Fig. 3: Proposed metabolic pathways regulating quiescence, self-renewal, and differentiation during myogenesis. | Nature Communications

Fig. 3: Proposed metabolic pathways regulating quiescence, self-renewal, and differentiation during myogenesis.

From: Perspectives on skeletal muscle stem cells

Fig. 3

The low metabolism of quiescent MuSCs is mostly dependent on mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation. This promotes epigenetic modification that represses myogenic transcription programs. MuSC activation is associated with a shift toward anaerobic glycolysis. This supports a metabolic environment that allows for rapid biosynthesis, therefore, supporting MuSC growth and proliferation. An increase in mitochondrial respiration precedes MuSC differentiation. This elevated dependence on oxidative phosphorylation triggers a burst of ROS that act as secondary messengers to strengthen differentiation.

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