...Christopher J. Johnson; Zheng Zhang; Haifeng Zhang; Renjie Shang; Katarzyna M. Piekarz; Pengpeng Bi; Alberto Stolfi ABSTRACT Vertebrates and tunicates are sister groups that share a common fusogenic factor, Myomaker (Mymk), that drives myoblast fusion and muscle multinucleation. Yet...

... regionalized in central regions of foetal muscles. We also identified a similar regionalization for the gene encoding the NOTCH ligand JAG2 along with an absence of NOTCH activity in TMEM8C + fusion-competent myocytes. NOTCH function in myoblast fusion had not been addressed so far. We analysed...

... in a temporal- and spatial-specific manner. Here, we show that WNT/β-catenin signaling is crucial for myoblast fusion through regulation of the nephrin ( Nphs1 ) gene in the Myog-Cre -expressing myoblast population. Mice deficient for the β-catenin gene in Myog-Cre -expressing myoblasts ( Ctnnb1 F/F ;Myog-Cre...

... that the membrane phosphoinositide PI(4,5)P2 is a crucial regulator of F-actin dynamics during myoblast fusion. PI(4,5)P2 is locally enriched and colocalizes spatially and temporally with the F-actin focus that defines the fusion site. PI(4,5)P2 enrichment depends on receptor engagement but is upstream or parallel...

... The authors declare no competing financial interests. 6 8 2012 © 2012. 2012 Notch Myoblast fusion Myogenesis Drosophila Multinucleated muscle cells are characteristic of the musculature of most multicellular organisms, accommodating the need to generate large and continuous...

... primordium, suggesting that CNC cells play an instructive role in guiding tongue muscle development. Moreover, ablation of Smad4 results in defects in myogenic terminal differentiation and myoblast fusion. Despite compromised muscle differentiation, tendon formation appears unaffected in the tongue of Myf5...

...Priyankana Mukherjee; Boaz Gildor; Ben-Zion Shilo; K. VijayRaghavan; Eyal D. Schejter Myoblast fusion provides a fundamental, conserved mechanism for muscle fiber growth. We demonstrate here that the functional contribution of Wsp, the Drosophila homolog of the conserved actin nucleation-promoting...

...Shruti Haralalka; Claude Shelton; Heather N. Cartwright; Erin Katzfey; Evan Janzen; Susan M. Abmayr Myoblast fusion is an intricate process that is initiated by cell recognition and adhesion, and culminates in cell membrane breakdown and formation of multinucleate syncytia. In the Drosophila embryo...

.... Previous studies have not resolved the role of Hibris(Hbs), a paralog of Sns, suggesting that it functions as a positive regulator of myoblast fusion and as a negative regulator that antagonizes the activity of Sns. The results herein resolve this issue, demonstrating that sns and hbs function redundantly...

... distinct steps of the founder/myotube differentiation programme. Thus, in mib2 mutants, the early process of myoblast fusion is compromised, as FMs undergo a reduced number of rounds of fusion with FCMs. At later stages, with the onset of muscle contraction, many muscles degenerate, display aberrant...

...Brian E. Richardson; Karen Beckett; Scott J. Nowak; Mary K. Baylies Myoblast fusion is crucial for formation and repair of skeletal muscle. Here we show that active remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton is essential for fusion in Drosophila . Using live imaging, we have identified a dynamic F-actin...

...Catherine A. Moore; Caroline A. Parkin; Yannick Bidet; Philip W. Ingham Myoblast fusion follows a defined sequence of events that is strikingly similar in vertebrates and invertebrates. Genetic analysis in Drosophila has identified many of the molecules that mediate the different steps...

...Roxane H. Schröter; Simone Lier; Anne Holz; Sven Bogdan; Christian Klämbt; Lothar Beck; Renate Renkawitz-Pohl Drosophila myoblast fusion proceeds in two steps. The first one gives rise to small syncytia, the muscle precursor cells, which then recruit further fusion competent myoblasts to reach...

... of Cellular and Molecular Medicine,University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla,CA-92093-0683, USA 7 11 2003 © 2004. 2004 Drosophila Myogenesis Visceral and Somatic muscles Founder cells Fusion-competent cells Myoblast fusion Notch Delta lethal of scute...

... of crucial functions, such as protein turnover, vesicle sorting, transcription factor activation and signal degradation. Myogenesis Founder cells Myoblast fusion phyllopod Toll Microarrays The myogenic program displays remarkable versatility, giving rise to muscle types as specialized...

...+ current increases with voltage. This 10 mV depolarization raised the cytoplasmic free Ca 2+ concentration, and triggered a tenfold acceleration of myoblast fusion. Our results suggest that any mechanism able to modulate intracellular Ca 2+ concentration could affect the rate of myoblast fusion...

...Annette Rau; Detlev Buttgereit; Anne Holz; Richard Fetter; Stephen K. Doberstein; Achim Paululat; Nicole Staudt; Jim Skeath; Alan M. Michelson; Renate Renkawitz-Pohl Mutations in the rolling pebbles ( rols ) gene result in severe defects in myoblast fusion. Muscle precursor cells are correctly...

..., wild-type embryos show an increase of Kr-positive nuclei as a result of myoblast fusion, while lmd mutant embryos fail to show a similar increase ( Fig. 2 E,F). Examination with other founder markers, such as Nau and Lb ( Michelson et al., 1990 ; Jagla et al., 1997 ), yielded similar results (data...

.... 2001 Drosophila kirre duf rst irreC Fusion-competent myoblast Muscle founder cell Myoblast fusion The larval abdominal body wall musculature of Drosophila consists of a regular, repetitive array of 30 different muscles per hemisegment. Each muscle has a unique morphology...

... tissues. In the somatic mesoderm, Hbs is restricted to fusion competent myoblasts and is regulated by Notch and Ras signaling pathways. Embryos that lack or overexpress hbs show a partial block of myoblast fusion, followed by abnormal muscle morphogenesis. Abnormalities in visceral mesoderm are also...