MICAL2 is essential for myogenic lineage commitment

Dissecting candidate signaling pathways in myogenesis

The main goal of the Professor Sampaolesi team is to establish new strategies of repairing damage to the muscle and cardiac tissues through stem cell technologies. Research over the the past 10 years provided increasing evidence that stem cell-based therapies might allow cardiac and skeletal muscle regeneration, as a result of an injury or disease. By dissecting candidate signaling pathways, they demonstrated that MICAL2 is essential for myogenic lineage commitment. Excellent work, published by Nefele Giarratana.

MICAL2 is essential for myogenic lineage commitment

Nefele Giarratana, Filippo Conti, Rita La Rovere, Rik Gijsbers, Paolo Carai, Robin Duelen, Tim Vervliet, Geert Bultynck, Flavio Ronzoni, Roberto Piciotti, Domiziana Costamagna, Stefania Fulle, Ivana Barravecchia, Debora Angeloni, Yvan Torrente, Maurilio Sampaolesi

Cell Death Dis. 2020 Aug 18;11(8):654

Abstract

Contractile myofiber units are mainly composed of thick myosin and thin actin (F-actin) filaments. F-Actin interacts with

Microtubule Associated Monooxygenase, Calponin And LIM Domain Containing 2 (MICAL2). Indeed,

MICAL2 modifies actin subunits and promotes actin filament turnover by severing them and preventing repolymerization. In this study, we found that MICAL2 increases during myogenic differentiation of adult and pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) towards skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle cells and localizes in the nucleus of acute and chronic regenerating muscle fibers. In vivo delivery of Cas9-Mical2 guide RNA complexes results in muscle actin defects and demonstrates that MICAL2 is essential for skeletal muscle homeostasis and functionality. Conversely, MICAL2 upregulation shows a positive impact on skeletal and cardiac muscle commitments. Taken together these data demonstrate that modulations of MICAL2 have an impact on muscle filament dynamics and its fine-tuned balance is essential for the regeneration of muscle tissues.

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Dissecting candidate signaling pathways in myogenesis

MICAL2 is essential for myogenic lineage commitment

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