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TEAD4 Promotes Myogenic Differentiation of Porcine Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells
Laboratory of Genetic Breeding, Reproduction and Precision Livestock Farming & Hubei Provincial Center of Technology Innovation for Domestic Animal Breeding, School of Animal Science and Nutritional Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Animals 2026, 16(10), 1546; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16101546 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 11 April 2026
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Revised: 13 May 2026
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Accepted: 14 May 2026
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Published: 18 May 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Pigs)
Simple Summary
Skeletal muscle satellite cells are essential for muscle growth and repair in pigs, and their differentiation is precisely regulated by multiple factors. TEAD4 is an important regulator involved in various biological processes, but its specific role in porcine muscle development remains unclear. In this study, high-purity skeletal muscle satellite cells were isolated from 7-day-old Large White piglets, and the function of TEAD4 was investigated using RNA interference. The results showed that TEAD4 expression was significantly increased during myogenic differentiation. Knockdown of TEAD4 did not affect cell proliferation but significantly inhibited myotube formation, which was accompanied by downregulated expression of myogenic genes and a decreased number of multinucleated myotubes. Transcriptomic analysis further revealed that TEAD4 does not directly activate muscle-specific genes, but its knockdown leads to the enrichment of metabolic pathways, particularly the AMPK signaling pathway. This study shows that TEAD4 promotes myogenic differentiation in porcine satellite cells.
Abstract
Skeletal muscle satellite cells are indispensable for muscle growth and regeneration, and their myogenic differentiation is precisely controlled by transcription factors. As a core member of the TEAD family, TEAD4 participates in various biological processes, yet its function and regulatory mechanism in porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells (PSCs) remain largely unknown. High-purity PSCs were isolated and identified from 7-day-old Large White piglets. Combined approaches of siRNA-mediated TEAD4 knockdown, RT-qPCR, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, EdU assays, and transcriptome sequencing were applied to explore the role of TEAD4 during myogenic differentiation. TEAD4 expression was gradually upregulated during PSC differentiation and positively correlated with myogenic marker genes. Knockdown of TEAD4 did not affect PSC proliferation but significantly suppressed myogenic differentiation, as indicated by reduced expression of myogenic genes and blocked myotube formation. Transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that DEGs were highly enriched in metabolic pathways, particularly the AMPK signaling pathway. TEAD4 knockdown led to excessive upregulation of PRKAG3 and prominent induction of SLC2A4. Collectively, these results indicate that TEAD4 promotes myogenic differentiation in PSCs, likely by maintaining metabolic homeostasis. This study provides the first characterization of TEAD4 in porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells and demonstrates that it promotes myogenic differentiation.
