We identify here the multiple epidermal growth factor repeat transmembrane protein Megf10 as a quiescent satellite cell marker that is also expressed in skeletal myoblasts but not in differentiated myofibers. Retroviral expression of Megf10 in myoblasts results in enhanced proliferation and inhibited differentiation. Infected myoblasts that fail to differentiate undergo cell cycle arrest and ca...

In the pediatric cancer alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, characteristic t(2;13)(q35;q14) or variant t(1;13)(p36;q14) chromosomal translocations generate PAX3-FKHR or PAX7-FKHR fusion genes. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and quantitative Southern blot analyses, we demonstrate that these fusion genes are amplified in 20% of fusion-positive tum...

We describe here the isolation of chicken PAX6 and PAX7 as members of the PAX gene family expressed in late stages of chick nervous system development. By generating monoclonal antibodies against these PAX molecules, we analyzed their protein distributions in the CNS, neural crest cells and muscle precursor cells. Our detailed description of protein distributions revealed several new features o...

A muscular path to quiescence uscle stem cells called satellite cells can pull back from the brink, according to Zammit et al. (page 347). When activated by muscle damage, the cells divide and start uniformly down a differentiation path. Only at the last minute do some of the cells split off to revert to a quiescent, stem cell phenotype. Satellite cells sit quietly underneath the basal lamina o...

A muscular path to quiescence uscle stem cells called satellite cells can pull back from the brink, according to Zammit et al. (page 347). When activated by muscle damage, the cells divide and start uniformly down a differentiation path. Only at the last minute do some of the cells split off to revert to a quiescent, stem cell phenotype. Satellite cells sit quietly underneath the basal lamina o...