Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Epigenetics - Volume II

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cell Nuclei: Function, Transport and Receptors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 1792

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy
Interests: skeletal muscle differentiation; cell cycle inhibitors; MyoD; gene expression; transcriptional control; chromatin architecture; chromatin dynamics; epigenetics; long noncoding RNAs

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of "Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Epigenetics" (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells/topical_collections/Skeletal_Muscle_Differentiation_Epigenetics). 

Skeletal myogenesis is a well-characterized process, with both the developmental phases of muscle formation and the adult phase of muscle regeneration defined. The commitment of mesodermal precursors to the myogenic lineage and the terminal differentiation of myoblasts into myofibers are regulated at multiple levels, ranging from pre-transcriptional to post-translational mechanisms. Special attention is being paid to the diverse epigenetic strategies by which muscle-specific patterns of gene expression are generated and maintained. Considerable evidence has been accumulated, showing that myogenic transcription factors, such as the prototypical pioneer factor MyoD, work in concert with chromatin modifiers in order to establish an open chromatin environment permissive for the transcriptional activation of muscle-specific genes. More recently, genome-wide studies correlating transcription factor binding, 3D chromatin dynamics and gene expression have provided further insight into the molecular events underlying the coordinate activation or repression of entire sets of genes during myogenesis. Despite our advances in understanding these complex processes, many aspects of the epigenetics of skeletal muscle differentiation and regeneration, as well as impaired myogenesis in old age are to be elucidated.

This Special Issue will present a collection of recent original research papers and review articles in all areas of this field. Potential subjects include, but are not limited to, the identification and characterization of novel epigenetic players as well as novel functional interactions of myogenic factors with chromatin-modifying enzymes, chromatin remodelers, regulatory noncoding RNAs and chromatin architectural proteins. Additional topics of interest are the roles of extracellular and intracellular signaling in the modulation of chromatin function and the dysregulation of epigenetic networks in skeletal muscle pathologies and aging-related diseases, with a view to developing new therapeutic approaches based on the manipulation of specific regulatory pathways.

Dr. Rossella Maione
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • skeletal muscle differentiation and regeneration
  • epigenetic control of gene expression
  • chromatin structure and architecture
  • DNA methylation
  • histone modifications
  • nucleosome remodeling
  • noncoding RNAs
  • muscle regulatory factors
  • signal transduction

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 7520 KiB  
Article
mir-276a Is Required for Muscle Development in Drosophila and Regulates the FGF Receptor Heartless During the Migration of Nascent Myotubes in the Testis
by Mathieu Preußner, Maik Bischoff and Susanne Filiz Önel
Cells 2025, 14(5), 368; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14050368 - 3 Mar 2025
Viewed by 610
Abstract
MicroRNAs function as post-transcriptional regulators in gene expression and control a broad range of biological processes in metazoans. The formation of multinucleated muscles is essential for locomotion, growth, and muscle repair. microRNAs have also emerged as important regulators for muscle development and function. [...] Read more.
MicroRNAs function as post-transcriptional regulators in gene expression and control a broad range of biological processes in metazoans. The formation of multinucleated muscles is essential for locomotion, growth, and muscle repair. microRNAs have also emerged as important regulators for muscle development and function. In order to identify new microRNAs required for muscle formation, we have performed a large microRNA overexpression screen. We screened for defects during embryonic and adult muscle formation. Here, we describe the identification of mir-276a as a regulator for muscle migration during testis formation. The mir-276a overexpression phenotype in testis muscles resembles the loss-of-function phenotype of heartless. A GFP sensor assay reveals that the 3′UTR of heartless is a target of mir-276a. Furthermore, we found that mir-276a is essential for the proper development of indirect flight muscles and describe a method for determining the number of nuclei for each of the six longitudinal muscle fibers (DLMs), which are part of the indirect flight muscles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Epigenetics - Volume II)
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19 pages, 5004 KiB  
Article
Integrative Analysis of Chromatin Accessibility and Transcriptional Landscape Identifies Key Genes During Muscle Development in Pigs
by Dongjie Zhang, Qian Zhang, Xiaoxu Wu, Liang Wang, Xiaohan Zhang, Di Liu and Xiuqin Yang
Cells 2024, 13(24), 2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13242118 - 20 Dec 2024
Viewed by 677
Abstract
Many efforts have been made to reveal the mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle development because of its importance in animals. However, knowledge on chromatin accessibility, a prerequisite for gene expression, remains limited. Here, dynamic changes in chromatin accessibility were analyzed in the skeletal muscles [...] Read more.
Many efforts have been made to reveal the mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle development because of its importance in animals. However, knowledge on chromatin accessibility, a prerequisite for gene expression, remains limited. Here, dynamic changes in chromatin accessibility were analyzed in the skeletal muscles of Min pigs at the ages of 30, 90, and 210 d using an assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq). A total of 16,301 differentially accessible regions (DARs) associated with 7455 genes were identified among three developmental stages. Seven out of eight DARs selected for a functional analysis were found to regulate reporter gene expression significantly (p < 0.05), indicating that DARs are active in gene expression. A total of 2219 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Through integrated analyses of ATAC-seq and RNA-seq data, 54 DEG_DAR_genes and 61 transcription factors (TFs) were characterized as critical for muscle development. Among them, Kruppel-like factor 5 (KLF5), targeted to 36 DEG_DAR_genes, was the most important TF. The effects of KLF5 on DEG_DAR_gene expression were then analyzed with molecular biology techniques. KLF5 was found to regulate SLPI (secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor) expression by directly binding to the promoter; KLF5 was also involved in APOA1 (apolipoprotein A-I) expression through affecting the regulatory role of DAR located in the intron. These results indicate that the TFs identified were functional. Altogether, the chromatin accessibility region, TFs, and genes important for muscle development in Min pigs were identified. The results provide novel data for further revealing the mechanisms underlying the epigenetic regulation of muscle development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Epigenetics - Volume II)
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