Efficient in vitro myogenic reprogramming of human primary mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cells by Myf5

The identification of a source of stem cells able to regenerate skeletal muscle was the goal of numerous studies with the aim to develop new therapeutic approaches for genetic muscle diseases or muscle injuries. A series of studies have demonstrated that stem cells derived from various tissues may have a role in the regeneration of damaged muscles, but this contribution is always very weak. Thus we established a project aiming to reprogramme non-muscle cells into the skeletal striated differentiation pathway.

We transduced several human primary adult stem or progenitor cells using a recombinant lentivirus containing the coding sequence of the Myf5 gene considered as a master gene for the determination of skeletal striated muscle. These original results are the first demonstration of a myogenic conversion of human mesenchymal and endothelial cells by Myf5.

The procedure described in the present paper could be used to develop new research protocols with the prospect of using these cells as therapeutic agents.