title: Requirement of the transmembrane semaphorin Sema4C for myogenic differentiation.
abstract: Semaphorins constitute a large family of signaling proteins that contribute to axonal guidance. Here we demonstrate that the transmembrane semaphorin Sema4C is up-regulated both in the early stage of differentiation of C2C12 mouse skeletal myoblasts into myotubes and during injury-induced muscle regeneration in vivo. Depletion of Sema4C in C2C12 cells resulted in marked attenuation of myotube formation. A fusion protein containing the extracellular Sema domain and a peptide corresponding to the intracellular COOH-terminal region of Sema4C each inhibited the differentiation of C2C12 cells. These findings indicate that Sema4C-mediated interaction among myoblasts plays an important role in terminal myogenic differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University Hospital, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8505, Japan.
authors.forename: Ji-Ae
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gondo
authors.forename: Shinobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D017931:DNA Primers; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D051379:Mice; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D039961:Semaphorins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; C119353:Sema4c protein, mouse; D039961:Semaphorins