title: The p38 MAPK family, a pushmi-pullyu of skeletal muscle differentiation.
abstract: In this issue, Gillespie et al. (Gillespie et al. 2009. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.200907037) demonstrate that the mitogen-activated protein kinase isoform p38-gamma plays a crucial role in blocking the premature differentiation of satellite cells, a skeletal muscle stem cell population. p38-gamma puts the brakes on skeletal muscle differentiation by promoting the association of the transcription factor MyoD with the histone methyltransferase, KMT1A, which act together in a complex to repress the premature expression of the gene encoding the myogenic transcription factor Myogenin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. andrew_lassar@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lassar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D000076983:Histone Methyltransferases; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D017570:MyoD Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017570:MyoD Protein; D000076983:Histone Methyltransferases; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases