Microdomains of high intracellular calcium ion concentration, [Ca2+]i, have been hypothesized to occur in living cells exposed to stimuli that generate inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3). Mitochondrially targeted recombinant aequorin was used to show that IP3-induced Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores caused increases of mitochondrial Ca2+ concentration, [Ca2+]m, the speed and amplitude of which are not accounted for by the relatively small increases in mean [Ca2+]i. A similar response was obtained by the addition of IP3 to permeabilized cells but not by perfusion of cells with Ca2+ at concentrations similar to those measured in intact cells. It is concluded that in vivo, domains of high [Ca2+]i are transiently generated close to IP3-gated channels and sensed by nearby mitochondria; this may provide an efficient mechanism for optimizing mitochondrial activity upon cell stimulation.

GFP is an invaluable new tool for studies of molecular biology and cell physiology. As a marker of transfection in vivo, it provides a simple means of identifying genetically modified cells to be used in physiological studies. More importantly, chimeric GFP, which in principle can be targeted to any subcellular location, can be used to monitor complex phenomena in intact living cells, such as changes in shape and distribution of organelles, and it has the potential to be used as a probe of physiological parameters.

Skeletal muscle is a key tissue in human aging, which affects different muscle fiber types unequally. We developed a highly sensitive single muscle fiber proteomics workflow to study human aging and show that the senescence of slow and fast muscle fibers is characterized by diverging metabolic and protein quality control adaptations. Whereas mitochondrial content declines with aging in both fiber types, glycolysis and glycogen metabolism are upregulated in slow but downregulated in fast muscle fibers. Aging mitochondria decrease expression of the redox enzyme monoamine oxidase A. Slow fibers upregulate a subset of actin and myosin chaperones, whereas an opposite change happens in fast fibers. These changes in metabolism and sarcomere quality control may be related to the ability of slow, but not fast, muscle fibers to maintain their mass during aging. We conclude that single muscle fiber analysis by proteomics can elucidate pathophysiology in a sub-type-specific manner.

Skeletal muscle constitutes 40% of individual body mass and plays vital roles in locomotion and whole-body metabolism. Proteomics of skeletal muscle is challenging because of highly abundant contractile proteins that interfere with detection of regulatory proteins. Using a state-of-the art MS workflow and a strategy to map identifications from the C2C12 cell line model to tissues, we identified a total of 10,218 proteins, including skeletal muscle specific transcription factors like myod1 and myogenin and circadian clock proteins. We obtain absolute abundances for proteins expressed in a muscle cell line and skeletal muscle, which should serve as a valuable resource. Quantitation of protein isoforms of glucose uptake signaling pathways and in glucose and lipid metabolic pathways provides a detailed metabolic map of the cell line compared with tissue. This revealed unexpectedly complex regulation of AMP-activated protein kinase and insulin signaling in muscle tissue at the level of enzyme isoforms.