Growth Factors And Cytokines In Skeletal Muscle Development Growth Regeneration And Disease

This book describes the diverse roles that growth factors and cytokines play in skeletal muscle. The extracellular environment has profound effects on the biology of skeletal muscle. The soluble portion of this environment includes a rich milieu of growth factors and cytokines which have been shown to regulate virtually all facets of the response of skeletal muscle to external stimuli, whether it be exercise induced metabolic shifts, remodeling in response to trauma or loading of the ongoing pathology associated with neuromuscular disease. The chapters included in this work illustrate growth factors that directly affect skeletal muscle cells and those which influence non-muscle cells that contribute to the biology of skeletal muscle as a whole tissue. The current state of the art, with the advent of systems biology, allows for the delineation of signaling networks which are regulated by suites of growth factors. This is in stark contrast to early more traditional studies, which only examined the effects of isolated growth factors on the activity of skeletal muscle precursor cells in tissue culture. The work presented in this volume ranges from reviewing and analyzing the roles of individual growth factors in detail, to the complex interplay of multiple soluble factors in the control of muscle functional, and dysfunctional states. The material covered in this volume will particularly suit readers from a range of research fields spanning general muscle biology and physiology, and those working on diseases and conditions affecting skeletal muscle both directly and indirectly.

Adult stem cells are responsible for tissue regeneration and repair throughout life. Their quiescence or activation are tightly regulated by common signalling pathways that often recapitulate those happening during embryonic development, and thus it is important to understand their regulation not only in postnatal life, but also during foetal development. In this regard, skeletal muscle is an interesting tissue since it accounts for a large percentage of body mass (about 40%), it is highly amenable to intervention through exercise and it is also key in metabolic and physiological changes underlying frailty susceptibility in the elderly. While muscle-resident satellite cells are responsible for all myogenic activity in physiological conditions and become senescent in old age, other progenitor cells such as mesoangioblasts do seem to contribute to muscle regeneration and repair after tissue damage. Similarly, fibro-adipogenic precursor cells seem to be key in the aberrant response that fills up the space left from atrophied muscle mass and which ends up with a dysfunctional muscle having vast areas of fatty infiltration and fibrosis. The complex interplay between these stem/progenitor cell types and their niches in normal and pathological conditions throughout life are the subjects of intense investigation. This eBook highlights recent developments on the role of stem cells in skeletal muscle function, both in prenatal and postnatal life, and their regulation by transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms. Additionally, it includes articles on interventions associated with exercise, pathological changes in neuromuscular diseases, and stem cell aging.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an ensemble of non-cellular components present within all tissues and organs of the human body. The ECM provides structural support for scaffolding cellular constituents and biochemical and biomechanical support for those events leading to tissue morphogenesis, differentiation and homeostasis. Essential components of all ECMs are water, proteins and polysaccharides. However, their composition, architecture and bioactivity greatly vary from tissue to tissue in relation to the specific role the ECM is required to assume. This book overviews the role of the ECM in different tissues and organs of the human body.

This detailed volume presents a wide range of techniques that go beyond the standard assays typically used to assess Myogenesis. The content included addresses assays to analyze skeletal muscle gene expression, proliferating muscle cells, the process of myoblast fusion, muscle development (in vivo), as well as muscle repair. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Skeletal Muscle Development serves as an ideal guide to the study of this highly complex yet carefully regulated process.>

The book is a collection of original research and review articles addressing the intriguing field of the cellular and molecular players involved in muscle homeostasis and regeneration. One of the most ambitious aspirations of modern medical science is the possibility of regenerating any damaged part of the body, including skeletal muscle. This desire has prompted clinicians and researchers to search for innovative technologies aimed at replacing organs and tissues that are compromised. In this context, the papers, collected in this book, addressing a specific aspects of muscle homeostasis and regeneration under physiopathologic conditions, will help us to better understand the underlying mechanisms of muscle healing and will help to design more appropriate therapeutic approaches to improve muscle regeneration and to counteract muscle diseases.

Rewritten and redesigned, this remains the one essential text on the diseases of skeletal muscle.

This book discusses recent advances and various topics in plasticity of skeletal muscle from the perspectives of morphology, biological function, and clinical applications. Skeletal muscle is a highly plastic organ to adapt to environmental various demands, appears to endocrine various myokines, which flow into blood to protect the recognizing function of brain and inhibit the appearance of several cancer tumorigenesis. The book deals with current stem-cell based, pharmacological, and nutritional therapies for muscle wasting (sarcopenia, cachexia, and muscular dystrophy). It also explains the roles of biological mediators such as PGC-1, transient receptor potential cation channels (TRPC), and AMPK in modulating muscle function. The functional roles of ubiquitin-proteasome system, autophagy-dependent signaling in muscle homeostasis, ribosome biogenesis, and redox regulation of mechanotransduction to modulate skeletal muscle mass are also covered. It is an essential resource for physicians, researchers, post-docs as well as graduate students in the field of sports science including rehabilitation therapy, exercise physiology, exercise biochemistry, and molecular biology dealing with skeletal muscle.