Myod-positive Myoblasts Are Present in Mature Fetal Organs Lacking Skeletal Muscle

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-29-2001

Abstract

The epiblast of the chick embryo gives rise to the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm during gastrulation. Previous studies revealed that MyoD-positive cells were present throughout the epiblast, suggesting that skeletal muscle precursors would become incorporated into all three germ layers. The focus of the present study was to examine a variety of organs from the chicken fetus for the presence of myogenic cells. RT-PCR and in situ hybridizations demonstrated that MyoD-positive cells were present in the brain, lung, intestine, kidney, spleen, heart, and liver. When these organs were dissociated and placed in culture, a subpopulation of cells differentiated into skeletal muscle. The G8 antibody was used to label those cells that expressed MyoD in vivo and to follow their fate in vitro. Most, if not all, of the muscle that formed in culture arose from cells that expressed MyoD and G8 in vivo. Practically all of the G8-positive cells from the intestine differentiated after purification by FACS. This population of ectopically located cells appears to be distinct from multipotential stem cells and myofibroblasts. They closely resemble quiescent, stably programmed skeletal myoblasts with the capacity to differentiate when placed in a permissive environment.

Publication Title

The Journal of Cell Biology

Volume

155

Issue

3

First Page

381

Last Page

392

PubMed ID

11684706

Comments

This article was published in The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 155, Issue 3, Pages 381-392.

The published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200105139.

Copyright © 2001.

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