title: Twist reverses muscle cell differentiation through transcriptional down-regulation of myogenin.
abstract: Some higher vertebrates can display unique muscle regenerative abilities through dedifferentiation. Research evidence suggests that induced dedifferentiation can be achieved in mammalian cells. TWIST is a bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) transcription factor that is expressed during embryonic development and plays critical roles in diverse developmental systems including myogenesis. Several experiments demonstrated its role in inhibition of muscle cell differentiation. We have previously shown that overexpression of TWIST can reverse muscle cell differentiation in the presence of growth factors. Here we show that TWIST reverses muscle cell differentiation through binding and down-regulation of myogenin. Moreover, it can reverse cellular morphology in the absence of growth factors.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Nikolaos P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Mastroyiannopoulos
authors.affiliation: *Department of Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Antonis A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Antoniou
authors.affiliation: *Department of Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Andrie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koutsoulidou
authors.affiliation: †The Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience and Endocrinology, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Uney
authors.affiliation: *Department of Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Leonidas A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Phylactou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D048430:Cell Shape; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D015536:Down-Regulation; D020868:Gene Silencing; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D024510:Muscle Development; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000502:physiology*; D018008:Myogenin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; C503801:Myog protein, mouse; D018008:Myogenin; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; C067250:Twist1 protein, mouse