Positive autoregulation of the myogenic determination gene MyoD1

Transfection of cDNA expression vectors encoding either MyoD1 or myogenin into 10T1/2 cells converts them to myogenic cells. We show that transfection of 10T1/2 cells with the MyoD1 cDNA activates expression of endogenous MyoD1 mRNA, indicating that MyoD1 is subject to positive autoregulation. This activation of endogenous MyoD1 mRNA was also observed in Swiss 3T6 cells, but not in several other fibroblast or adipoblast cell lines transfected with the MyoD1 cDNA. In addition, transfection of the MyoD1 cDNA leads to activation of myogenin expression, and transfection of the myogenin cDNA leads to activation of MyoD1 expression. Thus, MyoD1 and myogenin appear to function in a positive autoregulatory loop that could either: account for or contribute to the stability of myogenic commitment; or amplify the level of expression of both MyoD1 and myogenin above a critical threshold that is required for activation of the myogenic program.     

MyoD cannot compensate for the absence of myogenin during skeletal muscle differentiation in murine embryonic stem cells

myogenin (-/-) mice display severe skeletal muscle defects despite expressing normal levels of MyoD. The failure of MyoD to compensate for myogenin could be explained by distinctions in protein function or by differences in patterns of gene expression. To distinguish between these two possibilities, we compared the abilities of constitutively expressed myogenin and MyoD to support muscle differentiation in embryoid bodies made from myogenin (-/-) ES cells. Differentiated embryoid bodies from wild-type embryonic stem (ES) cells made extensive skeletal muscle, but embryoid bodies from myogenin (-/-) ES cells had greatly attenuated muscle-forming capacity. The inability of myogenin (-/-) ES cells to generate muscle was independent of endogenous MyoD expression. Skeletal muscle was restored in myogenin (-/-) ES cells by constitutive expression of myogenin. In contrast, constitutive expression of MyoD resulted in only marginal enhancement of skeletal muscle, although myocyte numbers greatly increased. The results indicated that constitutive expression of MyoD led to enhanced myogenic commitment of myogenin (-/-) cells but also indicated that committed cells were impaired in their ability to form muscle sheets without myogenin. Thus, despite their relatedness, myogenin's role in muscle formation is distinct from that of MyoD, and the distinction cannot be explained merely by differences in their expression properties.     

Aberrant regulation of MyoD1 contributes to the partially defective myogenic phenotype of BC3H1 cells [published erratum appears in J Cell Biol 1990 Jun;110(6):2231]

Two skeletal muscle-specific regulatory factors, myogenin and MyoD1, share extensive homology within a myc similarity region and have each been shown to activate the morphologic and molecular events associated with myogenesis after transfection into nonmyogenic cells. The BC3H1 muscle cell line expresses myogenin and other muscle-specific genes, but does not express MyoD1 during differentiation. BC3H1 cells also do not upregulate alpha-cardiac actin or fast myosin light chain, nor do they form multinucleate myotubes during differentiation. In this study, we examined the basis for the lack of MyoD1 expression in BC3H1 cells and investigated whether their failure to express MyoD1 is responsible for their defects in differentiation. We report that expression of an exogenous MyoD1 cDNA in BC3H1 cells was sufficient to elevate the expression of alpha-cardiac actin and fast myosin light chain, and to convert these cells to a phenotype that forms multinucleate myotubes during differentiation. Whereas myogenin and MyoD1 positively regulated their own expression in transfected 10T1/2 cells, they could not, either alone or in combination, activate MyoD1 expression in BC3H1 cells. Exposure of BC3H1 cells to 5-azacytidine also failed to activate MyoD1 expression or to rescue the cell's ability to fuse. These results suggest that BC3H1 cells may possess a defect that prevents activation of the MyoD1 gene by MyoD1 or myogenin. That an exogenous MyoD1 gene could rescue those aspects of the differentiation program that are defective in BC3H1 cells also suggests that the actions of MyoD1 and myogenin are not entirely redundant and that MyoD1 may be required for activation of the complete repertoire of events associated with myogenesis.     

c-myc inhibition of MyoD and myogenin-initiated myogenic differentiation.

