Skeletal muscle cultures

This chapter reviews the preparation of primary muscle cell cultures, and the characteristics of different established muscle cell lines and the special culture conditions and handling they require. The recent progress in the molecular characterization of myogenic differentiation has depended largely on the successful analysis of the muscle phenotype in cell culture. Myoblasts from numerous sources can be cultured to mimic different aspects of myogenesis, from proliferation to withdrawal from the cell cycle, fusion into myotubes, and expression of contractile protein gene subsets. Certain aspects of myogenesis have been more difficult to reproduce in culture, such as the full recapitulation of contractile function and the further modulation of muscle differentiation that occurs during the generation of different fiber types. A more thorough analysis of the external environment required for the manifestation of these properties in vivo may ultimately be necessary, because it is likely that specific extracellular matrix components or heterologous cell interactions play a significant role in determining these phenotypes.