Formation of skeletal muscle in vivo from the mouse C2 cell line

The C2 muscle cell line is myogenic in vitro and has been extensively used in studies of muscle cell differentiation. Here, we have investigated the myogenicity in vivo of C2 cells implanted into suitable sites in the mouse. Large amounts of new muscle were formed when C2 cells were implanted into sites in nude mice which were undergoing regeneration following whole muscle grafting and in scaffolding of freeze-killed muscle or vicryl suture in the anterior tibial compartment. When implanted into regenerating muscle, C2 cells fused with the host muscle to form mosaic fibres; when implanted into inert sites, they formed muscle of largely donor origin. C2-derived muscle fibres appeared to become innervated, but the progression of N-CAM (neural cell adhesion molecule) isoform changes in such regenerates indicated that they did not become fully mature. Proliferating, undifferentiated cells of C2 origin form tumours in older grafts; however, this was more pronounced in the absence of competition from host muscle cells. In the short term, C2 cells can form large amounts of muscle in vivo for biochemical analysis. In addition, C2 cells are easily manipulable in vitro; genes of interest may be transfected into them prior to implantation of the cells into skeletal muscle and the effects of these genes in vivo may thus be examined.