Expression of somatostatin receptor genes and acetylcholine receptor development in rat skeletal muscle during postnatal development

Our laboratory reported previously that somatostatin (SST) is transiently expressed in rat motoneurons during the first 14 days after birth. We investigated the possibility that the SST receptor (SSTR) is expressed in skeletal muscle. We found that two of the five subtypes of SSTR (SSTR3 and SSTR4) are expressed in skeletal muscle with a time course that correlates with the transient expression of SST in motoneurons. In addition, SSTR2A is expressed from birth to adulthood in skeletal muscle. Both SSTR2A and SSTR4 are also expressed in L6 cells, a skeletal muscle cell line. Somatostatin acting through its receptors has been shown to stimulate tyrosine phosphatase activity in a number of different tissues. We found that several proteins (50, 65, 90, 140, 180 and 200 kDa) exhibited a reduced degree of tyrosine phosphorylation following SST treatment. Inhibition of tyrosine phosphatase activity with sodium orthovanadate increased expression of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) epsilon subunit mRNA by three fold. Somatostatin reversed the elevated epsilon mRNA following orthovanadate treatment. These findings show that SSTR is expressed in skeletal muscle and that SST acting via the SSTR regulates tyrosine phosphorylation and expression of the epsilon subunit of the AChR in the rat skeletal muscle.