Transcriptome-scale similarities between mouse and human skeletal muscles with normal and myopathic phenotypes

Background: Mouse and human skeletal muscle transcriptome profiles vary by muscle type, raising the question of which mouse muscle groups have the greatest molecular similarities to human skeletal muscle. Methods: Orthologous (whole, sub-) transcriptome profiles were compared among four mouse-human transcriptome datasets: (M) six muscle groups obtained from three mouse strains (wildtype, mdx, mdx^5cv); (H1) biopsied human quadriceps from controls and Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients; (H2) four different control human muscle types obtained at autopsy; and (H3) 12 different control human tissues (ten non-muscle). Results: Of the six mouse muscles examined, mouse soleus bore the greatest molecular similarities to human skeletal muscles, independent of the latters' anatomic location/muscle type, disease state, age and sampling method (autopsy versus biopsy). Significant similarity to any one mouse muscle group was not observed for non-muscle human tissues (dataset H3), indicating this finding to be muscle specific. Conclusion: This observation may be partly explained by the higher type I fiber content of soleus relative to the other mouse muscles sampled.