Nestin is a unique intermediate filament expressed for a short period in the developing heart. It was also documented in several cell types of the adult myocardium under pathological conditions such as myocardial infarction or fibrosis. However, circumstances of nestin re-occurrence in the diseased or aging heart have not been elucidated yet. In this work we immunohistochemically detected nestin to determine its expression and distribution pattern in the left ventricular myocardium of normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats and in the hypertrophic ones of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats, both at the age of 1 and 1.5 year. No nestin+ cells were identified in the intact myocardium of 1-year-old WKY rats, whereas in the aged 1.5-year-old WKY rats nestin+ endothelial cells in some blood vessels were discovered. In the hypertrophic myocardium of all SHR rats, nestin was rarely detected in desmin+ vimentin- cardiomyocytes and in some vimentin+ interstitial cells often accumulated in clusters, varying in intensity of desmin immunoreactivity. Moreover, nestin was infrequently expressed in the endothelial cells of some myocardial blood vessels in 1-year-old SHR rats, but not in 1.5-year-old ones. Quantitative image analysis of nestin expression in the myocardium confirmed significant increase in 1.5-year-old WKY rats and in SHR rats of both ages compared to the intact 1-year-old WKY rats. This study firstly documents nestin re-expression indicating cytoskeletal remodelling in different cell types of the aging intact and chronically pressure over-loaded hypertrophied myocardium. Our findings confirm nestin involvement in complex changes during myocardial hypertrophy and progressive aging.

• Keywords
• Desmin, Myocardial hypertrophy, Myocardium, Nestin, Vimentin,
• MeSH
• Hypertension metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Myocytes, Cardiac metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Myocardium * metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Nestin * metabolism   MeSH
• Rats, Inbred SHR MeSH
• Rats, Inbred WKY MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Aging * metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Nes protein, rat MeSH Browser
• Nestin * MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins MeSH

We describe the expression and distribution patterns of nestin, desmin and vimentin in intact and regenerating muscle spindles of the rat hind limb skeletal muscles. Regeneration was induced by intramuscular isotransplantation of extensor digitorum longus (EDL) or soleus muscles from 15-day-old rats into the EDL muscle of adult female inbred Lewis rats. The host muscles with grafts were excised after 7-, 16-, 21- and 29-day survival and immunohistochemically stained. Nestin expression in intact spindles in host muscles was restricted to Schwann cells of sensory and motor nerves. In transplanted muscles, however, nestin expression was also found in regenerating "spindle fibers", 7 and 16 days after grafting. From the 21st day onwards, the regenerated spindle fibers were devoid of nestin immunoreactivity. Desmin was detected in spindle fibers at all developmental stages in regenerating as well as in intact spindles. Vimentin was expressed in cells of the outer and inner capsules of all muscle spindles and in newly formed myoblasts and myotubes of regenerating spindles 7 days after grafting. Our results show that the expression pattern of these intermediate filaments in regenerating spindle fibers corresponds to that found in regenerating extrafusal fibers, which supports our earlier suggestion that they resemble small-diameter extrafusal fibers.

• MeSH
• Desmin analysis   MeSH
• Muscle Fibers, Skeletal chemistry   MeSH
• Muscle, Skeletal chemistry   transplantation   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Myoblasts chemistry   MeSH
• Muscle Spindles chemistry   MeSH
• Nestin MeSH
• Rats, Inbred Lew MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins analysis   MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins analysis   MeSH
• Regeneration * MeSH
• Schwann Cells chemistry   MeSH
• Vimentin analysis   MeSH
• Hindlimb MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Desmin MeSH
• Nes protein, rat MeSH Browser
• Nestin MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins MeSH
• Vimentin MeSH