The role of PDIA3 in myogenesis during muscle regeneration

Abstract

Muscle development: Regeneration after injury A regulatory protein secreted into the extracellular medium helps promote formation of new skeletal muscle tissue after injury. This regenerative process is enabled by muscle cell progenitors called satellite cells, which respond to damage by developing into myoblasts that subsequently fuse into muscle fibers. Researchers led by Xi Peng of the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China, have identified the protein PDIA3 as an important intermediary in this process. After chemically inducing muscle damage in mice, the researchers noted that tissue regeneration was associated with a sharp increase in PDIA3 expression. They subsequently linked PDIA3 with activation of a signaling pathway that drives muscle fiber formation and fusion, and demonstrated that inhibition of this protein impeded healing. PDIA3 was not strongly expressed in satellite cells, indicating that it acts relatively late in the maturation process.