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Upregulation of endogenous heparin‐binding EGF‐like growth factor and its role as a survival factor in skeletal myotubes
Author(s) -
Horikawa Michiharu,
Higashiyama Shigeki,
Nomura Shintaro,
Kitamura Yukihiko,
Ishikawa Mutsuo,
Taniguchi Naoyuki
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(99)01213-2
Subject(s) - myogenesis , heparin binding egf like growth factor , epidermal growth factor , downregulation and upregulation , skeletal muscle , growth factor , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , endogeny , epidermal growth factor receptor , endocrinology , biology , c2c12 , medicine , receptor , biochemistry , gene
To investigate the role of heparin‐binding EGF‐like growth factor (HB‐EGF) in skeletal muscle, we studied its function in skeletal myotubes in vitro using mouse C2C12 cells. Expression levels of membrane‐anchored HB‐EGF (proHB‐EGF) protein were increased specifically during their differentiation among epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands. Production levels of EGFR on the cell surface were constant. Tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR, however, was constitutively increased during differentiation. Quenching of endogenous HB‐EGF significantly rendered myotubes sensitive to apoptotic cell death induced by hypoxic stress, suggesting that proHB‐EGF in the skeletal muscle is specifically upregulated to function as a survival factor.