title: Contribution of in vitro myocytes studies to understanding fish muscle physiology.
abstract: Research on the regulation of fish muscle physiology and growth was addressed originally by classical in vivo approaches; however, systemic interactions resulted in many questions that could be better considered through in vitro myocyte studies. The first paper published by our group in this field was with Tom Moon on brown trout cardiomyocytes, where the insulin and IGF-I receptors were characterized and the down-regulatory effects of an excess of peptides demonstrated. We followed the research on cultured skeletal muscle cells through the collaboration with INRA focused on the characterization of IGF-I receptors and its signaling pathways through in vitro development. Later on, we showed the important metabolic role of IGFs, although these studies were only the first stage of a prolific area of work that has offered a useful tool to advance in our knowledge of the endocrine and nutritional regulation of fish growth and metabolism. Obviously, the findings obtained in vitro serve the purpose to propose the scenario that will need confirmation in vivo, but this technique has made possible many different, easy, fast and better controlled studies. In this review, we have summarized the main advances that the use of cultured muscle cells has permitted, focusing mainly in the role of IGFs regulating fish metabolism and growth. Although many articles have already appeared using this model system in salmonids, gilthead sea bream or zebrafish, it is reasonable to expect new studies with cultured cells using innovative approaches that will help to understand fish physiology and its regulation.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Emilio J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Vélez
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Esmail
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lutfi
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sheida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azizi
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Montserrat
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Riera-Codina
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Encarnación
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capilla
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jgutierrez@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Joaquim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D024510:Muscle Development; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013002:Somatomedins
keywords: Amino acids; IGFs; In vitro cultures; Insulin; Insulin and IGF-I receptors; Myogenesis; Myogenic factors; TOR