Lack of desmin results in abortive muscle regeneration and modifications in synaptic structure

Desmin, a muscle-specific intermediate filament protein, is expressed in all muscle tissues. Its absence leads to a multisystemic disorder involving cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscles. In skeletal muscle, structural abnormalities include lack of alignment of myofibrils, Z disk streaming, and focal muscle degeneration. In this study, we have examined the consequences of an absence of desmin on the mechanisms of regeneration and the integrity of the neuromuscular junction. The muscles of desmin knock-out and wild-type mice were made to regenerate by injecting cardiotoxin and were examined 7 to 42 days following the injection. The absence of desmin resulted in a delayed and modified regeneration and an accumulation of adipocytes. This was associated with a persistence of small diameter muscle fibers containing both N-CAM and developmental myosin isoforms. The amount of the slow myosin was increased, whereas there was a decrease in the fast isoform in the regenerated muscles of desmin knock-out mice. Both regeneration and aging led to the appearance of elongated neuromuscular junctions with diffuse acetylcholinesterase staining and a decrease in the overall acetylcholinesterase activity in the muscles of these mice. The neuromuscular junctions were markedly disorganised and in some cases postjunctional folds were absent. We conclude that desmin is essential for terminal muscle regeneration, maturation of muscle fibers, and maintaining the complex folded structure of the postsynaptic apparatus of the neuromuscular junctions. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 49:51-66, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.