Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1986 Nov 1;103(5):1799–1805. doi: 10.1083/jcb.103.5.1799

Regulation of myogenic differentiation by type beta transforming growth factor

PMCID: PMC2114366  PMID: 3465734

Abstract

Type beta transforming growth factor (TGF beta) has been shown to be both a positive and negative regulator of cellular proliferation and differentiation. The effects of TGF beta also are cell-type specific and appear to be modulated by other growth factors. In the present study, we examined the potential of TGF beta for control of myogenic differentiation. In mouse C-2 myoblasts, TGF beta inhibited fusion and prevented expression of the muscle-specific gene products, creatine kinase and acetylcholine receptor. Differentiation of the nonfusing muscle cell line, BC2Hl, was also inhibited by TGF beta in a dose- dependent manner (ID50 approximately 0.5 ng/ml). TGF beta was not mitogenic for either muscle cell line, indicating that its inhibitory effects do not require cell proliferation. Inhibition of differentiation required the continual presence of TGF beta in the culture media. Removal of TGF beta led to rapid appearance of muscle proteins, which indicates that intracellular signals generated by TGF beta are highly transient and require continuous occupancy of the TGF beta receptor. Northern blot hybridization analysis using a muscle creatine kinase cDNA probe indicated that TGF beta inhibited differentiation at the level of muscle-specific mRNA accumulation. These results provide the first demonstration that TGF beta is a potent regulator of myogenic differentiation and suggest that TGF beta may play an important role in the control of tissue-specific gene expression during development.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.6 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Assoian R. K., Komoriya A., Meyers C. A., Miller D. M., Sporn M. B. Transforming growth factor-beta in human platelets. Identification of a major storage site, purification, and characterization. J Biol Chem. 1983 Jun 10;258(11):7155–7160. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Assoian R. K., Sporn M. B. Type beta transforming growth factor in human platelets: release during platelet degranulation and action on vascular smooth muscle cells. J Cell Biol. 1986 Apr;102(4):1217–1223. doi: 10.1083/jcb.102.4.1217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cochran B. H., Reffel A. C., Stiles C. D. Molecular cloning of gene sequences regulated by platelet-derived growth factor. Cell. 1983 Jul;33(3):939–947. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90037-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Devlin B. H., Konigsberg I. R. Reentry into the cell cycle of differentiated skeletal myocytes. Dev Biol. 1983 Jan;95(1):175–192. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(83)90016-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dugaiczyk A., Haron J. A., Stone E. M., Dennison O. E., Rothblum K. N., Schwartz R. J. Cloning and sequencing of a deoxyribonucleic acid copy of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase messenger ribonucleic acid isolated from chicken muscle. Biochemistry. 1983 Mar 29;22(7):1605–1613. doi: 10.1021/bi00276a013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Emerson C. P., Jr, Beckner S. K. Activation of myosin synthesis in fusing and mononucleated myoblasts. J Mol Biol. 1975 Apr 25;93(4):431–447. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(75)90238-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Evinger-Hodges M. J., Ewton D. Z., Seifert S. C., Florini J. R. Inhibition of myoblast differentiation in vitro by a protein isolated from liver cell medium. J Cell Biol. 1982 May;93(2):395–401. doi: 10.1083/jcb.93.2.395. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Feinberg A. P., Vogelstein B. A technique for radiolabeling DNA restriction endonuclease fragments to high specific activity. Anal Biochem. 1983 Jul 1;132(1):6–13. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(83)90418-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gospodarowicz D., Mescher A. L. A comparison of the responses of cultured myoblasts and chondrocytes to fibroblast and epidermal growth factors. J Cell Physiol. 1977 Oct;93(1):117–127. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1040930115. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gospodarowicz D., Weseman J., Moran J. S., Lindstrom J. Effect of fibroblast growth factor on the division and fusion of bovine myoblasts. J Cell Biol. 1976 Aug;70(2 Pt 1):395–405. doi: 10.1083/jcb.70.2.395. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ignotz R. A., Massagué J. Transforming growth factor-beta stimulates the expression of fibronectin and collagen and their incorporation into the extracellular matrix. J Biol Chem. 1986 Mar 25;261(9):4337–4345. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lathrop B., Olson E., Glaser L. Control by fibroblast growth factor of differentiation in the BC3H1 muscle cell line. J Cell Biol. 1985 May;100(5):1540–1547. doi: 10.1083/jcb.100.5.1540. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lathrop B., Thomas K., Glaser L. Control of myogenic differentiation by fibroblast growth factor is mediated by position in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. J Cell Biol. 1985 Dec;101(6):2194–2198. doi: 10.1083/jcb.101.6.2194. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Leof E. B., Proper J. A., Goustin A. S., Shipley G. D., DiCorleto P. E., Moses H. L. Induction of c-sis mRNA and activity similar to platelet-derived growth factor by transforming growth factor beta: a proposed model for indirect mitogenesis involving autocrine activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Apr;83(8):2453–2457. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.8.2453. