Myosin ATPase activity during avian cardiac and skeletal muscle development.

The myosin ATPase activity and myosin light chain composition in developing chick heart and skeletal muscles were studied and compared. Embryonic myosin was purified and characterized from day 7 to day 19 of embryogenesis. Embryonic cardiac myosin generally showed the same Ca2+-activated myosin ATPase activity level as the adult value. In comparison, pooled pectoralis and hindlimb skeletal muscles from day 10 through day 19 showed myosin ATPase activities that were all significantly less than the adult counterpart. The myosin light chain pattern of embryonic cardiac myosin remained relatively constant like the myosin ATPase activity, whereas developmental changes were observed in skeletal myosin light chains.