In vertebrate development, a prominent feature of several cell lineages is the coupling of cell cycle regulation with terminal differentiation. We have investigated the basis of this relationship in the skeletal muscle lineage by studying the effects of the proliferation-associated regulator, c-myc, on the differentiation of MyoD-initiated myoblasts. Transient cotransfection assays in NIH 3T3 cells using MyoD and c-myc expression vectors demonstrated c-myc suppression of MyoD-initiated differentiation. A stable cell system was also developed in which MyoD expression was constitutive, while myc levels could be elevated conditionally. Induction of this conditional c-myc suppressed myogenesis effectively, even in the presence of MyoD. c-myc suppression also prevented up-regulation of a relative of MyoD, myogenin, which is normally expressed at the onset of differentiation in all muscle cell lines examined and may be essential for differentiation. Additional experiments tested whether failure to differentiate in the presence of myc could be overcome by providing myogenin ectopically. Cotransfection of c-myc with myogenin, MyoD, or a mixture of myogenin and MyoD showed that neither myogenin alone nor myogenin plus MyoD together could bypass the c-myc block. The effects of c-myc were further dissected by showing that c-myc can inhibit differentiation independently of Id, a negative regulator of muscle differentiation. These results lead us to propose that c-myc and Id constitute independent negative regulators of muscle differentiation, while myogenin and any of the other three related myogenic factors (MyoD, Myf-5, and MRF4/herculin/Myf-6) act as positive regulators.     

Target gene selectivity of the myogenic basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor myogenin in embryonic muscle

The myogenic regulatory factors MyoD and myogenin are crucial for skeletal muscle development. Despite their importance, the mechanisms by which these factors selectively regulate different target genes are unclear. The purpose of the present investigation was to compare embryonic skeletal muscle from myogenin^+/+ and myogenin^−/− mice to identify genes whose expression was dependent on the presence of myogenin but not MyoD and to determine whether myogenin-binding sites could be found within regulatory regions of myogenin-dependent genes independent of MyoD. We identified a set of 140 muscle-expressed genes whose expression in embryonic tongue muscle of myogenin^−/− mice was downregulated in the absence of myogenin, but in the presence of MyoD. Myogenin bound within conserved regulatory regions of several of the downregulated genes, but MyoD bound only to a subset of these same regions, suggesting that many downregulated genes were selective targets of myogenin. The regulatory regions activated gene expression in cultured myoblasts and fibroblasts overexpressing myogenin or MyoD, indicating that expression from exogenously introduced DNA could not recapitulate the selectivity for myogenin observed in vivo. The results identify new target genes for myogenin and show that myogenin's target gene selectivity is not based solely on binding site sequences.     

成肌调节因子MyoD和myogenin在不同月龄DMD模型鼠mdx小鼠的表达

目的探讨成肌调节因子MyoD和myogenin在不同月龄DMD模型鼠mdx鼠的表达情况。方法取不同月龄DMD模型鼠mdx鼠以及相应的同龄正常C57鼠的腓肠肌,冰冻切片后用HE染色显示肌肉病理,SABC-DAB染色检测成肌调节因子MyoD和myogenin的表达。结果不同月龄mdx鼠肌肉坏死和再生程度不同,MyoD和myogenin在1月龄mdx鼠表达最强,在13月龄mdx鼠仍有表达,在正常同龄C57鼠不表达。结论MyoD与Myogenin在肌肉损伤后的再生修复过程中起作用,可作为鉴定肌肉前体细胞和反映肌肉再生的指标。     

The homeodomain protein Barx2 promotes myogenic differentiation and is regulated by myogenic regulatory factors

The homeobox protein Barx2 is expressed in both smooth and skeletal muscle and is up-regulated during differentiation of skeletal myotubes. Here we use antisense-oligonucleotide inhibition of Barx2 expression in limb bud cell culture to show that Barx2 is required for myotube formation. Moreover, overexpression of Barx2 accelerates the fusion of MyoD-positive limb bud cells and C2C12 myoblasts. However, overexpression of Barx2 does not induce ectopic MyoD expression in either limb bud cultures or in multipotent C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal cells, and does not induce fusion of C3H10T1/2 cells. These results suggest that Barx2 acts downstream of MyoD. To test this hypothesis, we isolated the Barx2 gene promoter and identified DNA regulatory elements that might control Barx2 expression during myogenesis. The proximal promoter of the Barx2 gene contained binding sites for several factors involved in myoblast differentiation including MyoD, myogenin, serum response factor, and myocyte enhancer factor 2. Co-transfection experiments showed that binding sites for both MyoD and serum response factor are necessary for activation of the promoter by MyoD and myogenin. Taken together, these studies indicate that Barx2 is a key regulator of myogenic differentiation that acts downstream of muscle regulatory factors.     

