Adenyl Cyclase in the Pectoral Mnscle of Normal Chickensand Chickens with Hereditary Muscular Dystrophy

Abstract

Adenyl cyclase activity was determined in the pectoral muscle of normal chickens and chickens with hereditary muscular dystrophy at various stages of development. Significant differences were found in enzyme activity between these two types of tissue. The muscle of both normal and dystrophic embryos contained high levels of enzyme activity which decreased shortly after hatching. By 12 weeks ex ovo enzyme titers in the normal pectoralis were sharply reduced and remained unchanged up to 60 weeks. By contrast, enzyme levels in the dystrophic pectoralis declined to a lesser degree after hatching and then rose sharply beginning at 12 weeks ex ovo and remained high in the mature bird. Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity levels were altered in a similar manner in the two tissues.