Quantification of myosin heavy chain isoform in porcine muscle using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

The objective of this study was to develop an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify the relative abundance of the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms in porcine muscle. Longissimus muscle samples were taken from halothane positive (HAL +) and negative (HAL-) pigs and subjected to ELISA using newly generated and commercially available myosin monclonal antibodies (mAbs). Muscle of HAL + pigs possessed less type I (P < 0.1) and IIA (P < 0.1), and more type IIB MyHC (P < 0.01) than muscle of HAL- pigs. Abundance of IIX MyHC content was negatively correlated (P < 0.0001) to the amount of IIB MyHC in porcine muscle. These data show indirect ELISA can be used to detect genotype differences in muscle MyHC content, and it provides a rapid, sensitive method for determining muscle fiber type in porcine skeletal muscle. Furthermore, these data suggest that the proportion of glycolytic muscle fibers increases at the expense of oxidative fibers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.