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lim R. W., Hauschka S. D. A rapid decrease in epidermal growth factor-binding capacity accompanies the terminal differentiation of mouse myoblasts in vitro. J Cell Biol. 1984 Feb;98(2):739–747. doi: 10.1083/jcb.98.2.739. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Linkhart T. A., Clegg C. H., Hauschika S. D. Myogenic differentiation in permanent clonal mouse myoblast cell lines: regulation by macromolecular growth factors in the culture medium. Dev Biol. 1981 Aug;86(1):19–30. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(81)90311-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Linkhart T. A., Clegg C. H., Hauschka S. D. Control of mouse myoblast commitment to terminal differentiation by mitogens. J Supramol Struct. 1980;14(4):483–498. doi: 10.1002/jss.400140407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Massagué J., Kelly B., Mottola C. Stimulation by insulin-like growth factors is required for cellular transformation by type beta transforming growth factor. J Biol Chem. 1985 Apr 25;260(8):4551–4554. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Masui T., Wakefield L. M., Lechner J. F., LaVeck M. A., Sporn M. B., Harris C. C. Type beta transforming growth factor is the primary differentiation-inducing serum factor for normal human bronchial epithelial cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Apr;83(8):2438–2442. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.8.2438. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Merlie J. P., Buckingham M. E., Whalen R. G. Molecular aspects of myogenesis. Curr Top Dev Biol. 1977;11:61–114. doi: 10.1016/s0070-2153(08)60743-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Nadal-Ginard B. Commitment, fusion and biochemical differentiation of a myogenic cell line in the absence of DNA synthesis. Cell. 1978 Nov;15(3):855–864. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90270-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Nguyen H. T., Medford R. M., Nadal-Ginard B. Reversibility of muscle differentiation in the absence of commitment: analysis of a myogenic cell line temperature-sensitive for commitment. Cell. 1983 Aug;34(1):281–293. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90159-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. O'Farrell P. H. High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis of proteins. J Biol Chem. 1975 May 25;250(10):4007–4021. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Olson E. N., Caldwell K. L., Gordon J. I., Glaser L. Regulation of creatine phosphokinase expression during differentiation of BC3H1 cells. J Biol Chem. 1983 Feb 25;258(4):2644–2652. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Olson E. N., Glaser L., Merlie J. P., Lindstrom J. Expression of acetylcholine receptor alpha-subunit mRNA during differentiation of the BC3H1 muscle cell line. J Biol Chem. 1984 Mar 10;259(5):3330–3336. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Olson E. N., Glaser L., Merlie J. P., Sebanne R., Lindstrom J. Regulation of surface expression of acetylcholine receptors in response to serum and cell growth in the BC3H1 muscle cell line. J Biol Chem. 1983 Nov 25;258(22):13946–13953. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Olson E. N., Spizz G. Mitogens and protein synthesis inhibitors induce ornithine decarboxylase gene transcription through separate mechanisms in the BC3H1 muscle cell line. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Aug;6(8):2792–2799. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.8.2792. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Roberts A. B., Anzano M. A., Lamb L. C., Smith J. M., Sporn M. B. New class of transforming growth factors potentiated by epidermal growth factor: isolation from non-neoplastic tissues. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Sep;78(9):5339–5343. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.9.5339. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Roberts A. B., Anzano M. A., Wakefield L. M., Roche N. S., Stern D. F., Sporn M. B. Type beta transforming growth factor: a bifunctional regulator of cellular growth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(1):119–123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.1.119. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Roman D., Billadello J., Gordon J., Grace A., Sobel B., Strauss A. Complete nucleotide sequence of dog heart creatine kinase mRNA: conservation of amino acid sequence within and among species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Dec;82(24):8394–8398. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.24.8394. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Schubert D., Harris A. J., Devine C. E., Heinemann S. Characterization of a unique muscle cell line. J Cell Biol. 1974 May;61(2):398–413. doi: 10.1083/jcb.61.2.398. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Spizz G., Roman D., Strauss A., Olson E. N. Serum and fibroblast growth factor inhibit myogenic differentiation through a mechanism dependent on protein synthesis and independent of cell proliferation. J Biol Chem. 1986 Jul 15;261(20):9483–9488. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Strauch A. R., Rubenstein P. A. Induction of vascular smooth muscle alpha-isoactin expression in BC3H1 cells. J Biol Chem. 1984 Mar 10;259(5):3152–3159. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Tucker R. F., Shipley G. D., Moses H. L., Holley R. W. Growth inhibitor from BSC-1 cells closely related to platelet type beta transforming growth factor. Science. 1984 Nov 9;226(4675):705–707. doi: 10.1126/science.6093254. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Yaffe D., Saxel O. Serial passaging and differentiation of myogenic cells isolated from dystrophic mouse muscle. Nature. 1977 Dec 22;270(5639):725–727. doi: 10.1038/270725a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES