Transiently active Wnt/β-catenin signaling is not required but must be silenced for stem cell function during muscle regeneration.

ABSTRACT: Adult muscle's exceptional capacity for regeneration is mediated by muscle stem cells, termed satellite cells. As with many stem cells, Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been proposed to be critical in satellite cells during regeneration. Using new genetic reagents, we explicitly test in vivo whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling is necessary and sufficient within satellite cells and their derivatives for regeneration. We find that signaling is transiently active in transit-amplifying myoblasts, but is not required for regeneration or satellite cell self-renewal. Instead, downregulation of transiently activated β-catenin is important to limit the regenerative response, as continuous regeneration is deleterious. Wnt/β-catenin activation in adult satellite cells may simply be a vestige of their developm

SUBMITTER: Murphy MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4266007 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature