Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Feb;35(1):3-10.
doi: 10.1007/s10974-014-9376-y. Epub 2014 Feb 7.

The role of satellite cells in muscle hypertrophy

Bert Blaauw  1 , Carlo Reggiani
Affiliations
Review

The role of satellite cells in muscle hypertrophy

Bert Blaauw et al. J Muscle Res Cell Motil. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

The role of satellite cells in muscle hypertrophy has long been a debated issue. In the late 1980s it was shown that proteins remain close to the myonucleus responsible for its synthesis, giving rise to the idea of a nuclear domain. This, together with the observation that during various models of muscle hypertrophy there is an activation of the muscle stem cells, i.e. satellite cells, lead to the idea that satellite cell activation is required for muscle hypertrophy. Thus, satellite cells are not only responsible for muscle repair and regeneration, but also for hypertrophic growth. Further support for this line of thinking was obtained after studies showing that irradiation of skeletal muscle, and therefore elimination of all satellite cells, completely prevented overload-induced hypertrophy. Recently however, using different transgenic approaches, it has become clear that muscle hypertrophy can occur without a contribution of satellite cells, even though in most situations of muscle hypertrophy satellite cells are activated. In this review we will discuss the contribution of satellite cells, and other muscle-resident stem cells, to muscle hypertrophy both in mice as well as in humans.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Muscle Nerve. 2006 Feb;33(2):242-53 - PubMed
    1. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2009 Jun;296(6):C1248-57 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Nov 7;103(45):16995-7000 - PubMed
    1. Acta Physiol Scand. 1999 Dec;167(4):301-5 - PubMed
    1. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2006 Jul;101(1):53-9 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources