Impaired muscle differentiation in hamster hereditary polymyopathy: A study in explant cultures

Muscle tissue cultures from normal and myopathic neonate hamsters were established by a new explant technique and their morphology compared. Many abnormal myogenic cells fused in early myopathic cultures. As the myopathic cultures became older, an abnormal contractile apparatus, which displayed reduced spontaneous contractility as compared to controls, was evident. These findings in explant cultures provide further support for the myogenic basis of hereditary hamster myopathy and demonstrate the usefulness of the explant technique for comparative studies of in vitro myogenesis.