Application of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with myogenic differentiation in skeletal muscle regeneration

Abstract

Muscle satellite cells contribute mainly to the strong regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle. However, the number of satellite cells only accounts for 1%~ 5% of the number of skeletal muscle cells. When muscles are injured, the satellite cells are inadequate to promote skeletal muscle repair and regeneration. Additionally, its regenerative ability would diminish with aging, and it cannot repair severely injured skeletal muscles. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) are widely used in the repair and regeneration of injured skeletal muscle due to their multi-directional differentiation potential, paracrine potential, immunomodulatory capacity and easy accessibility. However, the use of BMSC alone to treat injured skeletal muscle cannot achieve satisfactory outcomes. Therefore, to maximize the myogenic differentiation potential of BMSC and to facilitate skeletal muscle repair and regeneration, numerous studies used drugs, biological materials, cells and cytokines to pretreat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells before transplant. The results showed not only improvement of the implantation rate of BMSC, but promotion of the differentiation of BMSC into skeletal muscle. This review aims to summarize the application of BMSC with myogenic differentiation in skeletal muscle regeneration. Key words: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; Skeletal muscle; Myogenic differentiation; Regeneration