Dedifferentiation, Redifferentiation, and Transdifferentiation of Striated Muscles During Regeneration and Development

Abstract

In some rare and striking cases, striated muscle fibers of the skeleton or body wall, which consist of terminally differentiated syncytia with complex ultrastructures, were found to be capable of dedifferentiating and fragmenting into mononucleate cells. Examples of such events will be discussed in which the dedifferentiated cells reenter the cell cycle, proliferate, and rebuilt damaged muscle fibers during limb regeneration or transdifferentiate to generate new types of muscles during normal development.

Keywords: Cell cycle reentry; Dedifferentiation; Heart muscles; Limb muscles; Muscle development; Muscle syncytia; Redifferentiation; Regeneration; Striated muscles; Transdifferentiation.