MAB3878 Sigma-AldrichAnti-MyoD1 Antibody

Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of skeletal muscle lineage, is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children. Major subtypes of rhabdomyosarcoma include alveolar (ARMS) and embryonal (ERMS) tumors. Whereas ARMS tumors typically contain translocations generating PAX3-FOXO1 or PAX7-FOXO1 fusions that block terminal myogenic differentiation, no functionally comparable genetic event has been found in ERMS tumors. Here we report the discovery, through whole-exome sequencing, of a recurrent somatic mutation encoding p.Leu122Arg in the myogenic transcription factor MYOD1 in a distinct subset of ERMS tumors with poor outcomes that also often contain mutations altering PI3K-AKT pathway components. Previous mutagenesis studies had shown that MYOD1 with a p.Leu122Arg substitution can block wild-type MYOD1 function and bind to MYC consensus sequences, suggesting a possible switch from differentiation to proliferation. Our functional data now confirm this prediction. Thus, MYOD1 p.Leu122Arg defines a subset of rhabdomyosarcomas eligible for high-risk protocols and the development of targeted therapeutics.

Human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) proliferation, migration, and differentiation have all been linked to extracellular matrix stiffness, yet the signaling pathway(s) that are necessary for mechanotransduction remain unproven. Vinculin has been implicated as a mechanosensor in vitro, but here we demonstrate its ability to also regulate stem cell behavior, including hMSC differentiation. RNA interference-mediated vinculin knockdown significantly decreased stiffness-induced MyoD, a muscle transcription factor, but not Runx2, an osteoblast transcription factor, and impaired stiffness-mediated migration. A kinase binding accessibility screen predicted a cryptic MAPK1 signaling site in vinculin which could regulate these behaviors. Indeed, reintroduction of vinculin domains into knocked down cells indicated that MAPK1 binding site-containing vinculin constructs were necessary for hMSC expression of MyoD. Vinculin knockdown does not appear to interfere with focal adhesion assembly, significantly alter adhesive properties, or diminish cell traction force generation, indicating that its knockdown only adversely affected MAPK1 signaling. These data provide some of the first evidence that a force-sensitive adhesion protein can regulate stem cell fate.

The prenatal and early postnatal period is a key developmental window for nutrition status, and high-fat exposure in this period has been shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes, obesity and other features of metabolic disorders later in life. The present study was designed to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms and role of relative genes involved in this process. We investigated the impact of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to a high-saturated-fat diet on the regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway and myogenic genes in skeletal muscle of rat offspring as well as the serum and muscle physiological outcomes. Timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a control (C, 16% kcal fat) or high-saturated-fat diet (HF, 45% kcal fat) throughout gestation and lactation. After weaning, female offspring were fed a control diet to generate two offspring groups: control diet-fed offspring of control diet-fed dams (C/C) and control diet-fed offspring of HF diet-fed dams (HF/C). The serum glucose of the HF/C offspring (5.58 ± 0.26 mmol/L) was significantly higher than that of C/C offspring (4.97 ± 0.28 mmol/L), and the Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance of HF/C offspring (2.00 ± 0.11) was also significantly higher when compared with C/C (1.84 ± 0.09). Furthermore, HF/C offspring presented excessive intramuscular fat accumulation (1.8-fold, P < 0.05) and decreased muscle glycogen (1.3-fold, P < 0.05), as well as impairment of muscle development at the age of 12 weeks. Meanwhile, we observed the repression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and myogenic genes in HF/C offspring. The present study indicates that prenatal and early postnatal exposure to a high-saturated-fat diet suppresses the development of skeletal muscle and myogenic genes via Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and the inappropriate muscle development could potentially contribute to the predisposition of offspring to develop metabolic-syndrome-like phenotype in adulthood.