| First Author | Yang JT | Year | 1996 |
| Journal | J Cell Biol | Volume | 135 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 829-35 |
| PubMed ID | 8909554 | Mgi Jnum | J:36475 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:83902 | Doi | 10.1083/jcb.135.3.829 |
| Citation | Yang JT, et al. (1996) Genetic analysis of alpha 4 integrin functions in the development of mouse skeletal muscle. J Cell Biol 135(3):829-35 |
| abstractText | It has been suggested, on the basis of immunolocalization studies in vivo and antibody blocking experiments in vitro, that alpha 4 integrins interacting with vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) are involved in myogenesis and skeletal muscle development. To test this proposal, we generated embryonic stem (ES) cells homozygous null for the gene encoding the alpha 4 subunit and used them to generate chimeric mice. These chimeric mice showed high contributions of alpha 4-null cells in many tissues, including skeletal muscle, and muscles lacking any detectable (< 2%) alpha 4-positive cells did not reveal any gross morphological abnormalities. Furthermore, assays for in vitro myogenesis using either pure cultures of alpha 4-null myoblasts derived from the chimeras or alpha 4-null ES cells showed conclusively that alpha 4 integrins are not essential for muscle cell fusion and differentiation. Taking these results together, we conclude that alpha 4 integrins appear not to play essential roles in normal skeletal muscle development. |
