Connecting muscles to tendons: tendons and musculoskeletal development in flies and vertebrates

Abstract

There was an error published in Development 137, 2807-2817.On p. 2808, StripeB was incorrectly referred to as an epidermal growth factor (Egf)-like, rather than an early growth response (Egr)-like, transcription factor. The corrected sentence appears below.One of the earliest genes that induce tendon progenitor cells within the ectoderm encodes the early growth response (Egr)-like transcription factor StripeB, one of the two isoforms produced by the stripe gene.We apologise to the authors and readers for this mistake. SummaryThe formation of the musculoskeletal system represents an intricate process of tissue assembly involving heterotypic inductive interactions between tendons, muscles and cartilage. An essential component of all musculoskeletal systems is the anchoring of the force-generating muscles to the solid support of the organism: the skeleton in vertebrates and the exoskeleton in invertebrates. Here, we discuss recent findings that illuminate musculoskeletal assembly in the vertebrate embryo, findings that emphasize the reciprocal interactions between the forming tendons, muscle and cartilage tissues. We also compare these events with those of the corresponding system in the Drosophila embryo, highlighting distinct and common pathways that promote efficient locomotion while preserving the form of the organism.

The Role of Mechanical Loading in Tendon Development, Maintenance, Injury, and Repair

“…Type-I collagen synthesis and deposition have been linked to increasing expression levels of TGF-b1 both in human Achilles tendon studies and studies investigating the effects of cyclic loading on TGF-b1 expression in human tendon fibroblasts 29,30 . Scleraxis has been identified as a DNA-binding transcription factor critical to embryonic limb tendon formation 31,32 . It is the primary regulator of tenocyte differentiation and overall tendon phenotype, while also modulating type-I collagen synthesis in response to the application of stress [33][34][35][36][37] .…”

A critical role for Ras Suppressor-1 (RSU-1) revealed when PINCH-Integrin-linked Kinase (ILK) binding is disrupted

“…The Drosophila embryonic somatic muscle consists of segments of muscle fibers, where two muscle segments meet specialized tendon cells that are part of the epidermis (Bökel and Brown, 2002;Brower, 2003;Schweitzer et al, 2010). The junction of these two cell types is maintained by b-integrin dependent adhesion to extracellular matrix that is deposited between muscle and tendon cells.…”

Periostin Secreted by Mesenchymal Stem Cells Supports Tendon Formation in an Ectopic Mouse Model

“…T he molecular mechanisms involved in tendon and ligament formation during embryogenesis are quite well characterized both in vertebrate and invertebrate systems [1]. Much less is known about processes that contribute to de novo tendon formation and tendon repair in adult organisms.…”