10.6084/m9.figshare.6875609.v1 Severin Ruoss Severin Ruoss Philipp Kindt Philipp Kindt Linus Oberholzer Linus Oberholzer Ladina Jungck Ladina Jungck Marco Rohner Marco Rohner Sara Abdel-aziz Sara Abdel-aziz Daniel Fitze Daniel Fitze Andrea Rosskopf Andrea Rosskopf Karina Klein Karina Klein Brigitte von Rechenberg Brigitte von Rechenberg Christian Gerber Christian Gerber Karl Wieser Karl Wieser Martin Flück Martin Flück Dataset for: Inhibition of calpain delays early muscle atrophy after rotator cuff tendon release in sheep Wiley 2018 Rotator cuff tear Atrophy Calpain Costamere Physiology Systems Biology 2018-11-12 12:00:19 Dataset https://wiley.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Dataset_for_Inhibition_of_calpain_delays_early_muscle_atrophy_after_rotator_cuff_tendon_release_in_sheep/6875609 Chronic rotator cuff (RC) tears are characterised by retraction, fat accumulation, and atrophy of the affected muscle. These features pose an intractable problem for surgical repair and subsequent recovery, and their prevention may be easier than reversal. Using an established ovine model, we tested the hypothesis that inhibition of the protease calpain mitigates <i>m. infraspinatus</i> atrophy by preservation of the myofibres’ structural anchors in the sarcolemma (the costameres). Already 2 weeks of distal tendon release led to a reduction in muscle volume (-11.6 ± 9.1 cm<sup>3</sup>, p = 0.038) and an 8.3% shift from slow to fast fibre area (p = 0.046), which were both entirely abolished by chronic local administration of the calpain inhibitor calpeptin alone, and in combination with sildenafil. Calpain inhibition blunted the retraction of the muscle-tendon unit by 0.8-1.0 cm (p = 0.020) compared with the control group, and prevented cleavage of the costameric protein talin. Calpain 1 and 2 protein levels increased in the medicated groups after 4 weeks counteracting the efficacy of calpeptin. Hence atrophic changes emerged after 4 weeks despite ongoing treatment. These findings suggest that the early muscular adaptations in the specific case of RC tear in the ovine model are indistinguishable from the atrophy and slow-to-fast fibre transformation observed with conventional unloading and can be prevented for 2 weeks. Concluding, calpain is a potential target to extend the temporal window for reconstruction of the ruptured RC tendon before recovery turns impossible.