Thoroughbred racehorse performance is largely influenced by a major quantitative trait locus at the myostatin (MSTN) gene which determines aptitude for certain race distances due to a promoter region insertion mutation influencing functional phenotypes in skeletal muscle. To develop an in vitro system for functional experiments we established three novel equine skeletal muscle cell lines reflecting the variation in phenotype associated with MSTN genotype (CC/II, CT/IN and TT/NN for SNP g.66493737C > T/SINE insertion 227 bp polymorphism). Primary equine skeletal muscle myoblasts, isolated from Thoroughbred horse gluteus medius, were conditionally immortalised and evaluated to determine whether cell phenotype and metabolic function were comparable to functional characteristics previously reported for ex vivo skeletal muscle isolated from Thoroughbred horses with each genotype.
Primary myoblasts conditionally immortalised with the temperature sensitive SV40TtsA58 lentivirus vector successfully proliferated and could revert to their primary cell phenotype and differentiate into multinucleated myotubes. Skeletal muscle fibre type, MSTN gene expression, mitochondrial abundance, and mitochondrial function of the three MSTN genotype cell lines, were consistent with equivalent characterisation of ex vivo skeletal muscle samples with these genotypes. Furthermore, addition of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to the cell lines improved mitochondrial function, an observation consistent with ex vivo skeletal muscle samples with these genotypes following supplementation with CoQ10 in the diet.
The observation that the phenotypic characteristics and metabolic function of the cells lines are equivalent to ex vivo skeletal muscle indicates that this in vitro system will enable efficient and cost-effective analyses of equine skeletal muscle for a range of different applications including understanding metabolic function, testing of nutritional supplements, drug test development and gene doping test development. In the multi-billion-euro international Thoroughbred horse industry research advances in the biological function of skeletal muscle are likely to have considerable impact. Furthermore, this novel genotype-specific system may be adapted and applied to human biomedicine to improve understanding of the effects of myostatin in human physiology and medicine.
© 2022 The Authors.

Background: Thoroughbred racehorse performance is largely influenced by a major quantitative trait locus at the myostatin ( MSTN ) gene which determines aptitude for certain race distances due to a promoter region insertion mutation influencing functional phenotypes in skeletal muscle. To develop an in vitro system for functional experiments we established three novel equine skeletal muscle cell lines reflecting the variation in phenotype associated with MSTN genotype (CC/II, CT/IN and TT/NN for SNP g.66493737C>T/SINE insertion 227 bp polymorphism). Primary equine skeletal muscle myoblasts, isolated from Thoroughbred horse gluteus medius , were conditionally immortalised and evaluated to determine whether cell phenotype and metabolic function were comparable to functional characteristics previously reported for ex vivo skeletal muscle isolated from Thoroughbred horses with each genotype.ResultsPrimary myoblasts conditionally immortalized with the temperature sensitive SV40TtsA58 lentivirus vector successfully proliferated and could revert to their primary cell phenotype and differentiate into multinucleated myotubes. Skeletal muscle fibre type, MSTN gene expression, mitochondrial abundance, and mitochondrial function of the three MSTN genotype cell lines, were consistent with equivalent characterisation of ex vivo skeletal muscle samples with these genotypes. Furthermore, addition of coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) to the cell lines improved mitochondrial function, an observation consistent with ex vivo skeletal muscle samples with these genotypes following supplementation with CoQ 10 in the diet. ConclusionsThe observation that the phenotypic characteristics and metabolic function of the cells lines are equivalent to ex vivo skeletal muscle indicates that this in vitro system will enable efficient and cost-effective analyses of equine skeletal muscle for a range of different applications including understanding metabolic function, testing of nutritional supplements, drug test development and gene doping test development. In the multi-billion-euro international Thoroughbred horse industry research advances in the biological function of skeletal muscle are likely to have considerable impact. Furthermore, this novel genotype-specific system may be adapted and applied to human biomedicine to improve understanding of the effects of myostatin in human physiology and medicine.

