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Regenerative medicine based on muscle stem cells
Author(s) -
Huard Johnny
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.389.2
Subject(s) - skeletal muscle , stem cell , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , regeneration (biology) , myocyte , transplantation , population , regenerative medicine , immunology , pathology , medicine , anatomy , environmental health
Members of our laboratory have isolated various populations of myogenic cells from the postnatal skeletal muscle of normal mice by examining the cells’ adhesion characteristics, proliferation behavior, and myogenic and stem cell marker expression profiles. Although most of these cell populations have displayed characteristics similar to those of satellite cells, we also have identified a unique population of muscle‐derived stem cells (MDSCs). MDSCs exhibit long‐term proliferation and high self‐renewal rates, high resistance to stress, and can differentiate toward various lineages, including muscle (skeletal and cardiac), neural, endothelial, osteogenic, and chondrogenic lineages, both in vitro and in vivo. The transplantation of MDSCs, in contrast to that of other myogenic cells, has improved the efficiency of dystrophic muscle regeneration and the delivery of dystrophin to dystrophic muscle. I will also show that transplantation of female MDSCs (F‐MDSC) rather than male MDSCs (M‐MDSCs) significantly improves skeletal muscle regeneration despite a similar myogenic and stem cells markers expression by both cell types. My presentation will also address the influence of environmental cues released within dystrophic or injured skeletal muscle upon the differentiation of MDSCs toward fibrotic cells. I will discuss potential strategies by which scar tissue formation can be prevented within injured muscle through TGF‐β1 blockade. I then will discuss the use of MDSCs in gene therapy and tissue engineering applications designed to improve bone and cartilage healing through the genetic modification of MDSCs to express osteogenic proteins (BMP‐2 and ‐4) as well as angiogenic factor (VEGF). The results outlined in my presentation open new avenues by which researchers could use muscle stem cell–based gene therapy and tissue engineering to improve tissue regeneration.