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Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology Aug 2020Myoblast fusion into myotubes is one of the crucial steps of skeletal muscle development (myogenesis). The fusion is preceded by specification of a myogenic lineage... (Review)
Review
Myoblast fusion into myotubes is one of the crucial steps of skeletal muscle development (myogenesis). The fusion is preceded by specification of a myogenic lineage (mesodermal progenitors) differentiating into myoblasts and is followed by myofiber-type specification and neuromuscular junction formation. Similarly to other processes of myogenesis, the fusion requires a very precise spatial and temporal regulation occuring both during embryonic development as well as regeneration and repair of the muscle. A plethora of genes and their products is involved in regulation of myoblast fusion and a precise multilevel interplay between them is crucial for myogenic cells to fuse. In this review, we describe both cellular events taking place during myoblast fusion (migration, adhesion, elongation, cell-cell recognition, alignment, and fusion of myoblast membranes enabling formation of myotubes) as well as recent findings on mechanisms regulating this process. Also, we present muscle disorders in humans that have been associated with defects in genes involved in regulation of myoblast fusion.
Topics: Animals; Cell Differentiation; Humans; Muscle Development; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Myoblasts
PubMed: 32063453
DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.02.004 -
In Vivo (Athens, Greece) 2018Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) is a C20 isoprenoid found in fruits, vegetables, and grains, including rice. As a food substance, GGOH is categorized as 'Generally Recognized as...
BACKGROUND
Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) is a C20 isoprenoid found in fruits, vegetables, and grains, including rice. As a food substance, GGOH is categorized as 'Generally Recognized as Safe'. GGOH is an intermediate product in the mevalonate pathway and acts as a precursor to geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
C2C12 mouse myoblasts derived from muscle satellite cells were used. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, western blotting analysis, and immunocytochemical analysis were performed to respectively assess mRNA expression, protein levels, and the number of myofibers.
RESULTS
GGOH reduced the expression levels of skeletal muscle atrophy-related ubiquitin ligases in myofibers derived from C2C12 cells. GGOH induced myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells via geranylgeranylation. GGOH did not adversely affect the proliferation of C2C12 cells.
CONCLUSION
GGOH induces myoblast differentiation in C2C12 cells.
Topics: Animals; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line; Cell Proliferation; Diterpenes; Immunohistochemistry; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Mice; Myoblasts
PubMed: 30348697
DOI: 10.21873/invivo.11395 -
Developmental Cell Dec 2021Myoblast fusion is essential for muscle development and regeneration. Yet, it remains poorly understood how mononucleated myoblasts fuse with preexisting fibers. We...
Myoblast fusion is essential for muscle development and regeneration. Yet, it remains poorly understood how mononucleated myoblasts fuse with preexisting fibers. We demonstrate that ERK1/2 inhibition (ERKi) induces robust differentiation and fusion of primary mouse myoblasts through a linear pathway involving RXR, ryanodine receptors, and calcium-dependent activation of CaMKII in nascent myotubes. CaMKII activation results in myotube growth via fusion with mononucleated myoblasts at a fusogenic synapse. Mechanistically, CaMKII interacts with and regulates MYMK and Rac1, and CaMKIIδ/γ knockout mice exhibit smaller regenerated myofibers following injury. In addition, the expression of a dominant negative CaMKII inhibits the formation of large multinucleated myotubes. Finally, we demonstrate the evolutionary conservation of the pathway in chicken myoblasts. We conclude that ERK1/2 represses a signaling cascade leading to CaMKII-mediated fusion of myoblasts to myotubes, providing an attractive target for the cultivated meat industry and regenerative medicine.
Topics: Actins; Animals; Calcium; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; Cell Differentiation; Cell Fusion; Cell Proliferation; Enzyme Activation; Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Models, Biological; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle Proteins; Myoblasts; Protein Binding; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Receptors, Retinoic Acid; Signal Transduction; rac1 GTP-Binding Protein; Mice
PubMed: 34932950
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.11.022 -
Journal of Cell Science Sep 2019Cell-cell fusion is a fundamental process underlying fertilization, development, regeneration and physiology of metazoans. It is a multi-step process involving cell... (Review)
Review
Cell-cell fusion is a fundamental process underlying fertilization, development, regeneration and physiology of metazoans. It is a multi-step process involving cell recognition and adhesion, actin cytoskeletal rearrangements, fusogen engagement, lipid mixing and fusion pore formation, ultimately resulting in the integration of two fusion partners. Here, we focus on the asymmetric actin cytoskeletal rearrangements at the site of fusion, known as the fusogenic synapse, which was first discovered during myoblast fusion in embryos and later also found in mammalian muscle and non-muscle cells. At the asymmetric fusogenic synapse, actin-propelled invasive membrane protrusions from an attacking fusion partner trigger actomyosin-based mechanosensory responses in the receiving cell. The interplay between the invasive and resisting forces generated by the two fusion partners puts the fusogenic synapse under high mechanical tension and brings the two cell membranes into close proximity, promoting the engagement of fusogens to initiate fusion pore formation. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster, we highlight the molecular, cellular and biophysical events at the asymmetric fusogenic synapse using myoblast fusion as a model.