h4>Background: /h4> Thoroughbred racehorse performance is largely influenced by a major quantitative trait locus at the myostatin ( MSTN ) gene which determines aptitude for certain race distances due to a promoter region insertion mutation influencing functional phenotypes in skeletal muscle. To develop an in vitro system for functional experiments we established three novel equine skeletal muscle cell lines reflecting the variation in phenotype associated with MSTN genotype (CC/II, CT/IN and TT/NN for SNP g.66493737C>T/SINE insertion 227 bp polymorphism). Primary equine skeletal muscle myoblasts, isolated from Thoroughbred horse gluteus medius , were conditionally immortalised and evaluated to determine whether cell phenotype and metabolic function were comparable to functional characteristics previously reported for ex vivo skeletal muscle isolated from Thoroughbred horses with each genotype. h4>Results: /h4> Primary myoblasts conditionally immortalized with the temperature sensitive SV40TtsA58 lentivirus vector successfully proliferated and could revert to their primary cell phenotype and differentiate into multinucleated myotubes. Skeletal muscle fibre type, MSTN gene expression, mitochondrial abundance, and mitochondrial function of the three MSTN genotype cell lines, were consistent with equivalent characterisation of ex vivo skeletal muscle samples with these genotypes. Furthermore, addition of coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) to the cell lines improved mitochondrial function, an observation consistent with ex vivo skeletal muscle samples with these genotypes following supplementation with CoQ 10 in the diet. h4>Conclusions: /h4> The observation that the phenotypic characteristics and metabolic function of the cells lines are equivalent to ex vivo skeletal muscle indicates that this in vitro system will enable efficient and cost-effective analyses of equine skeletal muscle for a range of different applications including understanding metabolic function, testing of nutritional supplements, drug test development and gene doping test development. In the multi-billion-euro international Thoroughbred horse industry research advances in the biological function of skeletal muscle are likely to have considerable impact. Furthermore, this novel genotype-specific system may be adapted and applied to human biomedicine to improve understanding of the effects of myostatin in human physiology and medicine.

We have previously postulated that unconventional myosin VI (MVI) could be involved in myoblast differentiation. Here, we addressed the mechanism(s) of its involvement using primary myoblast culture derived from the hindlimb muscles of Snell's waltzer mice, the natural MVI knockouts (MVI-KO). We observed that MVI-KO myotubes were formed faster than control heterozygous myoblasts (MVI-WT), with a three-fold increase in the number of myosac-like myotubes with centrally positioned nuclei. There were also changes in the levels of the myogenic transcription factors Pax7, MyoD and myogenin. This was accompanied by changes in the actin cytoskeleton and adhesive structure organization. We observed significant decreases in the levels of proteins involved in focal contact formation, such as talin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Interestingly, the levels of proteins involved in intercellular communication, M-cadherin and drebrin, were also affected. Furthermore, time-dependent alterations in the levels of the key proteins for myoblast membrane fusion, myomaker and myomerger, without effect on their cellular localization, were observed. Our data indicate that in the absence of MVI, the mechanisms controlling cytoskeleton organization, as well as myoblast adhesion and fusion, are dysregulated, leading to the formation of aberrant myotubes.

h4>ABSTRACT/h4> The ability of pluripotent stem cells to be poised to differentiate into any somatic cell type is partly derived from a unique chromatin structure that is depleted for transcriptional elongation associated epigenetic modifications, primarily H3K79 methylation. Inhibiting the H3K79 methyltransferase, Dot1L, increases the efficiency of reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) most potently at the mid-point of the process. Surprisingly, despite the enrichment of H3K79me2 on thousands of actively transcribed genes, Dot1L inhibition (Dot1Li) results in few changes in steady state mRNA levels during reprogramming. Dot1Li spuriously upregulates genes not involved in pluripotency and does not shutdown the somatic program. Depletion of the few genes that are downregulated, such as Nfix , enhances reprogramming efficiency in cooperation with Dot1Li. Contrary to the prevalent view, Dot1Li promotes iPSC generation beyond early phases of reprogramming such as the mesenchymal to epithelial transition and from already epithelial cell types including keratinocytes. Significantly, Dot1L inhibition does not enhance lineage conversion to neurons or muscle cells. Taken together, our results indicate that H3K79me is not a universal barrier of cell fate transitions but specifically protects somatic cells from reverting to the pluripotent state.