This protocol describes the use of the chronic contractile activity model of exercise to observe stimulation-induced skeletal muscle adaptations in the rat hindlimb.
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Method Article
Application of Chronic Stimulation to Study Contractile Activity-induced Rat Skeletal Muscle Phenotypic Adaptations
In This Article
Summary
Abstract
Skeletal muscle is a highly adaptable tissue, as its biochemical and physiological properties are greatly altered in response to chronic exercise. To investigate the underlying mechanisms that bring about various muscle adaptations, a number of exercise protocols such as treadmill, wheel running, and swimming exercise have been used in the animal studies. However, these exercise models require a long period of time to achieve muscle adaptations, which may be also regulated by humoral or neurological factors, thus limiting their applications in studying the muscle-specific contraction-induced adaptations. Indirect low frequency stimulation (10 Hz) to induce chronic contractile activity (CCA) has been used as an alternative model for exercise training, as it can successfully lead to muscle mitochondrial adaptations within 7 days, independent of systemic factors. This paper details the surgical techniques required to apply the treatment of CCA to the skeletal muscle of rats, for widespread application in future studies.
Introduction
Skeletal muscle can adapt to exercise training through changes in its bioenergetics and physical structure1. One of the major alterations brought about by endurance training is mitochondrial biogenesis, which can be evaluated by an increase in the expression of mitochondrial components (e.g., cytochrome c oxidase [COX] subunits), as well as the expression of the transcriptional coactivator, PGC-1α2. A growing number of studies have indicated that numerous other factors, including mitochondrial turnover and mitophagy, are also important for muscle adaptations. However, the mechanisms by which acute or chroni....
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Protocol
All animal-related procedures were reviewed and approved by the York University Animal Care Committee. Upon arrival at the animal facility at York University, all rats were given a minimum of five days to acclimatize to their environment prior to the surgical procedure, with food provided ad libitum. Although this protocol has been previously applied to other species15,17,22, the current paper builds on the pioneering work of Pette and colleagues23 and focuses on the rat model, specifically.
1. Preparation of Chronic ....
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Results
We have shown that chronic contractile activity (CCA) is an effective tool to induce favorable mitochondrial adaptations within skeletal muscle. Rats subjected to 7 days of CCA (6 h per day) display enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in the stimulated muscle as compared to the unstimulated contralateral (control) hindlimb. This increase in mitochondrial biogenesis is indicated by increased protein expression of PGC-1α (Figure 3A), considered the master regulat.......
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Discussion
The chronic contractile activity (CCA) model of exercise, through low-frequency muscle stimulation in vivo, is an excellent model for studying muscle phenotypic adaptations to exercise13,24,25,26. As shown in previous studies20,27, CCA is an effective tool by which researchers can control training volumes and frequencies (i.......
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Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Liam Tyron for his expert reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to D. A. Hood. D. A. Hood is also the holder of a Canada Research Chair in Cell Physiology.
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Materials
| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprague Dawley Rat | Charles River | Strain 400 | |
| Chronic contractile activity unit | Home-made | n/a | |
| CCA unit protective box (3.5 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm) | Home-made | n/a | Box should be made of opaque material or covered in an opague tape |
| Coin lithium ion batteries (3V) | Panasonic | CR2016 | |
| Medwire | Leico Industries | 316SS7/44T | |
| Solder pin (socket) | Digi-Key | ED6218-ND | |
| Zonas porous tape | Johnson & Johnson | 5104 | |
| Suture silk (Size 5) | Ethicon | 640G | |
| Suture silk (Size 6) | Ethicon | 706G | |
| Curved blunt scissor (11.5 cm Length) | F.S.T. | 14075-11 | |
| Curved blunt scissor (15 cm Length) | F.S.T. | 14111-15 | |
| Delicate haemostatic forceps (16 cm Length) | Lawton | 06-0230 | |
| Scalpel | Feather | 3 | |
| Curved forceps | F.S.T. | 11052-10 | |
| Stainless-steel rod (30 cm; 7mm diameter) | Home-made | n/a | Rod should have 5 mm slit in one end to hold the wire for tunneling under the skin |
| Clip applying forceps | KLS Martin | 20-916-12 | |
| Staples (clips) | Bbraun | BN507R | |
| Metal hooks/retractor | Home-made | n/a | |
| Povidone-iodine (500 mL) | Rougier | #NPN00172944 | |
| Ampicillin sodium | Novopharm | #DIN00872644 | |
| Metacam | Boehringer | #DIN02240463 | |
| Digital multimeter (voltmeter) | Soar Corporation | ME-501 | |
| LED digital stroboscope | Lutron Electronic Enterprise | DT-2269 |
References
- Holloszy, J. O., Coyle, E. F. Adaptations of skeletal muscle to endurance exercise and their metabolic consequences. J Appl Physiol Respir Environ Exerc Physiol. 56 (4), 831-838 (1984).
- Hood, D. A. Invited Rev....
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