Nuclear positioning in skeletal muscle

Abstract

Skeletal muscle cells possess a unique cellular architecture designed to fulfill their contractile function. Muscle cells (also known as myofibers) result from the fusion of hundreds of myoblasts and grow into a fiber of several centimeters in length. Cellular structures gradually become organized during muscle development to raise a mature contractile cell. A hallmark of this singular cell architecture is the position of nuclei at the periphery of the myofiber, below the plasma membrane. Nuclei in myofibers are evenly distributed except in specialized regions like the neuromuscular or myotendinous junctions. Disruption of nuclear positioning results in hindered muscle contraction and occurs in a multitude of muscle disorders as well as in regenerative myofibers. We will explore in this review the step by step nuclear migrations during myogenesis for nuclei to reach their evenly distributed anchored position at the periphery.

Keywords: Cytoskeleton; Muscle development; Muscle disorders; Myogenesis; Nuclear movement.