TITLE:
Changes in Myofibrillar and Mitochondrial Compartments during Increased Activity: Dependance from Oxidative Capacity of Muscle
AUTHORS:
Teet Seene, Priit Kaasik, Enn Seppet
KEYWORDS:
Striated Muscle Tissue, Oxidative Capacity, Mitochondrial and Myofibrillar Compartment, Increased Functional Activity
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.9 No.5,
May
17,
2017
ABSTRACT:
Striated muscle tissue contains fibers with high oxidative capacity (heart muscle), higher oxidative capacity (type I and IIA fibers of skeletal muscle) and low oxidative capacity (type IIB/X fibers of skeletal muscle). Muscle fibers with higher oxidative capacity contain large mitochondria tightly packed with cristae as well as small forms of mitochondria containing relatively few cristae. The intensive development of the mitochondrial apparatus in the post-activity period reflects the adaptive processes, which is intended to supply the increased energy requirements of muscle fibers with higher oxidative capacity. Muscle fibers with low oxidative capacity contain significantly less mitochondria than fibers with higher capacity. It is typical to type IIB fibers that after intensive muscle activity there are damaged myofibrils in a relatively small area, some myofibrils are twisted and lose the connection with the neighboring structures. It is still not fully known how skeletal muscles with different oxidative capacity respond to an increased functional activity and what differences exist in these fibers between oxidative capacity and function of myofibrils. The aim of the present short review was to compare structural-functional changes in mitochondrial and myofibrillar compartments of heart and skeletal muscle fibers with different oxidative capacity and the effect of increased functional activity on the interaction of these compartments.