Bardouille C, Vullhorst D, Jockusch H
Developmental Biology Unit, University of Bielefeld, Germany.
FEBS Lett. 1996 Nov 4;396(2-3):177-80. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(96)01098-8.
The chloride channel CIC-1 is required to maintain a normal excitability of mature muscle fibers; its blockade leads to hyperexcitability, the hallmark of the disease myotonia. In mouse and rat myotubes, representing the embryonic stage of muscle, CIC-1 mRNA is not detectable by Northern blotting. From neonatal to adult, CIC-1 expression increases at least fourfold. Using RT-PCR and hybridization on cultured myotubes we found CIC-1 mRNA at a level of 0.4-1.1% of that in mature mouse muscle, and < or = 0.01% in myoblasts, at stages when desmin mRNA levels are already high. The level of CIC-1 mRNA is thus a sensitive and specific indicator of the maturation of skeletal muscle cells.
