Screening of anti-atrophic peptides by using photo-cleavable peptide array and 96-well scale contractile human skeletal muscle atrophy models.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is characterized by decreases in protein content, myofiber diameter, and contractile force generation. As muscle atrophy worsens the quality of life, the development of anti-atrophic substances is desirable. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate a screening process for anti-atrophic peptides using photo-cleavable peptide array technology and human contractile atrophic muscle models.

In Vitro Model of Human Skeletal Muscle Tissues with Contractility Fabricated by Immortalized Human Myogenic Cells.

In the development process for drugs used to treat skeletal muscle, cell-based contractile force assays have been considered as a useful in vitro test. Immortalized human myogenic cells are promising as cell sources for reproducible and well-characterized in vitro models. In this study, it is investigated whether immortalized human myogenic cells, Hu5/KD3, have suitable contractile ability and the potential to be used as cell sources for contractile force assays.

Effect of cell-extracellular matrix interaction on myogenic characteristics and artificial skeletal muscle tissue.

Although various types of artificial skeletal muscle tissue have been reported, the contractile forces generated by tissue-engineered artificial skeletal muscles remain to be improved for biological model and clinical applications. In this study, we investigated the effects of extracellular matrix (ECM) and supplementation of a small molecule, which has been reported to enhance α7β1 integrin expression (SU9516), on cell migration speed, cell fusion rate, myoblast (mouse C2C12 cells) differentiation and contractile force generation of tissue-engineered artificial skeletal muscles. When cells were cultured on varying ECM coated-surfaces, we observed significant enhancement in the migration speed, while the myotube formation (differentiation ratio) decreased in all except for cells cultured on Matrigel coated-surfaces.

Fabrication of contractile skeletal muscle tissues using directly converted myoblasts from human fibroblasts.

Transplantation of stem cell-derived myoblasts is a promising approach for the treatment of skeletal muscle function loss. Myoblasts directly converted from somatic cells that bypass any stem cell intermediary stages can avoid the problem of tumor formation after transplantation. Previously, we reported that co-transduction with the myogenic differentiation 1 (MYOD1) gene and the v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene lung carcinoma derived homolog (MYCL) gene efficiently converted human fibroblasts into myoblasts.