Yonsei Med J.  2011 Jan;52(1):158-164. 10.3349/ymj.2011.52.1.158.

Quantitative Analysis of Myosin Heavy Chain Expression Change in Laryngeal Muscle after Irradiation in Rats

• Kim JP
• Khalmuratova R
• Jeon SY
• Park JJ
• Hur DG
• Ahn SK
• Woo SH
• Kang KM
• Chai GY

• KMID: 1106451
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2011.52.1.158

Abstract

PURPOSE
Radiotherapy for head and neck cancer does not impair the voice quality as much as laser treatment or surgery, but it can induce muscle wasting and fibrosis and symptoms of dry mouth. We investigated the effect of irradiation on the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression in laryngeal muscles.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Rats were irradiated with one dose of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, or 35 Gy and other rats were irradiated with 20 Gy. The thyroarytenoid (TA), posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA), and cricothyroid (CT) muscles were subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
RESULTS
Two weeks after irradiation with 10, 15, or 20 Gy, all the MyHC type expressions had decreased in a dose-dependent manner in the TA, PCA, and CT muscles, and especially the expression of MyHC IIa decreased much more than the expressions of the other MyHC isoforms in all muscles. In the 20 Gy-irradiated rats, almost all the MyHC isoform expressions declined over 12 weeks in the TA, PCA, and CT muscles, except for the MyHC I expression in the PCA and CT muscle. The MyHC IIa expression was markedly decreased in all the muscles.
CONCLUSION
The laryngeal muscles responded differently to radiation, but they showed a time-dependent and long-lasting decrease in the expressions of all the MyHC isoforms in the TA, PCA, and CT muscles. In particular, the expression of the MyHC IIa isoform in all the muscles may be more sensitive to irradiation than the expressions of the other MyHC isoforms.

Keyword

Larynx; myosin heavy chain; radiation; rat

MeSH Terms

Animals
Body Weight/radiation effects
Gene Expression/radiation effects
Laryngeal Muscles/*metabolism/*radiation effects
Myosin Heavy Chains/*metabolism
Protein Isoforms/*metabolism
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 MyHC isoform expression changes 2 weeks after irradiation with 10, 15, or 20 Gy. (A) Thyroarytenoid muscle. (B) Posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. (C) Cricothyroid muscle (Bar represent mean value and standard error of the mean, *paired t-test by bonferroni correction). MyHC, myosin heavy chain.

• 

  Fig. 2 MyHC isoform expression changes 3 days or 2, 4, or 12 weeks after irradiation with 20 Gy. (A) Thyroarytenoid muscle. (B) Posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. (C) Cricothyroid muscle (Bar represent mean value and standard error of the mean, *paired t-test by bonferroni correction). MyHC, myosin heavy chain.

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