Effects of stretching on the basement membrane structure in the soleus muscle of Wistar rats

The basement membrane (BM), mainly composed of collagen IV, plays an important role in the maintenance, protection, and recovery of muscle fibers. Collagen IV expression is maintained by the balance between synthetic and degradative factors, which changes depending on the level of muscle activity. For example, exercise increases collagen IV synthesis, whereas inactivity decreases collagen IV synthesis. However, the effects of stretching on the BM structure remain unclear. Therefore, to investigate the effects of stretching on the BM of the skeletal muscle, we continuously applied stretching to the rat soleus muscle and examined the altered expression of BM-related factors and structure using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blotting, zymography, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. The results show that stretching increased the matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP14) expression and MMP2 activity, and decreased the collagen IV expression and width of the lamina densa in the soleus muscle. These results suggest that stretching promotes BM degradation in the rat soleus muscle. The findings of this study indicate a new influence of stretching on skeletal muscles, and may contribute to the new use of stretching in rehabilitation and sports fields.