Myomaker is essential for muscle regeneration
- Department of Molecular Biology, Harmon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
- Corresponding authors: eric.olson{at}utsouthwestern.edu, douglas.millay{at}cchmc.org
Abstract
Regeneration of injured adult skeletal muscle involves fusion of activated satellite cells to form new myofibers. Myomaker is a muscle-specific membrane protein required for fusion of embryonic myoblasts, but its potential involvement in adult muscle regeneration has not been explored. We show that myogenic basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors induce myomaker expression in satellite cells during acute and chronic muscle regeneration. Moreover, genetic deletion of myomaker in adult satellite cells completely abolishes muscle regeneration, resulting in severe muscle destruction after injury. Myomaker is the only muscle-specific protein known to be absolutely essential for fusion of embryonic and adult myoblasts.
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Footnotes
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Supplemental material is available for this article.
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Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.247205.114.
- Received June 10, 2014.
- Accepted July 7, 2014.
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