Cytoskeletal structure of skeletal muscle: identification of an intricate exosarcomeric microtubule lattice in slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers.

We used immunochemical quantification and indirect immunofluorescence to investigate the cell content, distribution, and organization of microtubules in adult rat slow-twitch soleus and fast-twitch vastus lateralis muscles. An immunoblotting assay demonstrated that the soleus muscle (primarily Type I fibers) was found to have a 1.7-fold higher relative content of alpha-tubulin compared with the superficial portion of the vastus lateralis muscle (primarily Type IIb fibers). Both physiological muscle types revealed a complex arrangement of microtubules which displayed oblique, longitudinal, and transverse orientations within the sarcoplasmic space. The predominance of any one particular orientation varied significantly from one muscle tissue section to another. Nuclei were completely surrounded by a dense net-like structure of microtubules. Both muscle fiber types were found to possess a higher density of microtubules in the subsarcolemmal region. These microtubules followed the contour of the sarcolemma in slightly contracted fibers and showed a fine punctate appearance indicative of a restricted distribution. The immunofluorescence results indicate that microtubules are associated with the sarcolemma and therefore may form a part of the membrane cytoskeletal domain of the muscle fiber. We conclude that the microtubule network of the adult mammalian skeletal muscle fiber constitutes a bone fide component of the exosarcomeric cytoskeletal lattice domain along with the intermediate filaments, and as such could therefore participate in the mechanical integration of the various organelles of the myofibers during the contraction-relaxation cycle.