Poster abstracts
Poster number 59 submitted by Melissa Campion
EphrinA5-Eph signaling promotes neonatal myoblast migration
Melissa Campion (OSBP), Jinmo Gu (Molecular virology Immunology and Medical Genetics)
Abstract:
Skeletal muscle growth occurs most rapidly directly after birth, and skeletal muscle growth during this time is necessary for gaining posture and motility. While it is known that neonatal skeletal muscle growth occurs through the fusion of committed muscle precursor cells, myoblasts, to the ends of muscle fibers, until recently there has been no mechanism of how neonatal myoblasts migrate to muscle ends prior to fusion. Our lab has shown that EphrinA5 in NG2+ muscle interstitial cells promotes myoblast migration to the ends of muscle fibers. Yet the myoblast receptor that binds EphrinA5 on NG2 cells and induces the migratory signal has not been determined. Here we have discovered there are three Ephrin receptors (Ephs) on myoblasts that there capable of binding EphrinA5, EphA3, EphA4 and EphB2. In order to determine which of these Ephs are responsible for binding EphrinA5 and mediating myoblast migration, we have knocked out each of these receptors individually from the C2C12 skeletal muscle cell line using CRISPR-Cas9. We will next compare EphrinA5 stimulated myoblast migration of our Eph knockout CRISPR clones to migration of C2C12 cells that had been transfected with only an empty CRISPR plasmid. After we discover which Eph promotes EphrinA5 mediated migration, our goal is to determine the mechanism through which EphrinA5-Eph signaling induces myoblast migration.
Keywords: Neonatal development, skeletal muscle, Eph signaling