Protein abnormality in denervated skeletal muscles from patients with brachial injury.

A proteomic analysis was performed to compare protein expression between normal sternocleidomastoid muscle and denervated muscle. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) of muscle proteins showed that 26 proteins among about 800 spots in 2-DE gel displayed a decrease and 6 proteins an increase in expression in muscles with denervation atrophy compared to normal controls; the identified proteins that were abnormally expressed could be generally grouped together as metabolic proteins, chaperone proteins, and contractile-apparatus proteins. The significance of these altered proteins is discussed. In particular, the decrease in hD54 may reduce the activity of transmembrane signaling in atrophied muscle, while the disregulation of DnaJC 1 showed a possible role of molecular chaperones in the functional recovery of atrophied muscles.