Suppression of collagen Q expression in the extrajunctional regions of rat fast muscles is encoded in their stem cells (satellite cells)

In rat fast muscles, collagen Q (ColQ) expression is restricted to the neuromuscular junctions. In contrast, it is high also extrajunctionally in the slow soleus muscles. Fast muscles activated by chronic low-frequency electrical stimulation, similar to neural activation of the soleus muscles, did not increase their extrajunctional expression of ColQ. We assumed that the myogenic stem cells (satellite cells) in fast and slow muscles were intrinsically different in regard to the capacity that they convey to their respective muscle fibers to increase the extrajunctional ColQ expression upon innervation. ColQ mRNA levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Extensive neural suppression of the extrajunctional ColQ expression in regenerating fast muscles during maturation is a very slow process requiring 30–60days. If the immature regenerating fast EDL muscles were indirectly or directly electrically stimulated immediately after innervation by chronic low-frequency impulse pattern for 8days, no significant increase of the extrajunctional ColQ mRNA levels was observed in stimulated regenerates in comparison to non-stimulated ones. In contrast, the extrajunctional ColQ mRNA levels in the regenerates of the soleus muscles, trans-innervated by the EDL nerve at the time of muscle injury, increased 4- to 5-fold after 8days of the same chronic low-frequency electrical stimulation in comparison to those in the stimulated EDL regenerates. Since both fast and slow muscles completely regenerated only from their own myogenic stem cells and were innervated by the same nerve and later activated by the same tonic pattern of impulses, these results demonstrated that the mechanism causing incapacity of regenerating fast muscles to increase their extrajunctional ColQ expression upon tonic activation is encoded in their satellite cells, which in this respect differ from those in the slow muscles.