Minchul Kim: Decoding the secret of muscle cells - the role of myonuclear heterogeneity

Speaker: Minchul Kim (INSERM, Strassbourg, France)

Host: Carmen Birchmeier

Unlike most cells in nature, skeletal muscle cells harbor hundreds to thousands of nuclei within a shared cytoplasm. This unique cellular architecture raises numerous questions about regulatory mechanisms in this vital cell type. I will discuss some of our recent work on understanding the special ways muscle cells operate.

First, I will focus on one particular muscle domain, the muscle-tendon junction (MTJ). The MTJ is the terminal part of the muscle cell that attaches to the tendon and where contractile force is transmitted through the tendon. It is a major site of injury. I will discuss how transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms govern the formation and maintenance of this muscle domain, believing that similar principles should apply to other muscle domains.

Secondly, I will present our recent development of various genetic tools to manipulate specific nuclear subtypes within the muscle cell. Previously existing tools in the field targeted entire myonuclei without any spatial precision, hampering in-depth investigation of muscle domains. I will discuss how our new methodologies can change the way we study this challenging cell type in both healthy and pathological situations.