Myogenic differentiation is triggered, among other situations, in response to muscle damage for regenerative purposes. It has been shown that during myogenic differentiation, myotubes release extracellular vesicles (EVs) which participate in the signalling pattern of the microenvironment. Here we investigated whether EVs released by myotubes exposed or not to mild oxidative stress modulate the behaviour of targeted differentiating myoblasts and macrophages to promote myogenesis. We found that EVs released by oxidatively challenged myotubes (H₂O₂-EVs) are characterized by an increased loading of nucleic acids, mainly DNA. In addition, incubation of myoblasts with H₂O₂-EVs resulted in a significant decrease of myotube diameter, myogenin mRNA levels and myosin heavy chain expression along with an upregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen: these effects collectively lead to an increase of recipient myoblast proliferation. Notably, the EVs from untreated myotubes induced an opposite trend in myoblasts, that is, a slight pro-differentiation effect. Finally, H₂O₂-EVs were capable of eliciting an increased interleukin 6 mRNA expression in RAW264.7 macrophages. Notably, this is the first demonstration that myotubes communicate with surrounding macrophages via EV release. Collectively, the data reported herein suggest that myotubes, depending on their conditions, release EVs carrying differential signals which could contribute to finely and coherently orchestrate the muscle regeneration process.
Keywords: C2C12; H2O2; exosomes; extracellular vesicles; intercellular communication; myogenic differentiation; oxidative stress.