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リエゾンラボ研究会
発表内容

Title:
Molecular regulation of muscle stem cells

Shihuan Kuang, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University , USA

Abstract:
  Adult stem cells are capable of differentiating into a specific tissue type while maintaining their own population through self-renewal. A precise control of the balance between self-renewal and differentiation is critical for tissue homeostasis and prevention of cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating stem cell fate are poorly understood. We have recently established satellite cells in the muscle as a unique model to study stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Here, we hypothesize that Notch signaling positively maintains the stemness of quiescent, and promotes self-renewal of activated, satellite cells. Using a transgenic mouse that exhibits GFP in Notch-activated cells we showed that a small subpopulation of quiescent satellite cells is GFP+, and the % GFP+ cells increases upon satellite cell activation through muscle injury in vivo or proliferation in vitro. We further purified both GFP+ and GFP- satellite cells by FACS and showed that these two populations display unique gene expression patterns. In this lecture, I will also present our ongoing research in examining whether GFP-expression correlates to stemness and how perturbation of Notch signaling affects satellite cell fate. These studies will reveal critical information about the molecular regulation of stem cell fate, and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches to treat degenerative muscle diseases such as the lethal Duchenne muscular dystrophy.