Myogenesis Markers

Myogenesis is the generation of new muscle tissue. In the embryo, this process starts when myoblasts, committed muscle stem cells, align together to form multinucleated myotubes. In the presence of FGF and other growth factors, myoblasts proliferate but do not differentiate. Following the depletion of growth factors myoblasts stop dividing and secrete fibronection onto their extracellular matrix to promote the subsequent stages of muscle cell fusion.

In adult tissue, muscle-derived stem cells are believed to be a distinct population of cells from muscle satellite cells, which promote muscle regeneration in response to injury and disease. R&D Systems offers products for the isolation and identification of differentiated smooth (VE-Cadherin, alpha-smooth muscle actin), skeletal (FABP3, Integrin alpha 7), and cardiac muscle (Desmin, Myosin Heavy Chain). Controlling myogenesis through stem cell function is a growing research focus for degenerative muscular diseases and dystrophies. Myogenic markers also represent an important tool for the detection of muscular cancers.