Comparison of carbonylation in young and old rat skeletal muscle

Abstract

Proteins, DNA, and lipids in most tissues become carbonylated due to oxidative stress. Skeletal muscles are particularly susceptible to such carbonylation because of the conversion from metabolic energy to mechanical energy during contraction. This project focuses on the relative levels of carbonylation in intermyofibrillar mitochondria (IFM), the subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM), the cytoplasm, and the extracellular space of skeletal muscle. The morphology and function of muscle cells change in response to ageing and development. To measure the variance in carbonylation patterns with respect to both development and age, muscle tissue from young and old animals is analyzed. A labeling agent is used to label mitochondria red and carbonyl groups green. Confocal microscopy can take images of the labeled tissue and overlay them to show the mitochondria that have been carbonylated. The amounts of uncarbonylated and carbonylated mitochondria are compared between young and old tissue to determine how carbonylation changes with age.