Muscle Satellite Cells and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Abstract

Muscle satellite cells are tissue-specific stem cells in skeletal muscle that play central roles in postnatal muscle growth and regeneration, and therefore are a potential source for cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, to date, transplantation of satellite cells-derived myoblasts in human has not been successful. To overcome the limitations of transplantation of myoblasts, we need to better understand the molecular and cellular regulation of satellite cells. In this chapter, we summarize recent advances in satellite cell biology and its role in muscular dystrophies. Then we discuss the roles of the muscle tissue microenvironments in muscle regeneration and muscular dystrophies. Recent results emphasize that mutual interactions among myogenic cells, inflammatory cells, and interstitial mesenchymal cells are important for successful muscle regeneration. The latter two are versatile regulators of muscle regeneration. They promote muscle regeneration in healthy muscle, but when muscle fibers fail to regenerate, they promote fibrosis and fatty degeneration to ensure the continuity of the tissue. In the last part of this chapter, we discuss strategies to generate new muscle stem cells from fibroblasts by transcription factormediated reprogramming.