Decreased hydrogen peroxide production and mitochondrial respiration in skeletal muscle but not cardiac muscle of the green-striped burrowing frog, a natural model of muscle disuse

Abstract

Suppression of disuse-induced muscle atrophy has been associated with altered mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in mammals. However, despite extended hindlimb immobility, aestivating animals exhibit little skeletal muscle atrophy compared with artificially immobilised mammalian models. Therefore, we studied mitochondrial respiration and ROS (H2O2) production in permeabilised muscle fibres of the green-striped burrowing frog, Cyclorana alboguttata. Mitochondrial respiration within saponin-permeabilised skeletal and cardiac muscle fibres was measured concurrently with ROS production using high-resolution respirometry coupled to custom-made fluorometers. After 4 months of aestivation, C. alboguttata had significantly depressed whole-body metabolism by ~70% relative to control (active) frogs, and mitochondrial respiration in saponin-permeabilised skeletal muscle fibres decreased by almost 50% both in the absence of ADP and during oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondrial ROS production showed up to an 88% depression in aestivating skeletal muscle when malate, succinate and pyruvate were present at concentrations likely to reflect those in vivo. The percentage ROS released per O2 molecule consumed was also ~94% less at these concentrations, indicating an intrinsic difference in ROS production capacities during aestivation. We also examined mitochondrial respiration and ROS production in permeabilised cardiac muscle fibres and found that aestivating frogs maintained respiratory flux and ROS production at control levels. These results show that aestivating C. alboguttata has the capacity to independently regulate mitochondrial function in skeletal and cardiac muscles. Furthermore, this work indicates that ROS production can be suppressed in the disused skeletal muscle of aestivating frogs, which may in turn protect against potential oxidative damage and preserve skeletal muscle structure during aestivation and following arousal.