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Polyclonal antibody F547 reacts with a bovine basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and a human recombinant bFGF, but not with bovine acidic fibroblast growth factor. This antibody localized bFGF in the extracellular matrix of mouse skeletal muscle, primarily in the fiber endomysium, which includes the heparin-containing basal lamina. In mdx mouse muscle, which displays persistent regeneration, FGF levels in the extracellular matrix are higher than those in controls. Overabundance of matrix FGF in mdx muscles may be related to an increase in both satellite cell and regenerative activity in the dystrophic muscle and may help explain the benign phenotype of mdx animals compared with the genetically identical human Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Skeletal muscle fibers express members of the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) gene family in a fiber-type-specific manner. In avian skeletal muscle it is the expression of the slow MyHC isoforms that most clearly distinguishes slow- from fast-contracting fiber types. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain fiber-type-specific expression of distinct MyHC genes during development-an intrinsic mechanism based on the formation of different myogenic lineage(s) and an extrinsic, innervation-dependent mechanism. We developed a cell culture model system in which both mechanisms were evaluated during fetal muscle development. Myoblasts isolated from prospective fast (pectoralis major) or slow (medial adductor) fetal chick muscles formed muscle fibers in cell culture, none of which expressed slow MyHC genes. By contrast, when muscle fibers formed from myoblasts derived from the slow muscle were cocultured with neural tube, the muscle fibers expressed a slow MyHC gene, while muscle fibers formed from myoblasts of fast muscle origin continued to express only fast MyHC. Motor endplates formed on the fibers derived from myoblasts of both fast and slow muscle origin in cocultures, and slow MyHC gene expression did not occur when neuromuscular transmission or depolarization was blocked. We have cloned the slow MyHC gene that is expressed in response to innervation and identified it as the slow MyHC 2 gene, the predominant adult slow isoform. cDNAs encoding portions of the three slow myosin heavy chain genes (MyHC1, slow MyHC 2, and slow MyHC 3) were isolated. Only slow MyHC 2 mRNA was demonstrated to be abundant in the cocultures of neural tube and muscle fibers derived from myoblasts of slow muscle origin. Thus, expression of the slow MyHC 2 gene in this in vitro system indicates that formation of slow muscle fiber types is dependent on both myoblast lineage (intrinsic mechanisms) and innervation (extrinsic mechanisms), and suggests neither mechanism alone is sufficient to explain formation of muscle fibers of different types during fetal development.

In the limb bud of the 5-day-old avian embryo, when primary muscle fibre formation is beginning and before specific muscles appear, differences in the expression of fast and slow myosin heavy chain genes can be detected among primary fibres of the premuscle masses. Myoblasts that form colonies of fibres of specific types can be isolated from these limb buds. To assess the role of myoblast commitment in specifying fibre types during embryonic development, we cloned myoblasts of specific types from embryonic and adult muscles, transfected them with a reporter gene, and transferred them into developing limb buds. After transfer, cloned myoblasts formed fibres in the limb with the same patterns of myosin heavy chain gene expression as the fibres they formed in cell culture. These results demonstrate that initial skeletal muscle fibre type diversity during avian limb development can originate, in part, from the commitment of distinct myoblast types to the formation of specific fibre types.

Expression of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) gene in skeletal muscle is positively regulated in proliferating myoblasts and declines during differentiation. We have characterized the cis-regulatory elements in the proximal region of the FGFR1 promoter which render positive transcriptional activity. Multiple elements between ؊69 and ؊14 activate the FGFR1 promoter. Myoblast transfections revealed that potential Sp transcription factor binding sites are required for promoter activity. Electromobility shift assays indicated that myoblast nuclear proteins specifically bind to these cis-elements and that differentiated myotube nuclear extracts do not form these same complexes. In addition, Southwestern blot analysis detected binding of the most proximal Sp motif to a Sp1-like protein present in myoblast nuclear extracts but not in myotubes. In corroboration, Sp1 and Sp3 proteins were detected only in myoblasts and not in differentiated myotubes. Finally, transfection of Drosophila SL2 cells showed that Sp1 is a positive regulator of FGFR1 promoter activity and that Sp3 is a coactivator via the proximal Sp binding sites. These studies demonstrate that the FGFR1 promoter is activated by Sp transcription factors in proliferating myoblasts and demonstrate at least part of the mechanism by which FGFR1 gene expression is downregulated in differentiated muscle fibers.During vertebrate myogenesis, mesodermally derived cells within myogenic lineages proliferate as mononucleated myoblasts before differentiation into postmitotic, multinucleated muscle fibers. Both the sustained proliferation of myoblasts and subsequent withdrawal from the cell cycle as a part of differentiation are regulated by signal transduction cascades initiated by environmental signals including growth factors. Members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 1 family of signaling molecules are capable of sustaining myoblast proliferation and delaying differentiation. The cellular effects of FGF signaling are mediated through a small family of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs). FGF1 and FGF2 possess well documented mitogenic activity for skeletal myoblasts, and these factors bind to FGFR1 in the cell surface of proliferating myoblasts. In addition to skeletal muscle myoblasts, FGFR1 is also expressed during development of the brain, skin, bones, and cardiac muscle (1). It has recently been shown that FGFR1 can be translocated to the nucleus via importin B and that it plays an important role in the regulation of the cell cycle by inducing nuclear target genes (2). However, FGF signaling declines during myoblast differentiation. This decline is the result of loss of cell surface receptor and a coordinate decrease in FGFR1 mRNA (3-5).The significance of the developmentally regulated expression of FGFR1 in relation to muscle growth and patterning in vivo has been partially examined. Myoblast differentiation and muscle fiber formation were delayed in chick limb musculature overexpressing wild type FGFR1. Conversely, premature differentiat...

Skeletal muscle fiber type is regulated, in part, by innervation leading to transcriptional regulation of fiber typespecific genes. Here, we report the initial characterization of the transcriptional regulation of the slow myosin heavy chain 2 (MyHC2) promoter in innervated and noninnervated slow medial adductor (MA) and fast pectoralis major (

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