Ubiquitin Ligase, MuRF-1 regulates myosin heavy chain type IIa transcripts during muscle atrophy under microgravity conditions

Skeletal muscles are vulnerable to marked atrophy under microgravity conditions. We previously reported that gastrocnemius muscle atrophy by spaceflight was specifically sensitive to the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway. We also screened more over 26,000 skeletal muscle genes in rats exposed to real weightlessness and found that the expression of Ubiquitin Ligase, Muscle specific Ring Finger-1 (MuRF-1) upregulated under microgravity. In the present study, we examined the role of MuRF-1 in microgravity-induced muscle atrophy. The amounts of MuRF-1 transcripts significantly increased in skeletal muscle after denervation, an in vivo model of microgravity-induced unloading. MuRF-1 deficient (MuRF-1-/-) mice significantly inhibited reduction of muscle weight for muscle atrophy, compared with wild type mice. Interestingly, MuRF-1-/- mice significantly inhibited upregulation of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) type IIa transcrips, while wild type mice significantly increased expression of MyHC type IIa transcripts in denervated skeletal muscle. Our present results suggest that MuRF-1 may play an important role in regulation of MyHC type IIa during muscle atrophy under microgravity conditions.