Cytoglobin modulates myogenic progenitor cell viability and muscle regeneration.

Mammalian skeletal muscle can remodel, repair, and regenerate itself by mobilizing satellite cells, a resident population of myogenic progenitor cells. Muscle injury and subsequent activation of myogenic progenitor cells is associated with oxidative stress. Cytoglobin is a hemoprotein expressed in response to oxidative stress in a variety of tissues, including striated muscle.

Calcineurin activates cytoglobin transcription in hypoxic myocytes.

Cardiac hypertrophy develops in response to a variety of cardiovascular stresses and results in activation of numerous signaling cascades and proteins. In the present study, we demonstrate that cytoglobin is a stress-responsive hemoprotein in the hypoxia-induced hypertrophic myocardium and it is transcriptionally regulated by calcineurin-dependent transcription factors. The cytoglobin transcript level is abundantly expressed in the adult heart and in response to hypoxia cytoglobin expression is markedly up-regulated within the hypoxia-induced hypertrophic heart.