Friday, June 01, 2007

Muscle Repair Depends on Multiple Cell Types

Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Date: June 1, 2007

Summary:

Researchers have identified a new population of stem cells that act to repair muscle after damage. Until now, researchers had assumed that all of these cells, which are called satellite cells, had similar properties. They all seemed to follow the same developmental path to becoming mature muscle. The new discoveries show that the developmental fate of a given satellite cell depends on its physical orientation immediately after cell division.