Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Identification of MyoD Interactome Using Tandem Affinity Purification Coupled to Mass Spectrometry
Published on: May 17, 2016
Matrix Nonlinear Viscoelasticity Regulates Skeletal Myogenesis through MRTF Nuclear Localization and Nuclear
Nianyuan Shi1,2, Jing Wang1,2, Shaoxin Tang1,2
1The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Mechanically sensitive tissues (e.g., skeletal muscles) greatly need mechanical stimuli during the development and maturation. The extracellular matrix (ECM) mediates these signals through nonlinear viscoelasticity of collagen networks that are predominant components of the ECM. However, the interactions between cells and ECM form a feedback loop, and it has not yet been possible to determine the degree to which, if any, of the features of matrix nonlinear viscoelasticity affect skeletal muscle development and regeneration. In this study, a nonlinear viscoelastic feature (i.e., strain-enhanced stress relaxation (SESR)) in normal skeletal muscles is observed, which however is almost absent in diseased muscles from Duchenne muscular dystrophy mice. It is recapitulated such SESR feature in vitro and separated the effects of mechanical strain and ECM viscoelasticity on myoblast response by developing a collagen-based hydrogel platform. Both strain and stress relaxation induce myogenic differentiation and myotube formation by C2C12 myoblasts, and myogenesis is more promoted by applying SESR. This promotion can be explained by the effects of SESR on actin polymerization-mediated myocardin related transcription factor (MRTF) nuclear localization and nuclear mechanotransduction. This study represents the first attempt to investigate the SESR phenomenon in skeletal muscles and reveal underlying mechanobiology, which will provide new opportunities for the tissue injury treatments.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Formation of Muscle Fibers from Myoblasts
Muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) are formed from the myotomes. MPCs express genes that encode the transcription factors Pax3 and Pax7. Along with Pax 3/7, other transcription...
Master Transcription Regulators
Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces
Anchoring junctions mechanically attach a cell to the...
TGF - β Signaling Pathway
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Elastin is Responsible for Tissue Elasticity
Ligaments and tendons are made of dense regular connective tissue, but in ligaments not all fibers are parallel. Dense regular elastic tissue contains elastin fibers and...

