Skeletal muscle retains a resident stem cell population called satellite cells, which are mitotically quiescent in mature muscle, but can be activated to produce myoblast progeny for muscle homeostasis, hypertrophy and repair. We have previously shown that satellite cell activation is partially controlled by the bioactive phospholipid, sphingosine-1-phosphate, and that S1P biosynthesis is requi...

Focal adhesion plaques (known also as focal contacts) are the areas where cells contact with extracellular matrix. Many molecules participate in physical linkage of cytoskeleton (microfilaments) to membrane receptors. This complex of interacting proteins includes: talin, vinculin, paxillin, filamin, α-actinin, which play a key role in coupling F-actin (cytoskeleton) to cytoplasmic domains of in...

Pax7 is a key regulator of skeletal muscle stem cells and is required along with Pax3 to generate skeletal muscle precursors. We have identified a collection of genes induced by either Pax3 or Pax7 in C2C12 muscle cells. Two notable Pax3/7 targets are the inhibitory helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins inhibitor of DNA binding (Id) 2 and Id3, both of which are coordinately expressed with Pax7 in qui...

Satellite cells represent a heterogeneous population of stem and progenitor cells responsible for muscle growth, repair and regeneration. We investigated whether c-Myb could play a role in satellite cell biology because our previous results using satellite cell-derived mouse myoblast cell line C2C12 showed that c-Myb was expressed in growing cells and downregulated during differentiation. We de...

The pharyngeal muscles of the nasal, oral, and laryngeal pharynxes are required for swallowing. Pharyngeal muscles are preferentially affected in some muscular dystrophies yet spared in others. Muscle stem cells, called satellite cells, may be critical factors in the development of pharyngeal muscle disorders; however, very little is known about pharyngeal satellite cells (PSC) and their role i...

This study investigated quantitative aspects of the gap junctions between satellite neuroglial cells that envelope the spinal ganglion neurons in rabbits aged 1 year (young), 3.6 years (adult), 6.7 years (old), and 8.8 years (very old). Both the total number of gap junctions present in 30,000 microm2 of surface area occupied by perineuronal satellite cells, and the density of these junctions in...

Akirin2, a novel nuclear factor, plays an important role in myogenesis. To investigate the role of Akirin2 in proliferation and differentiation of porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells, Akirin2 overexpression and Akirin2 silence technologies were employed. Our results showed that overexpression of Akirin2 markedly enhanced the proliferation and differentiation of porcine skeletal muscle satel...

In this short article we review muscle satellite cell characteristics and our studies in adult rodent muscle satellite cells in situ. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy and immunocytochemistry, a high level of IP3 receptor (IP3R) immunostaining was detected in satellite cells. These cells were identified by their peripheral position, their size, the shape of their nucleus, the paucity of ...

Methylation-specific fluorescence in situ hybridization (MeFISH) was developed for microscopic visualization of DNA methylation status at specific repeat sequences in individual cells. MeFISH is based on the differential reactivity of 5-methylcytosine and cytosine in target DNA for interstrand complex formation with osmium and bipyridine-containing nucleic acids (ICON). Cell nuclei and chromoso...

The tail of the Xenopus tadpole will regenerate completely after transection. Much of the mass of the regenerate is composed of skeletal muscle, but there has been some uncertainty about the source of the new myofibres. Here, we show that the growing tail contains many muscle satellite cells. They are active in DNA replication, whereas the myonuclei are not. As in mammals, the satellite cells e...