ArticlePLoS genetics2016
Genetic Evidence That Captured Retroviral Envelope syncytins Contribute to Myoblast Fusion and Muscle Sexual Dimorphism in Mice.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- An ancient alpharetrovirus lineage in bats: Evolutionary insights and possible roles in reproduction.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Transposon expression and repression in skeletal muscle.Mobile DNA · 2025Review
- How Much Do You Fuse? A Comparison of Cell Fusion Assays in a Breast Cancer Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- Galectin-1 Modulates the Fusogenic Activity of Placental Endogenous Retroviral Envelopes.Viruses · 2023Article
- Arc protein, a remnant of ancient retrovirus, forms virus-like particles, which are abundantly generated by neurons during epileptic seizures, and affects epileptic susceptibility in rodent models.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Skeletal Muscle Regeneration in Cardiotoxin-Induced Muscle Injury Models.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Convergent evolution of antiviral machinery derived from endogenous retrovirus truncated envelope genes in multiple species.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Regulation of the myoblast fusion reaction for muscle development, regeneration, and adaptations.Experimental cell research · 2022Article
- The diversity and evolution of retroviruses: Perspectives from viral "fossils".Virologica Sinica · 2022Review
- Human endogenous retroviruses and the inflammatory response: A vicious circle associated with health and illness.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Cellular and molecular actors of myeloid cell fusion: podosomes and tunneling nanotubes call the tune.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2021Review
- Structural Mimicry Drives HIV-1 Rev-Mediated HERV-K Expression.Journal of molecular biology · 2020Article
- Osteoclast Fusion: Physiological Regulation of Multinucleation through Heterogeneity-Potential Implications for Drug Sensitivity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- Endogenous Retroviral Envelope Syncytin Induces HIV-1 Spreading and Establishes HIV Reservoirs in Placenta.Cell reports · 2020Article
- Comprehensive genomic analysis reveals dynamic evolution of endogenous retroviruses that code for retroviral-like protein domains.Mobile DNA · 2020Article
- Retroviruses of the Human Virobiota: The Recycling of Viral Genes and the Resulting Advantages for Human Hosts During Evolution.Frontiers in microbiology · 2020Review
- Role of the captured retroviral envelopeBone reports · 2019Article
- Endogenous Retroviruses Activity as a Molecular Signature of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
- Distribution, Diversity, and Evolution of Endogenous Retroviruses in Perissodactyl Genomes.Journal of virology · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Syncytins are envelope genes from endogenous retroviruses, "captured" for a role in placentation. They mediate cell-cell fusion, resulting in the formation of a syncytium (the syncytiotrophoblast) at the fetomaternal interface. These genes have been found in all placental mammals in which they have been searched for. Cell-cell fusion is also pivotal for muscle fiber formation and repair, where the myotubes are formed from the fusion of mononucleated myoblasts into large multinucleated structures. Here we show, taking advantage of mice knocked out for syncytins, that these captured genes contribute to myoblast fusion, with a >20% reduction in muscle mass, mean muscle fiber area and number of nuclei per fiber in knocked out mice for one of the two murine syncytin genes. Remarkably, this reduction is only observed in males, which subsequently show muscle quantitative traits more similar to those of females. In addition, we show that syncytins also contribute to muscle repair after cardiotoxin-induced injury, with again a male-specific effect on the rate and extent of regeneration. Finally, ex vivo experiments carried out on murine myoblasts demonstrate the direct involvement of syncytins in fusion, with a >40% reduction in fusion index upon addition of siRNA against both syncytins. Importantly, similar effects are observed with primary myoblasts from sheep, dog and human, with a 20-40% reduction upon addition of siRNA against the corresponding syncytins. Altogether, these results show a direct contribution of the fusogenic syncytins to myogenesis, with a demonstrated male-dependence of the effect in mice, suggesting that these captured genes could be responsible for the muscle sexual dimorphism observed in placental mammals.
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