Specific labelling of myonuclei by an antibody against pericentriolar material 1 on skeletal muscle tissue sections

Abstract

Pericentriolar material 1 can be used as a specific histological marker for myonuclei in skeletal muscle tissue without relying on counterstaining of other structures or cumbersome and subjective analysis of nuclear positioning.

The complex pericentriolar material 1 protein allows differentiation between myonuclei and nuclei of satellite cells of the skeletal muscle

“…The original article by Winje et al, entitled “ Specific labelling of myonuclei by an antibody against pericentriolar material 1 (PCM1) on skeletal muscle tissue sections ”, sheds new light on the issue of heterogeneity of skeletal muscle and, thus, the problem to reliably distinguish between myonuclei versus nuclei of satellite cells of the skeletal muscle which are intimately associated. At the light microscopical level, this differentiation is particularly difficult as only nuclei inside the muscle fibre are defined as true myonuclei.…”

“…This is a major problem in analyses that use tissue homogenates, while in situ immunohistochemical studies using appropriate antibodies usually allow differentiation of cell populations. However, in skeletal muscle, antibodies that reliably distinguish between muscle fibres and satellite cells are not yet available …”

“…In this issue of Acta Physiologica, Winje et al demonstrate that immunohistochemistry with an antibody that recognizes pericentriolar material 1 (PCM1) can be applied to specifically and selectively identify myonuclei in human and rodent skeletal muscle.…”

“…Next, the authors elegantly confirm their immunohistochemical results using the AAV6 vector comprised of the human muscle‐specific alpha‐actin‐1 gene promotor with nuclear mCherry to label myonuclei. In skeletal muscle of mice and rat, PCM1 was indeed confined to the nuclear membrane …”

“…With this knowledge, the question arises why an antibody against this ubiquitously expressed protein specifically identifies distinct cell populations as shown nicely by Winje et al…”