Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans
Abstract Isolating individual muscle fibers and characterizing their myosin heavy chain (MHC) content using SDS-PAGE has become an increasingly common method for describing skeletal muscle fiber type proportions. In this study, we aimed to assess how the number of muscle fibers analyzed, and whether...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15163-w |
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| author | Nathan Serrano Matthew R. Buras Lori R. Roust Eleanna De Filippis Christos S. Katsanos |
| author_facet | Nathan Serrano Matthew R. Buras Lori R. Roust Eleanna De Filippis Christos S. Katsanos |
| author_sort | Nathan Serrano |
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| description | Abstract Isolating individual muscle fibers and characterizing their myosin heavy chain (MHC) content using SDS-PAGE has become an increasingly common method for describing skeletal muscle fiber type proportions. In this study, we aimed to assess how the number of muscle fibers analyzed, and whether they are characterized in the order of isolation or randomly selected from a larger pool of muscle fibers, affects the precision of fiber type proportion estimates. A total of 170 individual muscle fibers were isolated from vastus lateralis biopsies from each of eight human subjects, and their MHC isoform content was analyzed using SDS-PAGE. To evaluate the precision of fiber type proportion estimates, we employed a resampling approach, varying both the muscle fiber sample size (25, 50, or 100 fibers) and the selection method (ordered vs. random selection). Our results indicate that when analyzing a small number of muscle fibers, precision improves if the fibers are randomly selected from a larger pool rather than characterized in the order they were isolated. These findings have important implications for designing experiments to assess skeletal muscle fiber heterogeneity and its role in health and disease. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-3dd88d8a923e4dafa05d0dbc83bc78a92025-08-20T03:44:06ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111010.1038/s41598-025-15163-wOptimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humansNathan Serrano0Matthew R. Buras1Lori R. Roust2Eleanna De Filippis3Christos S. Katsanos4School of Life Sciences, Arizona State UniversityDepartment of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic ArizonaCollege of Medicine, Mayo Clinic ArizonaCollege of Medicine, Mayo Clinic ArizonaSchool of Life Sciences, Arizona State UniversityAbstract Isolating individual muscle fibers and characterizing their myosin heavy chain (MHC) content using SDS-PAGE has become an increasingly common method for describing skeletal muscle fiber type proportions. In this study, we aimed to assess how the number of muscle fibers analyzed, and whether they are characterized in the order of isolation or randomly selected from a larger pool of muscle fibers, affects the precision of fiber type proportion estimates. A total of 170 individual muscle fibers were isolated from vastus lateralis biopsies from each of eight human subjects, and their MHC isoform content was analyzed using SDS-PAGE. To evaluate the precision of fiber type proportion estimates, we employed a resampling approach, varying both the muscle fiber sample size (25, 50, or 100 fibers) and the selection method (ordered vs. random selection). Our results indicate that when analyzing a small number of muscle fibers, precision improves if the fibers are randomly selected from a larger pool rather than characterized in the order they were isolated. These findings have important implications for designing experiments to assess skeletal muscle fiber heterogeneity and its role in health and disease.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15163-wMuscle fibersMuscle phenotypeMyosin heavy chainAccuracyNumber of fibersSelection of fibers |
| spellingShingle | Nathan Serrano Matthew R. Buras Lori R. Roust Eleanna De Filippis Christos S. Katsanos Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans Scientific Reports Muscle fibers Muscle phenotype Myosin heavy chain Accuracy Number of fibers Selection of fibers |
| title | Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans |
| title_full | Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans |
| title_fullStr | Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans |
| title_short | Optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans |
| title_sort | optimizing the methodology for precise estimation of skeletal muscle fiber type proportions in humans |
| topic | Muscle fibers Muscle phenotype Myosin heavy chain Accuracy Number of fibers Selection of fibers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15163-w |
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