Differential global gene expression in red and white skeletal muscle

The differences in gene expression among the fiber types of skeletal muscle have long fascinated scientists, but for the most part, previous experiments have only reported differences of one or two genes at a time. The evolving technology of global mRNA expression analysis was employed to determine the potential differential expression of ∼3,000 mRNAs between the white quad (white muscle) and the red soleus muscle (mixed red muscle) of female ICR mice (30–35 g). Microarray analysis identified 49 mRNA sequences that were differentially expressed between white and mixed red skeletal muscle, including newly identified differential expressions between muscle types. For example, the current findings increase the number of known, differentially expressed mRNAs for transcription factors/coregulators by nine and signaling proteins by three. The expanding knowledge of the diversity of mRNA expression between white and mixed red muscle suggests that there could be quite a complex regulation of phenotype between muscles of different fiber types.