forebrain and formation of gill slits, the posterior extent of both being set by a sharp increase in the level of AmphiRAR. Supplemental data available on-line.

NASA Discipline Evolutionary Biology↗
NASA NTRS1990

Glutamine synthetase immunoreactivity is present in oligodendroglia of various regions of the central nervous system

Glutamine synthetase immunoreactive oligodendrocytes were identified in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, brain stem, and spinal cord. They were mostly confined to the gray matter, particularly close to neurons and processes. The white matter showed few immunoreactive oligodendroglia. It was suggested that some type of oligodendrocytes, specially those in perineuronal location, might fulfill a functional role more akin to astrocytes than to the normally myelinating oligodendroglia.

Oligodendroglia/enzymology↗
NASA NTRS1998

Investigations of the Effects of Altered Vestibular System Function on Hindlimb Anti-Gravity Muscles

Exposure to different gravitational environments, both the microgravity of spaceflight and the hypergravity of centrifugation, result in altered vestibulo-spinal function which can be reversed by reacclimation to earth gravity (2). Control of orientation, posture, and locomotion are functions of the vestibular system which are altered by changes in gravitational environment. Not only is the vestibular system involved with coordination and proprioception, but the gravity sensing portion of the vestibular system also plays a major role in maintaining muscle tone through projections to spinal cord motoneurons that control anti-gravity muscles. I have been involved with investigations of several aspects of the link between vestibular inputs and muscle morphology and function during my work with Dr. Nancy Daunton this summer and the previous summer. We have prepared a manuscript for submission (4) to Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine based on work that I performed last summer in Dr. Daunton's lab. Techniques developed for that project will be utilized in subsequent experiments begun in the summer of 1998. I have been involved with the development of a pilot project to test the effects of vestibular galvanic stimulation (VGS) on anti-gravity muscles and in another project testing the effects of the ototoxic drug streptomycin on the otolith-spinal reflex and anti-gravity muscle morphology.

Lowery, Mary Sue↗
NASA NTRS2003

Development of vestibular afferent projections into the hindbrain and their central targets

In contrast to most other sensory systems, hardly anything is known about the neuroanatomical development of central projections of primary vestibular neurons and how their second order target neurons develop. Recent data suggest that afferent projections may develop not unlike other sensory systems, forming first the overall projection by molecular means followed by an as yet unspecified phase of activity mediated refinement. The latter aspect has not been tested critically and most molecules that guide the initial projection are unknown.The molecular and topological origin of the vestibular and cochlear nucleus neurons is also only partially understood. Auditory and vestibular nuclei form from several rhombomeres and a given rhombomere can contribute to two or more auditory or vestibular nuclei. Rhombomere compartments develop as functional subdivisions from a single column that extends from the hindbrain to the spinal cord. Suggestions are provided for the molecular origin of these columns but data on specific mutants testing these proposals are not yet available. Overall, the functional significance of both overlapping and segregated projections are not yet fully experimentally explored in mammals. Such lack of details of the adult organization compromises future developmental analysis.

Review↗
NASA NTRS2001

Skeletal muscle calcineurin: influence of phenotype adaptation and atrophy

Calcineurin (CaN) has been implicated as a signaling molecule that can transduce physiological stimuli (e.g., contractile activity) into molecular signals that initiate slow-fiber phenotypic gene expression and muscle growth. To determine the influence of muscle phenotype and atrophy on CaN levels in muscle, the levels of soluble CaN in rat muscles of varying phenotype, as assessed by myosin heavy chain (MHC)-isoform proportions, were determined by Western blotting. CaN levels were significantly greater in the plantaris muscle containing predominantly fast (IIx and IIb) MHC isoforms, compared with the soleus (predominantly type I MHC) or vastus intermedius (VI, contains all 4 adult MHC isoforms). Three months after a complete spinal cord transection (ST), the CaN levels in the VI muscle were significantly reduced, despite a significant increase in fast MHC isoforms. Surprisingly, the levels of CaN in the VI were highly correlated with muscle mass but not MHC isoform proportions in ST and control rats. These data demonstrate that CaN levels in skeletal muscle are highly correlated to muscle mass and that the normal relationship with phenotype is lost after ST.

NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗
NASA NTRS1998

Effects of inactivity on myosin heavy chain composition and size of rat soleus fibers

Myosin heavy chain (MHC) and fiber size properties of the adult rat soleus were determined after 4-60 days of complete inactivity, i.e., lumbar spinal cord isolation. Soleus atrophy was rapid and progressive, i.e., 25% and 64% decrease in weight and 33% and 75% decrease in fiber size after 4 and 60 days of inactivity, respectively. Changes in MHC occurred at a slower rate than the atrophic response. After 15 days there was de novo expression of type IIx MHC (approximately 10%). By 60 days, type IIx MHC accounted for 33% of the total MHC content, and 7% of the fibers contained only type IIx MHC. The relative amount of type I MHC was reduced from 93% in control to 49% after 60 days of inactivity. Therefore, the effects of 60 days of inactivity suggest that during this time period at least 75% of fiber size and approximately 40% of type I MHC composition of the adult rat soleus can be attributed to activation-related events.

Non-NASA Center↗