“The identification of MLL1 as a factor acting upstream of PAX7 is an important advance in understanding muscle stem cell biology,” -Dr. Michael Rudnicki, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of OttawaMuscles have a fantastic ability to heal themselves, thanks to pools of muscle stem cells that respond to damage. Drs. Caroline Brun and Gregory Addicks in Dr. Michael Rudnicki’s group discovered that a regulatory protein called MLL1 plays a key role in this process. When a muscle is injured, the stem cells are activated to either make new muscle cells or to make more stem cells to replenish the pool. This process is controlled by proteins like the transcription factor PAX7, which instructs stem cells to replenish the pool. The researchers found that MLL1 directly regulates the levels of PAX7, providing new insight into the regulatory circuits that control muscle stem cell biology. Deleting the MLL1 enzyme in mice depleted the pool of stem cells, and significantly reduced muscle regeneration. This work may provide insight for future therapies to treat muscle diseases.
“The identification of MLL1 as a factor acting upstream of PAX7 is an important advance in understanding muscle stem cell biology,” said Dr. Michael Rudnicki, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa
Authors: Gregory C. Addicks, Caroline E. Brun, Marie-Claude Sincennes, John Saber, Christopher J. Porter, A. Francis Stewart, Patricia Ernst, Michael A. Rudnicki
Source: Nature Communications
Core Facilities: Bioinformatics, Flow Cytometry, StemCore.
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