M-cadherin is a Reliable Marker of Quiescent Satellite Cells in Mouse Skeletal Muscle

Satellite cells are responsible for growth, maintenance and repair of postnatal skeletal muscle. On the search for a specific marker molecule for the identification of satellite cells by light-microscopy, we examined M-cadherin, a Ca-dependent cell adhesion molecule which is present in quiescent as well as activated satellite cells but not in other cell types in skeletal muscle. To determine the frequency of M-cadherin positive satellite cells in relation to total satellite cells in intact adult mouse muscle, we evaluated every satellite cell found in spaced serial sections of single muscle fibre preparations immunostained for Mcadherin by light and electron microscopy. We could identify 50 quiescent satellite cells this way and found M-cadherin antibody label in all of them. Statistically, this indicates that 94-100% of all satellite cells express Mcadherin, thus rendering M-cadherin as a reliable marker of quiescent satellite cells in mouse muscle.