Calbindin D-28k-immunoreactivity in rat muscle spindle; a light and electron microscopic study.

The localization of the vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein, calbindin D-28k (CaBP), was studied immunocytochemically in rat striated muscle. CaBP-like immunoreactivity was found in some of the intrafusal fibres in muscle spindles. The spindle capsule and the perineurial sheath of the nerve bundles were occasionally immunoreactive to CaBP. In electron microscope the labelling for CaBP was found diffusely in sarcoplasm, in Z-bands and inside the terminal cisternae of intrafusal muscle fibres. The present findings suggest that CaBP may have a role in maintaining the appropriate microenvironment in the intracapsular space of muscle spindle and that CaBP may be involved in the function of intrafusal muscle fibres.