Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 24, 2026

Isolation and Characterization of Satellite Cells from Rat Head Branchiomeric Muscles
Published on: July 20, 2015
Myosin heavy chain isoforms of the murine masseter muscle during pre- and post-natal development
1Department of Anatomy, Oral Health Science Center, Tokyo Dental College, 1-2-2 Masago, Mihama-ku, Chiba-City, Chiba, Japan. usami@tdc.ac.jp
Abstract:
Masticatory muscles that are derived from the branchial arches express different compositions of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms during the transitional phase from suckling to mastication. To clarify the developmental changes of murine masseter muscle, the composition of MHC isoforms was examined using immunohistochemical staining and competitive reverse transcription PCR. We found that MHC1 was expressed transiently in the pre and post-natal stages. In the compositional change of isoforms, the embryonic type MHCp was expressed consistently, whereas the adult isoforms increased with the developmental process. In particular, a significant change was observed between embryonic days 14 and 16, a stage when murine facial development is conspicuous. This suggests that the development of murine masseter muscle is closely associated with facial development.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Myosin Structure and Function
Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction
Formation of Muscle Fibers from Myoblasts
Muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) are formed from the myotomes. MPCs express genes that encode the transcription factors Pax3 and Pax7. Along with Pax 3/7, other transcription factors...
Smooth Muscle Contraction
The onset of contraction is triggered by an increase in calcium ions within the sarcoplasm, similar to the process in striated muscle. However, smooth muscles have a relatively smaller reservoir of the sarcoplasmic...

