Systematic Identification of Genes Regulating Muscle Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation

The hallmark of stem cells is their capability to either self-renew or to differentiate into a different cell type. Adult skeletal muscle contains a resident muscle stem cell population (MuSCs) known as satellite cells, which enables regeneration of damaged muscle tissue throughout most of adult life. During skeletal muscle regeneration, few MuSCs self-renew to maintain the muscle stem cell pool while others expand rapidly and subsequently undergo myogenic differentiation to form new myofibers. However, like for other stem cell types, the molecular networks that govern self-renewal and/or differentiation of MuSCs remain largely elusive. We recently reported a method to isolate sufficient amounts of purified MuSCs from skeletal muscle which enables us to study their cell autonomous properties. Here, we describe a lentiviral, image-based loss-of function screening pipeline on primary MuSCs that enables systematic identification of genes that regulate muscle stem cell function.