Satellite Cells: Regenerative Mechanisms and Applicability in Muscular Dystrophy

Table 1

Biomarkers expressed in most SCs.

Biomarker	Functions	References
Pax7	Regulates self-renewal in SCs; maintains of myogenic potential; prevents precocious differentiation; regulates the expression of Myf5; promotes de specification of the SCs	[38, 78, 79, 111–113]
Pax3	Regulates proliferation of the SCs in conjunction with Pax7; is involved in myogenic differentiation; regulates the expression of Myf5	[114–119]
Myogenic Regulatory factor 5 (Myf5)	Is involved in embryonary myogenesis; promotes differentiation of SCs	[49, 120–123]
Barx2	Regulates postnatal muscle growth and regeneration; promotes activation and differentiation of SCs; is involved in myoblast fusion	[124–127]
M-cadherin	Cell adhesion protein; involved in cell-to-cell signalization that promotes proliferation of SCs; involved but not essential to myoblast fusion to form myofibers	[128–132]
c-Met	Required for adult skeletal muscle regeneration due to its role in myoblast migration and fusion	[133–136]
α7-integrin	Laminin receptor in the SCs, involved in the formation of neuromuscular and myotendinous cell junctions	[137–142]
Cluster of differentiation (CD) 34	Promotes cellular motility of SCs due to its antiadhesive function; is involved in the maintenance of the quiescence of SCs	[143–145]
Syndecan-3	Implicated in muscle regeneration; involved in the control of proliferation of SCs; role in angiogenesis	[146–148]
Syndecan-4	Implicated in muscle regeneration; involved in activation and proliferation of SCs	[146, 147, 149, 150]
Chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4)	Receptor for the ligand alpha-chemokine stromal-derived factor 1 (SDF-1); the activated receptor induces chemotaxis, calcium influx and activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and AKT serine-threonine kinase by phosphorylation; involved in the control of SCs development	[151–154]
Caveolin-1	Modulates SCs activation during muscle repair	[142, 155–157]
Calcitonin receptor	Related to the maintenance of the quiescence of SCs	[158, 159]
Lamins A and C	Nuclear envelope proteins, involved in the regulation of SCs differentiation	[160, 161]
Emerin	Involved in the signalization for SCs differentiation	[161, 162]