Cell culture as a tool for the study of poultry skeletal muscle development

Postnatal development of skeletal muscle is the responsibility of the myogenic satellite cells. Satellite cells, isolated from the pectoralis major muscle of young growing tom turkeys, have been cultured in vitro to provide a system for studying cellular and hormonal aspects of poultry skeletal muscle development. Satellite cell clones derived from primary cultures have been developed so that in vitro observations would not be confounded by the presence of nonmyogenic cells. Likewise, a serum-free medium that promotes proliferation of the turkey satellite cell has been developed to provide a hormonally controlled environment for in vitro developmental studies. These two techniques have enabled us to examine the following: 1) factors that influence satellite cell proliferation and differentiation, 2) the interaction of hormones with cellular receptors, 3) secretion of biologically important proteins from cells and 4) the expression of genes important to muscle development.