In Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup), growth is negatively correlated to dietary lipid levels. To understand the molecular basis of this effect a molecular toolbox of 12 genes, including fgf6, fst, mstn1, myf5, mrf4, myod1, myod2, myog, myHC, mylc2, igf1r and insr, was developed. The expression profiles of these genes were investigated in white muscle and liver of fish fed with three di...

A lacZ transgene, expressed by the myogenin promoter, was introduced into the mouse hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (Hprt) locus by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Embryos between E10.5-E18.5 days were analyzed for expression of the transgene after staining for beta-galactosidase activity. Transgene expression was restricted to the skeletal muscle lineages reflecting a similar te...

Long-term genetic selection for BW has generated high weight select (HWS) and low weight select (LWS) lines of chickens. These lines show an approximate 10-fold difference in BW at selection age (d 56). The objective of this study was to profile the expression of master regulators of early lineage specification (Pax3, Pax7) and myogenic regulatory factors (Myf5, MyoD1, MyoG, and Mrf4) on day of...

Myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs), including Myf5, MyoD (Myod1) and Myog, are muscle-specific transcription factors that orchestrate myogenesis. Although MRFs are essential for myogenic commitment and differentiation, timely repression of their activity is necessary for the self-renewal and maintenance of muscle stem cells (satellite cells). Here, we define Ascl2 as a novel inhibitor of MRFs. ...

The functional divergence of transcriptional factors is critical in the evolution of transcriptional regulation. However, the mechanism of functional divergence among these factors remains unclear. Here, we performed an evolutionary analysis for positive selection in members of the myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) gene family of vertebrates. We selected 153 complete vertebrate MRF nucleotide se...

Two skeletal muscle-specific regulatory factors, myogenin and MyoD1, share extensive homology within a myc similarity region and have each been shown to activate the morphologic and molecular events associated with myogenesis after transfection into nonmyogenic cells. The BC3H1 muscle cell line expresses myogenin and other muscle-specific genes, but does not express MyoDl during differentiation...