Myogenic precursor cells

Introduction Formation of skeletal muscle Skeletal muscle fibers (myofibers) are long syncytial cells with thousands of nuclei. Careful histological observation in the late 1800s clearly demonstrated a great capacity for new muscle formation in many species and it is now widely accepted that during development and in regenerating muscle new myonuclei result from proliferation of mononucleated muscle precursor cells (myoblasts) that fuse together to form multinucleated cells (myotubes) and these mature into myofibers (Figure 2.1).