Topics: Actin Cytoskeleton; Animals; Cell Fusion; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Mechanotransduction, Cellular; Myoblasts
PubMed: 31527149
DOI: 10.1242/jcs.213124 -
Yi Chuan = Hereditas May 2023MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules about 22 nucleotides in length and are encoded by endogenous genes, and are involved in the...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules about 22 nucleotides in length and are encoded by endogenous genes, and are involved in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression in animals and plants. Many studies have shown that microRNAs regulate the development of skeletal muscle, mainly manifested in the activation of muscle satellite cells and biological processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and formation of muscle tubes. In this study, miRNA sequencing screening of longissimus dorsi (LD, mainly fast-twitch fibers) and soleus muscle (Sol, dominated by slow-twitch fibers) identified the miR-196b-5p as a differentially expressed and highly conserved sequence in different skeletal muscles. Studies of miR-196b-5p in skeletal muscle have not been reported. In this study, miR-196b-5p mimics and inhibitor were used in miR-196b-5p overexpression and interference experiments in C2C12 cells. The effect of miR-196b-5p on myoblast proliferation and differentiation was analyzed by western blotting, real-time quantitative RT-PCR, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence staining, and the target gene of miR-196b-5p was identified by bioinformatics prediction and analyzed by dual luciferase reporter assays. The results showed that overexpression of miR-196b-5p could significantly increase the mRNA and protein expression of Cyclin B, Cyclin D and Cyclin E (P<0.05); Cell cycle analysis showed that overexpression of miR-196b-5p significantly increased the proportion of cells in the S phase (P<0.05), indicating that miR-196b-5p could accelerate cell cycle progress. Results of EdU staining showed that overexpression of miR-196b-5p significantly promoted cell proliferation. Conversely, inhibition of miR-196b-5p expression could significantly reduce the proliferation capacity of myoblasts. Further, overexpression of miR-196b-5p could significantly increase the expression levels of myogenic marker genes MyoD, MoyG and MyHC (P<0.05), thereby promoting myoblast fusion and accelerating C2C12 cell differentiation. Bioinformatics predictions and dual luciferase experiments demonstrated that miR-196b-5p could target and inhibit the expression of the Sirt1 gene. Altering the Sirt1 expression could not rescue the effects of miR-196b-5p on the cell cycle, but could weaken the promoting effects of miR-196b-5p on myoblast differentiation, suggesting that miR-196b-5p promoted myoblast differentiation by targeting Sirt1.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Cell Line; MicroRNAs; Myoblasts; Cell Proliferation; Cell Differentiation
PubMed: 37194590
DOI: 10.16288/j.yczz.23-025 -
The FEBS Journal Nov 2017Xk-related protein 8 (Xkr8) is a scramblase and responsible for phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure on the cell surface in a caspase-dependent manner. Although PS exposure...
Xk-related protein 8 (Xkr8) is a scramblase and responsible for phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure on the cell surface in a caspase-dependent manner. Although PS exposure is found to be important for myotube formation during myoblast differentiation, the role of Xkr8 during myogenesis has not been elucidated. Here we show that Xkr8 contributes to myoblast differentiation. Xkr8 overexpression induced the formation of large myotubes during early differentiation, but this phenotype was not related to caspase-dependent cleavage of Xkr8. Furthermore, forced Xkr8 expression accelerated myoblast differentiation and conferred cell-death resistance after the induction of differentiation. Consistent with these results, Xkr8-knocked-down myoblasts exhibited impaired differentiation and more apoptotic cells during differentiation, implying the involvements of Xkr8 in the survival and proliferation of myoblasts. Taken together, the study shows Xkr8 influences myogenesis by acting as a positive regulator of terminal differentiation and myoblast survival.
Topics: Animals; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; Cell Differentiation; Cell Survival; Humans; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Myoblasts; RNA, Messenger
PubMed: 28881496
DOI: 10.1111/febs.14261 -
Methods in Cell Biology 2022Skeletal muscle is a highly regenerative tissue that can efficiently recover from various damages caused by injuries and excessive exercises. In adult muscle, stem cells...
Skeletal muscle is a highly regenerative tissue that can efficiently recover from various damages caused by injuries and excessive exercises. In adult muscle, stem cells termed satellite cells are mitotically quiescent but activated upon muscle damages to enter the cell cycle as myogenic precursor cells or myoblasts. After several rounds of cell cycles, they exist the cycle and fuse to each other to form multinucleated myotubes, and eventually mature to become contractile myofibers. Satellite cells can be readily isolated from mouse skeletal muscle with enzymatic digestion and magnetic separation with antibodies against specific surface markers. C2C12 cells are an immortalized mouse myoblast cell line that is commercially available and more readily expandable than primary myoblasts. Both primary myoblasts and C2C12 cells have been extensively used as useful in vitro models for myogenic differentiation. Proper examination of this process requires monitoring specific protein expression in subcellular compartments, which can be accomplished through immunofluorescence staining. This chapter describes the workflow for the isolation of satellite cells from mouse skeletal muscle and subsequent immunofluorescence staining to assess the proliferation and differentiation of primary myoblasts and C2C12 cells.
