Abstract
Summary
The activities of cathepsins A, B, C, and D were assayed during growth of pectoralis muscles from normal chicks and from two lines of chicks with genetic muscular dystrophy. One dystrophic line was characterized by persistent hypertrophy of the pectoralis and the other by early atrophy of this muscle. At 1 day of age activities of all cathepsins were high in both normal and dystrophic muscle. They declined rapidly in normal muscle but remained elevated in both types of dystrophic muscles. Cathepsin D activity was significantly higher in atrophic muscle compared to hypertrophic muscle at all ages studied. Cathepsins A, B and C were not greatly different in activity between the muscles of the two dystrophic lines. These data suggest that relative level of cathepsin D activity is related to retarded growth and degeneration of the atrophic muscle.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.