PUBLICATION

Slow muscles guide fast myocyte fusion to ensure robust myotome formation despite the high spatiotemporal stochasticity of fusion events

Authors
Mendieta-Serrano, M.A., Dhar, S., Ng, B.H., Narayanan, R., Lee, J.J.Y., Ong, H.T., Toh, P.J.Y., Röllin, A., Roy, S., Saunders, T.E.
ID
ZDB-PUB-220827-42
Date
2022
Source
Developmental Cell   57(17): 2095-2110.e5 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Dhar, Sunandan, Roy, Sudipto, Saunders, Timothy Edward
Keywords
Myomaker, cell elongation, cell migration, fast myocytes, myocyte fusion, slow muscle, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Muscle Cells*
  • Muscle Development
  • Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism
  • Muscles/metabolism
  • Zebrafish*/metabolism
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
PubMed
36027918 Full text @ Dev. Cell
Abstract
Skeletal myogenesis is dynamic, and it involves cell-shape changes together with cell fusion and rearrangements. However, the final muscle arrangement is highly organized with striated fibers. By combining live imaging with quantitative analyses, we dissected fast-twitch myocyte fusion within the zebrafish myotome in toto. We found a strong mediolateral bias in fusion timing; however, at a cellular scale, there was heterogeneity in cell shape and the relationship between initial position of fast myocytes and resulting fusion partners. We show that the expression of the fusogen myomaker is permissive, but not instructive, in determining the spatiotemporal fusion pattern. Rather, we observed a close coordination between slow muscle rearrangements and fast myocyte fusion. In mutants that lack slow fibers, the spatiotemporal fusion pattern is substantially noisier. We propose a model in which slow muscles guide fast myocytes by funneling them close together, enhancing fusion probability. Thus, despite fusion being highly stochastic, a robust myotome structure emerges at the tissue scale.
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