Skeletal myogenesis is a multistep process starting
with progenitor cell proliferation, followed by their exit
from the cell cycle, differentiation, alignment, and fusion to
form multinucleated myotubes, typical of the differentiated
muscle tissue. While the molecular players involved in
early myogenesis have been extensively characterized,
information about the later steps of the process is scanty.
Here, we describe a novel myogenic cell line (MYOP7),
composed of highly proliferating Sca-1+ muscle precursor
cells, which can be induced to terminally differentiate into
spontaneously contracting multinucleated myotubes. By
performing high-density microarray analysis on these cells,
we identified a series of genes, differentially expressed in
proliferating vs differentiating conditions, which are candidates
to play a major role in the later phase of myogenesis.
In addition, we confirmed that the late stages of muscle
differentiation are characterized by a marked upregulation
of the cellular receptors for the vascular endothelial growth
factor.
