Myogenic satellite cells are a stem cell population that contributes to postnatal muscle growth and regeneration that reside beneath the basal lamina of adult skeletal muscle, closely juxtaposed to the muscle fibers. Satellite cells are normally mitotically quiescent, but following injury or exercise, they initiate proliferation and give rise to daughter myogenic precursor cells. After multiple rounds of cell division, these myogenic precursor cells exit their cell cycle and fuse with each other to terminally differentiate into multinucleated myotubes.
The selfrenewal capacity within the satellite cell compartment was proven when considering the fact that the number of quiescent satellite cells in adult muscle remains relatively constant over multiple cycles of degeneration and regeneration. In addition, recent work demonstrates that a small number of satellite cells can robustly contribute to regenerating muscle maintenance of the satellite cell compartment, confirming the proof of concept for stemness of satellite cells.
Last date updated on September, 2024