Mechanical stretch is a down-regulatory signal for differentiation of C2C12 myogenic cells

The purpose of this study was to examine whether mechanical stretch alters the expression of myogenic regulatory factors in cultured myogenic satellite cells. C2C12 myogenic satellite cells were plated on collagenized silastic membrane and cultured in growth medium and stretched with 20% elongation for 24 h. The expressions of myogenic regulatory factors including MyoD, myogenin, myocyte nuclear factor (MNF)-α and -β were determined by semiquantitive reverse transcriptional-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. The expressions of MyoD and MNF-α were decreased in stretched C2C12 as compared to control condition. The expressions of myogenin and MNF-β were not detected. These results demonstrate that mechanical stretch inhibits differentiation of C2C12 myogenic satellite cells to myotube in the cultured condition.