MyoD targets chromatin remodeling complexes to the myogenin locus prior to forming a stable DNA-bound complex

The activation of muscle-specific gene expression requires the coordinated action of muscle regulatory proteins and chromatin-remodeling enzymes. Microarray analysis performed in the presence or absence of a dominant-negative BRG1 ATPase demonstrated that approximately one-third of MyoD-induced genes were highly dependent on SWI/SNF enzymes. To understand the mechanism of activation, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitations analyzing the myogenin promoter. We found that H4 hyperacetylation preceded Brg1 binding in a MyoD-dependent manner but that MyoD binding occurred subsequent to H4 modification and Brg1 interaction. In the absence of functional SWI/SNF enzymes, muscle regulatory proteins did not bind to the myogenin promoter, thereby providing evidence for SWI/SNF-dependent activator binding. We observed that the homeodomain factor Pbx1, which cooperates with MyoD to stimulate myogenin expression, is constitutively bound to the myogenin promoter in a SWI/SNF-independent manner, suggesting a two-step mechanism in which MyoD initially interacts indirectly with the myogenin promoter and attracts chromatin-remodeling enzymes, which then facilitate direct binding by MyoD and other regulatory proteins.     

Transformation by activated ras or fos prevents myogenesis by inhibiting expression of MyoD1

Transformation of myoblasts by activated ras inhibits myogenic differentiation. We demonstrate that this oncogene inhibits expression of the muscle regulatory factors MyoD1 and myogenin. Expression of retroviral-encoded MyoD1 in ras-transformed myoblasts leads to the re-expression of both terminal differentiation markers and lineage markers expressed in proliferating myoblasts (including endogenous MyoD1 and myogenin), suggesting that ras inhibits myogenic differentiation in a manner dependent on the loss of MyoD1 expression. In addition, we show that fos transformation of myoblasts inhibits muscle differentiation by a similar mechanism.     

Transformation-defective v-ski induces MyoD and myogenin expression but not myotube formation.

The ski oncogene induces muscle differentiation in otherwise nonmyogenic quail embryo cells (C. Colmenares and E. Stavnezer, Cell 59:293-303, 1989). Here we report that v-ski induces both MyoD and myogenin expression, suggesting that activation of these muscle regulatory genes may be a critical step in ski-induced myogenesis. We also describe a transformation-defective mutant of v-ski (tdM5i) that fails to induce myotube formation, although it induces the expression of many muscle-specific genes, including the MyoD and myogenin genes. Therefore, if activation of MyoD and myogenin expression is a necessary component of the myogenic program triggered by ski, it is clearly insufficient to account for complete muscle differentiation.     

MyoD, Myogenin, and Desmin-nls-lacZ Transgene Emphasize the Distinct Patterns of Satellite Cell Activation in Growth and Regeneration

Although satellite cell differentiation is involved in postnatal myogenesis from growth to posttrauma regeneration, the early stages of this process remain unclear. This study investigatedpHuDes-nls-lacZtransgene activity, as revealed by X-gal staining and the accumulation of MyoD, myogenin, endogenous desmin, and myosin, in order to determine whether satellite cells share the same activation program during growth and regeneration. After birth, skeletal myonuclei in which myogenin expression was limited were briefly characterized by transgene activity. Satellite cells were only evidenced by MyoD and slow myosin accumulation, but failed to initiate transgene expression. After freeze trauma, satellite cell activation led to MyoD, myogenin, and desmin expression. Subsequently, when myosin expression occurred, transgene activation was apparent in regenerating structures, with more intense X-gal staining in mononucleated cells than regenerating myotubes. After the second week posttrauma, only desmin and myogenin expression were maintained in regenerating structures. In culture, the behavior of satellite cells showed that desmin expression was committed before transgene activation occurred, i.e., concurrently with MyoD, myogenin, myosin expression, and the first fusion events. Quantitative analysis confirmed the discrepancy between endogenous desmin and transgene expression and demonstrated the close correlation between transgene activation and the fusion index. Our results strongly suggest that satellite cells promote distinct pathways of myogenic response during growth and regeneration.