Thyroid Hormone Signaling in Male Mouse Skeletal Muscle Is Largely Independent of D2 in Myocytes

Endocrinology. 2015 Oct;156(10):3842-52. doi: 10.1210/en.2015-1246. Epub 2015 Jul 27.

Abstract

The type 2 deiodinase (D2) activates the prohormone T4 to T3. D2 is expressed in skeletal muscle (SKM), and its global inactivation (GLOB-D2KO mice) reportedly leads to skeletal muscle hypothyroidism and impaired differentiation. Here floxed Dio2 mice were crossed with mice expressing Cre-recombinase under the myosin light chain 1f (cre-MLC) to disrupt D2 expression in the late developmental stages of skeletal myocytes (SKM-D2KO). This led to a loss of approximately 50% in D2 activity in neonatal and adult SKM-D2KO skeletal muscle and about 75% in isolated SKM-D2KO myocytes. To test the impact of Dio2 disruption, we measured soleus T3 content and found it to be normal. We also looked at the expression of T3-responsive genes in skeletal muscle, ie, myosin heavy chain I, α-actin, myosin light chain, tropomyosin, and serca 1 and 2, which was preserved in neonatal SKM-D2KO hindlimb muscles, at a time that coincides with a peak of D2 activity in control animals. In adult soleus the baseline level of D2 activity was about 6-fold lower, and in the SKM-D2KO soleus, the expression of only one of five T3-responsive genes was reduced. Despite this, adult SKM-D2KO animals performed indistinguishably from controls on a treadmill test, running for approximately 16 minutes and reached a speed of about 23 m/min; muscle strength was about 0.3 mN/m·g body weight in SKM-D2KO and control ankle muscles. In conclusion, there are multiple sources of D2 in the mouse SKM, and its role is limited in postnatal skeletal muscle fibers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue, Brown / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Gene Expression
  • Iodide Peroxidase / genetics
  • Iodide Peroxidase / metabolism*
  • Iodothyronine Deiodinase Type II
  • Male
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / metabolism*
  • Muscle Strength / genetics
  • Muscle Strength / physiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / cytology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
  • Myosin Heavy Chains / genetics
  • Physical Conditioning, Animal / physiology
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases / genetics
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Thyroid Hormones / metabolism*
  • Thyroxine / metabolism
  • Time Factors
  • Triiodothyronine / metabolism
  • Tropomyosin / genetics

Substances

  • Thyroid Hormones
  • Tropomyosin
  • myosin heavy chain-1, mouse
  • Triiodothyronine
  • Iodide Peroxidase
  • Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases
  • Myosin Heavy Chains
  • Thyroxine