Summary
Forced expression of the myogenic regulatory gene MyoD in many types of cultured cells initiates their conversion into skeletal muscle. It is not known, however, if MyoD expression serves to activate all or part of the skeletal muscle program in vivo during animal development, nor is it known how limiting the influences of cellular environment may be on the regulatory effects of MyoD. To begin to address these issues, we have produced transgenic mice which express MyoD in developing heart, where neither MyoD nor its three close relatives—myogenin, Myf-5, and MRF4/herculin/Myf-6—are normally expressed. The resulting gross phenotype in offspring from multiple, independent transgenic founders includes abnormal heart morphology and ultimately leads to death. At the molecular level, affected hearts exhibit activation of skeletal muscle-specific regulatory as well as structural genes. We conclude that MyoD is able to initiate the program that leads to skeletal muscle differentiation during mouse development, even in the presence of the ongoing cardiac differentiation program. Thus, targeted misexpression of this tissue-specific regulator during mammalian embryogenesis can activate, either directly or indirectly, a diverse set of genes normally restricted to a different cell lineage and a different cellular environment.
Article navigation
Related articles
Cited by...
More in this TOC section
Similar articles
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
Meeting report – The endoderm from a diverse perspective
N. Ray Dunn and Brigid L. M. Hogan look back at the ‘Endoderm Development and Disease’ Keystone Symposium, held in Taos, New Mexico, in February 2018. The meeting emphasized the importance of using a variety of models, including organoids, for gaining a more complete understanding of endoderm development.
Review – piRNAs and PIWI proteins: regulators of gene expression in development and stem cells
A role for Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in the regulation of endogenous gene expression challenges dogma in the piRNA field. Patricia Rojas-Ríos and Martine Simonelig review recent data addressing the biological and developmental functions of piRNAs.
Journal news – publishing peer review reports
Development, along with our sister journal Journal of Cell Science, has signed an open letter coordinated by ASAPbio signalling our intention to publish peer review reports alongside published papers. Find out more over on the Node.
Call for papers – Development at the single cell level
Development is pleased to welcome submissions for an upcoming special issue on ‘Development at the single cell level’, guest-edited by Allon Klein and Barbara Treutlein. This special issue aims to showcase the best research in stem cell and developmental biology, building on the rapidly evolving tools of single cell analysis. Submission deadline: 31 October 2018.
The people behind the papers – Jaqueline Kinold & Hermann Aberle
Axon guidance relies on the reception and integration of molecular cues from the environment by growth cones, and defective pathfinding results in misplaced projection patterns in the mature nervous system. A recent Research Article investigates this process in the Drosophila neuromucular system, as well as the consequences of axonal miswiring to locomotion. The Node caught up with lead author Jaqueline Kinold and her supervisor Hermann Aberle.
preLights – Simultaneous production of diverse neuronal subtypes during early corticogenesis
How does the amazing diversity of cortical neurons emerge during development? Boyan Bonev highlights a recent preprint from Denis Jabaudon and colleagues suggesting that during early stages distinct types are simultaneously produced, while later on neuronal production is homogenous and sequential.
We are also pleased to announce that recent preLights selected for the developmental biology community will feature regularly as part of our issue Table of Contents.
Articles of interest in our sister journals
Novel role for Grainy head in the regulation of cytoskeletal and junctional dynamics during epithelial repair
Inês Cristo, Lara Carvalho, Susana Ponte, António Jacinto. J Cell Sci 2018 131: jcs213595
The continuing evolution of publishing in the biological sciences
Steven Kelly. Biology Open 2018 7: bio037325