Researchers in Paris have identified the important role played by RhoA, a member of the Rho-type GTPase superfamily already extensively studied in the field of cancer, in several properties and functions of muscle satellite cells:
- two functions in particular were studied: muscle stem cell fusion and muscle hypertrophy,
- this work, carried out on transgenic mouse models, confirmed the protein’s involvement in both cases,
- satellite cells are directly affected in the absence of Rho, both during regeneration and muscle growth, via fusion mechanisms,
- however, Rho is not involved in cell proliferation itself.