Topics: Animals; Cell Differentiation; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Mice; Muscle Development; Muscle, Skeletal; Myoblasts; Staining and Labeling
PubMed: 35811095
DOI: 10.1016/bs.mcb.2022.02.010 -
Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and... Aug 2023It has been observed that Slo1 knockout mice have reduced motor function, and people with certain Slo1 mutations have movement problems, but there is no answer whether...
BACKGROUND
It has been observed that Slo1 knockout mice have reduced motor function, and people with certain Slo1 mutations have movement problems, but there is no answer whether the movement disorder is caused by the loss of Slo1 in the nervous system, or skeletal muscle, or both. Here, to ascertain in which tissues Slo1 functions to regulate motor function and offer deeper insight in treating related movement disorder, we generated skeletal muscle-specific Slo1 knockout mice, studied the functional changes in Slo1-deficient skeletal muscle and explored the underlying mechanism.
METHODS
We used skeletal muscle-specific Slo1 knockout mice (Myf5-Cre; Slo1 mice, called CKO) as in vivo models to examine the role of Slo1 in muscle growth and muscle regeneration. The forelimb grip strength test was used to assess skeletal muscle function and treadmill exhaustion test was used to test whole-body endurance. Mouse primary myoblasts derived from CKO (myoblast/CKO) mice were used to extend the findings to in vitro effects on myoblast differentiation and fusion. Quantitative real-time PCR, western blot and immunofluorescence approaches were used to analyse Slo1 expression during myoblast differentiation and muscle regeneration. To investigate the involvement of genes in the regulation of muscle dysfunction induced by Slo1 deletion, RNA-seq analysis was performed in primary myoblasts. Immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry were used to identify the protein interacting with Slo1. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to identify whether Slo1 deletion affects NFAT activity.
RESULTS
We found that the body weight and size of CKO mice were not significantly different from those of Slo1 mice (called WT). Deficiency of Slo1 in muscles leads to reduced endurance (~30% reduction, P < 0.05) and strength (~30% reduction, P < 0.001). Although there was no difference in the general morphology of the muscles, electron microscopy revealed a considerable reduction in the content of mitochondria in the soleus muscle (~40% reduction, P < 0.01). We found that Slo1 was expressed mainly on the cell membrane and showed higher expression in slow-twitch fibres. Slo1 protein expression is progressively reduced during muscle postnatal development and regeneration after injury, and the expression is strongly reduced during myoblast differentiation. Slo1 deletion impaired myoblast differentiation and slow-twitch fibre formation. Mechanistically, RNA-seq analysis showed that Slo1 influences the expression of genes related to myogenic differentiation and slow-twitch fibre formation. Slo1 interacts with FAK to influence myogenic differentiation, and Slo1 deletion diminishes NFAT activity.
CONCLUSIONS
Our data reveal that Slo1 deficiency impaired skeletal muscle regeneration and slow-twitch fibre formation.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Cell Differentiation; Mice, Knockout; Movement Disorders; Muscle, Skeletal; Myoblasts
PubMed: 37212018
DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.13253 -
BioMed Research International 2016MicroRNAs are a class of 18-22-nucleotide noncoding RNAs that posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression and have been shown to play an important role during...
MicroRNAs are a class of 18-22-nucleotide noncoding RNAs that posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression and have been shown to play an important role during myoblast differentiation. In this study, we found that the expression of miR-145a-5p was gradually increased during C2C12 myoblast differentiation, and miR-145a-5p inhibitors or mimics significantly suppressed or promoted the relative expression of specific myogenesis related marker genes. Moreover, overexpression or inhibition of miR-145a-5p enhanced or repressed the expression of some special genes involved in the endogenous Wnt signaling pathway during C2C12 myoblast differentiation, including Wnt5a, LRP5, Axin2, and β-catenin. These results indicated that miR-145a-5p might be considered as a new myogenic differentiation-associated microRNA that can promote C2C12 myoblast differentiation by enhancing genes related to myoblasts differentiation.
Topics: Animals; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Mice; MicroRNAs; Myoblasts; Wnt Signaling Pathway
PubMed: 27239472
DOI: 10.1155/2016/5276271 -
Trends in Cell Biology Dec 2019Cell fusion is essential for the development of multicellular organisms, and plays a key role in the formation of various cell types and tissues. Recent findings have... (Review)
Review
Cell fusion is essential for the development of multicellular organisms, and plays a key role in the formation of various cell types and tissues. Recent findings have highlighted the varied protein machinery that drives plasma-membrane merger in different systems, which is characterized by diverse structural and functional elements. We highlight the discovery and activities of several key sets of fusion proteins that together offer an evolving perspective on cell membrane fusion. We also emphasize recent discoveries in vertebrate myoblast fusion in skeletal muscle, which is composed of numerous multinucleated myofibers formed by the fusion of progenitor cells during development.
Topics: Animals; Cell Fusion; Cell Membrane; Membrane Fusion; Muscle, Skeletal; Myoblasts; Myofibrils
PubMed: 31648852
DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2019.09.002