Essential Role Of A Molecule In Skeletal Muscle Development Reveals New UEA Study

According to a report published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), an essential role of a molecule in skeletal muscle development has been discovered by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

The finding of the current study could prove helpful in the future, in curing certain ailments that require muscle regeneration or maintenance of healthy muscle.

Traditionally, microRNAs (short ribonucleic acid molecules) have been among the least understood molecules but recent advances in genome research have allowed scientists to gain more insight into their complexity, importance and function in disease process.

Skeletal muscles which are a form of striated muscle tissue are vital for body movements and healthy aging. The role of microRNA in their development was unknown until now.

The current study was conducted by scientists in the School of Biological Sciences at UEA and the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel.

They proved that for normal muscle development to take place in an embryo, a specific microRNA, called miR-206 was crucial. MiR-206 turns off a gene called Pax3 which leads to specialization of embryonic muscle cells into contractile cells required for the muscle to function. The scientists state that adult muscle stem cells which differentiate in response to muscle injury or exercise also follow the same regulation.

"Muscle is vital to our well being, but it can become fragile, for example as we age or through certain muscle-wasting diseases. Therefore understanding how muscle tissue develops and is maintained is important,"

said Andrea Münsterberg, who is the lead author and professor in developmental biology at UEA.

She further stated,

"Discovering how the Pax3 gene is regulated by miR-206 and controls other genes that lead to muscle differentiation is significant. If you control Pax3 you could control when cells become more specialised and take on their unique function. We suggest that what we have learnt about embryo development also applies to adult muscle. In theory, if we could enhance the function of microRNAs in the body we might in the future be able to promote the maintenance of healthy muscle or muscle regeneration in certain diseases."

"MicroRNA regulation of the paired-box transcription factor Pax3 confers robustness to developmental timing of myogenesis"
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences