Interaction of Wnt Signaling with BMP/Smad Signaling during the Transition from Cell Proliferation to Myogenic Differentiation in Mouse Myoblast-Derived Cells

Figure 1

Myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression in parental C2C12 cells and C2C12-derived cells permanently expressing Wnt4. Parental C2C12 cells (a, b, e, and f) and W4-08 cells (c, d, g, and h) were cultured for 2 days in proliferation medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (a–d), or in differentiation medium containing 2% horse serum (e–h), and then immunohistochemically stained with anti-MyHC antibodies, followed by counterstaining with DAPI. Spontaneous expression of slow-type MyHC was evident in W4-08 cells in proliferation medium and intensified in differentiation medium, although the proliferation rates were greatly reduced compared to those of the parental C2C12 cells, as observed in the reduced number of nuclei (blue).