Myogenin, one of the MyoD family of proteins, is expressed early during somitogenesis and is required for myoblast fusion in vivo. Previous studies in transgenic mice have shown that a 184-bp myogenin promoter fragment is sufficient to correctly drive expression of a beta-galactosidase transgene during embryogenesis. We show here that mutation of one of the DNA motifs present in this region, th...

SMYD1 is a heart and muscle specific SET-MYND domain containing protein, which functions as a histone methyltransferase and regulates downstream gene transcription. We demonstrated that the expression of SMYD1 is restricted in the heart and skeletal muscle tissues in human. To reveal the regulatory mechanisms of SMYD1 expression during myogenesis and cardiogenesis, we cloned and characterized t...

The Rho family GTP-binding proteins play a critical role in a variety of cytoskeleton-dependent cell functions. In this study, we examined the role of Rho family G proteins in muscle differentiation. Dominant negative forms of Rho family proteins and RhoGDI, a GDP dissociation inhibitor, suppressed transcription of muscle-specific genes, while mutationally activated forms of Rho family proteins...

IGF-I has a unique biphasic effect on skeletal muscle cell differentiation. Initially, IGF-I inhibits differentiation and promotes proliferation of skeletal myoblasts. Subsequently, IGF-I switches to stimulating differentiation of these cells. The mechanisms responsible for this switch in IGF action remain unknown. We have examined the role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk)1/2 sign...

p202 is a primarily nuclear, interferon-inducible murine protein that is encoded by the Ifi 202 gene. Overexpression of p202 in transfected cells retards cell proliferation. p202 modulates the pattern of gene expression by inhibiting the activity of various transcription factors including NF-kappaB, c-Fos, c-Jun, E2F-1, and p53. Here we report that p202 was constitutively expressed in mouse ske...

UNLABELLED The authors have demonstrated previously that emphysema and lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) resulted in a significant shift of type IIx/b to type IIa fibres in the diaphragm of hamsters with elastase-induced emphysema. To explore the mechanisms leading to this fibre switching, the mRNA expression of the myogenic regulatory factors, the inhibitors of DNA binding proteins (Id-prot...

Skeletal myogenesis is a multistep process by which multinucleated mature muscle fibers are formed from undifferentiated, mononucleated myoblasts. However, the molecular mechanisms of skeletal myogenesis have not been fully elucidated. Here, we identified muscle-restricted coiled-coil (MURC) protein as a positive regulator of myogenesis. In skeletal muscle, MURC was localized to the cytoplasm w...

Embryos of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., were reared from fertilization of the eggs to inflation of the swim bladder in the larval stage at 18 and 25 degrees C. cRNA probes were used to detect transcripts of the myogenic regulatory factors MyoD, Myf-5 and myogenin, and five myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms during development. The genes encoding Myf-5 and MyoD were switched on first in ...

A lacZ transgene, expressed by the myogenin promoter, was introduced into the mouse hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (Hprt) locus by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Embryos between E10.5-E18.5 days were analyzed for expression of the transgene after staining for beta-galactosidase activity. Transgene expression was restricted to the skeletal muscle lineages reflecting a similar te...