Satellite cell and growth factor involvement in skeletal muscle growth

The activity of the satellite cell, discovered by Alexander Mauro, is of fundamental importance in postnatal skeletal muscle development, muscle adaptation to certain activity stimuli, and to muscle fiber regeneration following injury and transplantation operations. There are numerous mitogens and growth factors that influence satellite cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro and likely in vivo. The best understood purified growth factors are fibroblast growth factor (FGF), the insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I and -II), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). Soluble extracts from injured muscle and chronically stretched muscle are also known to be mitogenic and are yet to be purified. Skeletal muscle development, hypertrophy, and regeneration can be viewed as points on a continuum with respect to the regulatory mechanisms of myogenic cell growth. The occurrence of fiber hyperplasia differs amongst some models of activity-induced growth and may reflect differences in the magnitude of the stimulus relative to the capacity of fibers to adapt. The relationships between the mechanical and environmental events coincident with an activity or injury stimulus and the role of specific muscle fiber satellite cell populations and growth factors are fertile areas for investigation. Insights from these experiments will yield a comprehensive understanding of the muscle growth process at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels, and have implications for development and aging, health, disease, and adaptation.