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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Purification of Specific Cell Population by Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting FACS
Published on: July 10, 2010
Purification of Myogenic Progenitors from Human Muscle Using Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)
Anna Pakula1,2, Janelle M Spinazzola1,2, Emanuela Gussoni3,4,5
1Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract:
Primary myoblasts derived from human tissue are a valuable tool in research of muscle disease and pathophysiology. However, skeletal muscle biopsies, especially from diseased muscle, contain a plethora of non-myogenic cells, necessitating purification of the myogenic cell population. This protocol describes techniques for dissociation of cells from human skeletal muscle biopsies and enrichment for a highly myogenic population by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). We also describe methods for assessing myogenicity and population expansion for subsequent in vitro study.
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