Cytochemical and biochemical glucose 6‐phosphatase activity in skeletal muscle cells of mice

Abstract

Cytochemical and biochemical glucose 6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity and fiber type composition were studied in soleus (SOL) and gastrocnemius (GC) muscles of mice. The SOL is a red muscle which contains numerous type I fibers (60%) and relatively few type II fibers (40%). The GC is a white muscle which contains numerous type II fibers (90–100%) and very few type I fibers (0–10%). In the SOL and GC, cytochemical G6Pase activity was localized in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, lateral elements of triads, myonuclear envelope, and in the endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear envelope of endothelial cells. Differential centrifugation showed that G6Pase activity was recovered in the 105,000g pellet (microsomal fraction). Histochemical enzyme activity in type II fibers was slightly higher than that in type I fibers. Biochemical G6Pase activity in the GC was significantly higher than that in the SOL. The possible functional significance of G6Pase in skeletal muscles was discussed.