Ultrafast optical wide field microscopy.

We have developed a new imaging method, ultrafast optical wide field microscopy, capable of rapidly acquiring wide field images of nearly any sample in a non-contact manner with high spatial and temporal resolution. Time-resolved images of the photoinduced changes in transmission for a patterned semiconductor thin film and a single silicon nanowire after optical excitation are captured using a two-dimensional smart pixel array detector. These images represent the time-dependent carrier dynamics with high sensitivity, femtosecond time resolution and sub-micrometer spatial resolution.

Decreased polysomal HSP-70 may slow polypeptide elongation during skeletal muscle atrophy.

Slowed elongation rate is the apparent cause of the rapid decrease in rat soleus muscle protein synthesis rate during non-weight bearing. We found that elongation factor 2 was not phosphorylated and thus could not explain the slowed elongation rate. However, we observed a 44 +/- 19 and 28 +/- 14% decrease in the chaperone protein 70-kDa heat-shock cognate/heat shock protein (HSC/HSP-70) associated with the polysomes after 12 and 18 h of non-weight bearing, respectively. Size-fractionated polysomes had less HSC/HSP-70 associated with the larger polysomes in 18-h non-weight-bearing soleus muscle. ATP concentration increased in the non-weight-bearing muscle, so, because ATP enhances HSC/HSP-70 dissociation, we tested the potential role of ATP. Digitonin-permeabilized myoblasts treated with increasing concentrations of ATP showed both a decreased association of HSC/HSP-70 with the polysomes and a shift toward heavier polysomes; these responses were blocked by adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate). These data are consistent with the role of HSC/HSP-70 as a chaperone of nascent protein. The absence of HSC/HSP-70 may slow ribosome translocation, thus slowing elongation rate.

Decrease in heart peptide initiation during head-down tilt may be modulated by HSP-70.

This study examines the mechanism of the rapid decrease in cardiac muscle protein synthesis during rodent hindlimb non-weight bearing. Polysomes isolated from rat hearts 8 h after suspension show less RNA in the polysome pool and a shift in polysome size toward fewer ribosomes per mRNA; 18 h after suspension, the size shift persists, but the amount of RNA in the polysome pool returns to control values. These data are consistent with a decrease in the rate of initiation of protein synthesis. At both 8 and 12 h of suspension, the cardiac polysomes show a 78 and 93% increase association with the nascent polypeptide chaperone protein 70-kDa heat-shock cognate/heat-shock protein (HSC/HSP-70), respectively, that persists after 7 days of non-weight bearing. Because the dissociation of HSC/HSP-70 from unfolded protein can be modulated by ATP, we measured the adenosine nucleotide pools and found a 53% decrease in ATP levels after 18 h of suspension. We propose a mechanism in which a shift of HSC/HSP-70 to the nascent polypeptide indirectly inhibits protein synthesis initiation.

Soleus muscle nascent polypeptide chain elongation slows protein synthesis rate during non-weight-bearing activity.

Protein synthesis rate of the soleus muscle decreases rapidly during non-weight-bearing activity. We isolated polysomes from 18-h non-weight-bearing soleus muscle to investigate the mechanism of this phenomenon. The distribution of polysomal alpha-actin mRNA and 18S rRNA on sucrose density gradients shows that polysomes shift to larger sizes (more ribosomes per mRNA) during non-weight-bearing activity. Furthermore, RNA is mobilized into the polysome pool of the non-weight-bearing soleus muscle; these data indicate that initiation of protein synthesis is not rate limiting. We explain these results as the slowing of nascent polypeptide chain elongation, such that there is a "traffic jam" of ribosomes on the mRNAs, increasing the number of ribosomes per mRNA while, at the same time, decreasing protein synthesis rate. In support of this hypothesis, myoblasts treated with a low dose of cycloheximide (a specific elongation inhibitor) show a similar shift in polysome size. A numerical model of protein synthesis further shows that elongation is more effective than initiation and termination in affecting protein synthesis and polysome size. We conclude that the non-weight-bearing-induced decrease in postural muscle protein synthesis rate is initially caused by slowing of nascent polypeptide chain elongation.