Key regulators of skeletal myogenesis

Abstract

Skeletal myogenesis has been extensively studied at both morphological and molecular levels. This review considers the main stages of embryonic skeletal myogenesis and myogenic factors that trigger their initiation, focusing on specific protein interactions involved in somitic myogenesis, head myogenesis, and limb myogenesis. The second part of the review describes the role of noncoding RNAs (microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs) in myogenesis. This information is of particular interest, because regulation of cell processes by noncoding RNAs is an actively developing field of molecular biology. Knowledge of mechanisms of skeletal myogenesis is of applied significance. Various transcription factors, noncoding RNAs, and other myogenic regulators can be employed in the induction of myogenic reprogramming in stem cells and differentiated somatic cells. Current trends and strategies in the field of skeletal myogenic reprogramming are discussed in the last part of the review.