The Role and Activation of Myosatellite Cells in Muscle Regeneration
By Ceri McCaffrey
Pull-quotes:
“In the human body, around 35 – 45% of its total mass consists of striated skeletal muscle, making it the most abundant tissue in the body.”
“Myosatellite cells rebuild muscles damaged during workouts and aid in their regeneration.”
“Muscle regeneration and growth is dependent upon satellite cells for their unique capabilities.”
Author Intro: As a competitive athlete, muscle repair and regeneration are an important part of my recovery from competitions. Myosatellite cells are described as the stem cells for muscles. They have the ability to proliferate, differentiate, and self-renew which make them critical in muscle regeneration. These cells remain dormant until activated from signals from the surrounding environment. Once activated, they induce an inflammatory response, differentiate, and are involved in myofiber maturation, making them critical steps of muscle regeneration. I wrote this paper as part of an assignment for my developmental biology class. In an effort to make information from journal articles more accessible, we wrote sections that were added to Wikipedia pages on our subject. I appreciated the overall goal of this assignment in making information accessible to people regardless of academic background. Wikipedia is a source used by many people to gain knowledge of different topics. Honestly, before writing this blurb explaining my article, I read over my Wikipedia article and was rushed with the happy memories of compiling information for this topic. Having played tennis for a majority of my life, muscle health and recovery has been of utmost importance. It was fascinating to learn about the details regarding muscle regeneration and hopefully my Wikipedia section and article will help shed light on the importance of myosatellite cells in the body.
Faculty nominator intro: From Jenny Lenkowski: Ceri’s paper was the culmination of a semester-long project to contribute content to a Wikipedia page related to course material in Developmental Biology (BIO 378) during spring 2022. Researching content for Wikipedia necessitates understanding a topic in more detail than one can include on a Wikipedia page, thus students wrote a review paper that includes an introduction to their topic and a detailed summary of their research beyond what is contributed to Wikipedia. Additionally, I ask students to reflect on the Wikipedia project. As a student athlete, Ceri focused on expanding the explanation of how myosatellite cells in the muscle are regulated on a molecular level and how they can contribute to repairing muscle damage. Ceri did an excellent job summarizing the basic molecular cascade that occurs in muscle cell development, how myosatellite cells are activated in response to injury, and the role for myosatellite cells in exercise recovery. Additionally, she gained an appreciation for and contributed to the valuable open access content found on Wikipedia.
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