Molecular changes in detrained & retrained adult jaw muscle.

A hypofunctional masticatory system was developed in 21-day-old male rats by feeding them a soft diet for 27 weeks. Retraining of a parallel group for 6 weeks was achieved by switching back to a hard diet after 21 weeks. A control group was fed a hard diet for 27 weeks.

Androgens affect myogenesis in vitro and increase local IGF-1 expression.

Purpose: The mechanism whereby anabolic androgens are associated with hypertrophy of skeletal muscle is incompletely understood but may involve an interaction with locally generated insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1. The present investigation utilized a cell culture model of human skeletal muscle-derived cell maturation to test the hypothesis that androgens increase differentiation of human muscle precursor cells in vitro and to assess effects of androgen with or without IGF-1 on IGF-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in human muscle precursor cells.

Methods: Differentiation of muscle-derived cells was induced under standard low-serum conditions.

Grouping patients for masseter muscle genotype-phenotype studies.

Objectives: To use various facial classifications, including either/both vertical and horizontal facial criteria, to assess their effects on the interpretation of masseter muscle (MM) gene expression.

Materials And Methods: Fresh MM biopsies were obtained from 29 patients (age, 16-36 years) with various facial phenotypes. Based on clinical and cephalometric analysis, patients were grouped using three different classifications: (1) basic vertical, (2) basic horizontal, and (3) combined vertical and horizontal.

Myosin proteins identified from masseter muscle using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction--a pilot study of the relevance to orthodontics.

There is a clearly established relationship between masticatory muscle structure and facial form. Human studies in this area, however, have been limited, especially in consideration of the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) family of contractile proteins. The aim of this pilot study was to assess if differences were detectable between genotype with respect to MyHC isoforms and the vertical facial phenotype in a sample of nine Caucasian female patients, age range 18-49 years, using a novel rapid technique.

Alpha v beta 3 and alpha v beta 5 integrins and their role in muscle precursor cell adhesion.

Background Information: Functional adaptation of skeletal muscle is a requirement for different muscle groups (e.g. craniofacial, ocular and limb) to undergo site-specific changes.

The IGF-I splice variant MGF increases progenitor cells in ALS, dystrophic, and normal muscle.

The effects of muscle splice variants of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on proliferation and differentiation were studied in human primary muscle cell cultures from healthy subjects as well as from muscular dystrophy and ALS patients. Although the initial numbers of mononucleated progenitor cells expressing desmin were lower in diseased muscle, the E domain peptide of IGF-IEc (MGF) significantly increased the numbers of progenitor cells in healthy and diseased muscle. IGF-I significantly enhances myogenic differentiation whereas MGF E peptide blocks this pathway, resulting in an increased progenitor (stem) cell pool and thus potentially facilitating repair and maintenance of this postmitotic tissue.

Muscling in on stem cells.

Skeletal muscle is one of the few adult tissues that possesses the capacity for regeneration (restoration of lost functional tissue) as opposed to repair. This capacity is due to the presence of 'muscle stem cells' known as satellite cells. Detailed investigation of these cells over the past 50 years has revealed that both these and other cells within the skeletal muscle complex are capable of regenerating both muscle and other cell types as well.

Human adult craniofacial muscle-derived cells: neural-cell adhesion-molecule (NCAM; CD56)-expressing cells appear to contain multipotential stem cells.

Skeletal muscle has been well characterized as a reservoir of myogenic precursors or satellite cells with the potential to participate in cellular repopulation therapies for muscle dysfunction. Recent evidence, however, suggests that the postnatal muscle compartment can be considered an alternative to bone marrow as a source of multipotent cells or muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs). MDSCs, when primed with appropriate environmental cues, can differentiate into a variety of non-muscle cells.