Myosin light chain phosphorylation at resting level and the composition of myosin isoforms in the bladder body and urethra

Abstract

Bladder filling depends upon the coordinated control of a storage chamber, the bladder body, and its outlet, the bladder base and urethra. Bladder emptying results from development of force in the bladder body and relaxation of the outlet. Muscle strips from bladder body reveal phasic characteristics, whereas the strips from urethral wall are tonic. To determine whether the compositions of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms and the level of myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation contribute to the regional variation in the contractile states of the bladder smooth muscle, we analyzed the levels of MLC phosphorylation and the expression of myosin isoforms in smooth muscle tissues from different regions of the urinary bladder. Strips of bladder from the dome, mid body, base of the bladder and urethra were removed and analyzed for the levels of MLC phosphorylation at the resting tone. The expression of MHC isoforms that differ in the C-terminus (SM1 and SM2) and in the N-terminal region (SM-A and SM-B), formed by alternative splicing of the pre-mRNA at either the 3' end or the 5' end, respectively, was analyzed. The expression of these isoforms was characterized at the mRNA and protein levels using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), SDS-PAGE, and Western blotting. The levels of MLC phosphorylation were 35.5 +/- 4.6, 24.7 +/- 2.2, 13.6 +/- 2.1, and 12.8 +/- 2.7 for dome, mid bladder body, base and urethra respectively. Almost 100% of the MHC mRNA in the dome, mid bladder body, and base contains a 7-amino acid insert near the ATP-binding region, whereas the MHC in the urethral smooth muscle is only 81% inserted. Prior studies have shown that inserted myosin has a two-fold higher actin-activated ATPase activity compared to the myosin isoform that lacks the insert, and the maximum velocity of shortening of smooth muscle containing this insert is high compared to muscle that do not contain the insert. The expression of SM1 and SM2 were not significantly different. Our data suggests the presence of a high degree of inserted myosin and LC20 phosphorylation in the bladder dome and mid-body helps to facilitate rapid force development and emptying. Non-inserted myosin and the low level of MLC phosphorylation in the urethra may contribute to slowly or non-cycling myosin cross bridges and the maintenance of a tonic or contracted state during bladder filling.