Anatomy

Homeobox

Cellular differentiation

Progenitor cell

Myocyte

MyoD Protein

Transcription factor

Biology

Myogenin

Gene

Induced pluripotent stem cell

Embryonic stem cell

PAX3

MyoD

MYF5

Skeletal muscle

Stem cell

Myogenesis

Myogenic regulatory factors

Cell biology

Genetics

Cell Regeneration

In vertebrates, the skeletal muscles of the body and their associated stem cells originate from muscle progenitor cells, during development. The specification of the muscles of the trunk, head and limbs, relies on the activity of distinct genetic hierarchies. The major regulators of trunk and limb muscle specification are the paired-homeobox transcription factors PAX3 and PAX7. Distinct gene regulatory networks drive the formation of the different muscles of the head. Despite the redeployment of diverse upstream regulators of muscle progenitor differentiation, the commitment towards the myogenic fate requires the expression of the early myogenic regulatory factors MYF5, MRF4, MYOD and the late differentiation marker MYOG. The expression of these genes is activated by muscle progenitors throughout development, in several waves of myogenic differentiation, constituting the embryonic, fetal and postnatal phases of muscle growth. In order to achieve myogenic cell commitment while maintaining an undifferentiated pool of muscle progenitors, several signaling pathways regulate the switch between proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. The identification of the gene regulatory networks operating during myogenesis is crucial for the development of in vitro protocols to differentiate pluripotent stem cells into myoblasts required for regenerative medicine.

Master regulators of skeletal muscle lineage development and pluripotent stem cells differentiation