The influence of the inducible heat shock protein 70 kDa (HSP70) on myoblast differentiation: regulation by miRNAs

• Grant number: 16/22802-0
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal researcher: Elen Haruka Miyabara
• Grantee: Tábata Leal Nascimento
• Supervisor abroad: Imed Gallouzi
• Home Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/04783-0 - The influence of heat shock proteins in the recovery of skeletal muscle of old mice, BP.DR

Abstract

Skeletal muscle tissue has a remarkable capacity of repairing itself after injury. This regenerative capacity depends on satellite cells, the muscle stem cells that are crucial players in the regeneration process of the damaged myofibers. During aging this process is impaired, which is associated with the reduction in the number and the function of satellite cells in aged mice. The satellite cells from aged muscles develop a higher propensity to adopt adipogenic and fibrogenic phenotypes, contributing to a gradual replacement of myofibers by non-contractile elements, such as adipose and connective tissues, and consequently leading to a reduction in the quality of life. Considering that the inducible heat shock protein 70 kDa (HSP70) is a molecular chaperone that has essential role in cellular preservation and is an important player in several signaling pathways, we decided to investigate the influence of HSP70 on differentiation of myoblasts isolated from young and old wild type (WT) and transgenic overexpressing HSP70 mice. In our previous experiments, we showed that the differentiation of myoblasts isolated from old wild type(WT) mice was attenuated compared to that from young WT mice; however this attenuation was prevented in differentiating myoblasts from old transgenic overexpressing HSP70 mice. Therefore, the aim of this project is to investigate the influence of HSP70 on myoblast differentiation and the possible involvement of miRNA-31-3p. The choice of this miRNA was based on our preliminary results from the miRNA sequencing of differentiating myoblasts from WT and overexpressing HSP70 mice.